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Board discusses assistant-principal allocations as general budget approved
Summary
Board members raised concerns about Gresham Middle School losing an assistant principal under the FY26 staffing allocation. District staff said allocation formulas use average daily membership and at-risk percentages and that a staffing committee reviews formulas annually.
When the Knox County Board of Education considered the FY26 general purpose budget on April 29, several board members questioned staffing allocations that would remove one assistant principal position from Gresham Middle School.
Board member Miss Templeton said Gresham, a Title I school with a 24% at-risk rate, will move to a staffing ratio near 400 students per assistant principal and expressed concern about the loss, especially because Gresham provides some specialized services. “I just think that there are a lot of these contingencies over at Gresham. It's a Title I school, there's a lot happening over there and to lose an assistant principal I think will be painful,” she said.
District staff explained that assistant-principal allocations at the middle-school level use average daily membership (ADM) and at-risk percentage in the allocation formula. Staff said the district has a staffing committee in its third year that reviews and maintains these formulas and that no changes were made to the formulas this year, meaning schools had prior notice when allocation changes were coming.
Staff said some adjustments are treated as a “hold harmless” for a year, giving affected schools time to plan. The staffing committee will continue to evaluate allocations if principals raise concerns.
The board ultimately approved the FY26 general purpose budget as presented; no specific staffing amendments for Gresham were made during the April 29 meeting.
