Tag: Tennessee Schools

Tennessee State Rep. Cepicky Files Bill to Ban Cell Phones from Classrooms

Tom Pappert
Students on Cell Phones

Tennessee State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) introduced legislation for the upcoming session of the General Assembly that would require all Tennessee school systems, including private institutions, to develop a policy to limit student cellphone use outside specific circumstances.

Filed with the General Assembly on November 19, a summary of Cepicky’s HB 13 reveals it would require schools, “adopt a policy to prohibit students from using wireless communication devices during instructional time except in certain circumstances.”

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Two Metro Nashville Schools Where Students Allegedly Brought Weapons Received ‘D’s’ on Their State Performance Reviews

Tom Pappert

Two Metro Nashville students were arrested on Wednesday as a result of separate incidents at two Metro Nashville schools involving firearms. Both schools, a middle school and high school, received D grades by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE).

A 14-year-old student was arrested on Wednesday at Hunters Lane High School after another student reportedly told school administrators he suspected a firearm in the other student’s backpack. School administrators searched the backpack and found a semi-automatic pistol, prompting the student’s arrest and transport to a juvenile detention facility.

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Tennessee School Districts Celebrate TVAAS Results, But Supporting Data Remains Unavailable to Parents Until Mid-September

TC Weber

Tennessee school districts are touting their Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System(TVAAS) scores, even as the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) has yet to make those scores available for public inspection.

TVAAS measures student academic growth over the course of a school year. Since it focuses on growth over proficiency, TVAAS allows administrators to see what strategies truly impact student performance.

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Tennessee Department of Education Holds Town Halls on A-F School Grading

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) hosted the first two of ten promised town halls last week designed to gather feedback on A – F letter grades for individual schools.

The TDOE staged initial meetings at the Dixon County High School and the General Motor Inn in Greenville. Neither session drew more than a handful of people. Those in attendance expressed confusion over the purpose of the town halls.

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Tennessee Spent Nearly $600 Million to Bolster School CTE Programs

The Center Square

Nearly $600 million in grants have gone to Tennessee schools for career and technical education from a pair of grant programs since 2019 and a new legislative brief shows the impact of that spending.

Over three years, $22.5 million was granted from the Supporting Postsecondary Access in Rural Communities program while $30 million of federal funding when to the first Innovative School Models grants in 2021 and more than $560 million has been awarded by the ISM program since it was launched.

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Tennessee Department of Education to Hold Town Halls as New School Letter Grade System Set to Launch this Fall

TC Weber

n November, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), in compliance with state law, will release school letter grades for individual Tennessee schools. To prepare families, teachers, community members, and decision-makers to review that data, the TDOE is holding a series of 10 Town Halls.

“Whether you are a student, parent, teacher, policymaker, or an interested community member, school letter grades will empower all Tennesseans with the information they need to support K-12 public education and our local schools,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “I encourage all Tennesseans to join us at a town hall or submit a public comment to share what you want to know about schools in your community and how they are serving your kids.”

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Tennessee Comptroller’s Office Releases Updated Data on K-12 Education

TC Weber

The Tennessee Comptrollers Office released last week updated interactive online maps and dashboards related to the state and K-12 education. The dashboards and maps allow citizens to access information on both private and public schools for the 2021-2022 school year.

Included are data on teacher salaries, student enrollment, educational attainment, school building quality, and state and local funding available for Tennessee’s public schools and school districts.

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Tennessee Department of Education Announces New State Chief Academic Officer

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced Jackson County Superintendent Kristy Brown as the state’s new chief academic officer. Brown replaces former Deputy Secretary Eve Carney. who recently tendered her resignation effective July 1.

The announcement comes just a week before Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds is slated to assume the role of Tennessee’s new Commissioner of Education at the beginning of July. Reynolds replaces Penny Schwinn, who resigned on June 1.

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Tennessee Department of Education Releases Third-Grade Retention Appeals Data

TC Weber

On Thursday, The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released data on the results of third-grade retention appeals filed with the state. Parents of third-grade students who did not meet the criteria for promotion to 4th grade based on Spring TCAP results are provided an opportunity to appeal that decision.  The released data comes with approximately two weeks left in the appeals window.

Since the appeals window opened on May 30th, the department has received 9,205 appeals forms, representing 8,206 individual students.

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Report Says Tennessee Schools Spent COVID-19 Funds on Unrelated Projects

Peter D'Abrosca

A new report by the Beacon Center of Tennessee says that $4 billion worth of federal COVID-19 relief funding allocated to Tennessee’s school systems was largely spent on items unrelated to COVID-19. 

“The data suggests that Tennessee public schools have budgeted or spent millions of dollars on areas that had little to nothing to do with COVID or student performance,” said Beacon Research Associate and report author Jason Edmonds. “School districts across the state budgeted tens of millions of dollars for ‘indirect costs’ without any further explanation and also funded pet projects such as walk-in coolers and retractable bleachers.”

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New Law Empowers Tennessee Teachers to Remove Disorderly Students

Morgan Nicole Veysey
Joey Hensley and Scott Cepicky

A new law allowing teachers to discipline students in school is set to take effect as students return to class in the new year. The bill was originally introduced in December of 2020 and was passed in April of 2021; sponsors for the bill were Representative Scott Cepicky (R- 64) and Senator Joey Hensley (R-28).

The bill was explained by the Tennessee General Assembly as it “establishes requirements and procedures for teachers to discipline students in the teachers’ classrooms, including relocation of a student.”

The new law states that teachers will be authorized to manage their classrooms and discipline their students. Teachers are allowed to send students to principals’ offices if needed, “and to hold students in the teacher’s charge strictly accountable for any disorderly conduct in school.”

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Zinn Education Project Pulls Teachers’ Critical Race Theory Petition Due to ‘Glitch’ After Tennessee Star Report

Peter D'Abrosca

After The Tennessee Star reported on a petition signed by teachers nationwide who vowed to teach Critical Race Theory even if it was outlawed in their respective states, the nonprofit that circulated the petition appears to have pulled it offline. 

“Lawmakers in at least 21 states are attempting to pass legislation that would require teachers to lie to students about the role of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and oppression throughout U.S. history,” a Zinn Education Project’s petition said.

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