Lakeland board authorizes executive committee to draft new resolution on private-school vouchers, testing parity and flexibility

The Lakeland School Board voted to authorize its executive committee to draft a resolution responding to the state’s recent voucher scholarship bill and to communicate the board’s will to legislators during the current session.

Vice Chair Jeremy Burnett opened the substantive discussion, saying the board should press for parity in accountability: "One of the disparities is the fact that private schools are not held with the same standards ... I’d like to see ... reduced assessment standards and private schools to be held to the same standards," he said, arguing that unequal testing requirements create an uneven playing field.

Dr. Horrell, Lakeland’s superintendent, and board members described prior outreach to legislators and the limits of that engagement. Michelle Childs, the board’s legislative liaison, said she had asked legislators to require the same testing when private schools receive public dollars but that the lawmakers "had no interest in that" during the special session that produced the voucher scholarship bill, which ended Jan. 30.

After discussion the motion on the floor authorized the executive committee to draft and send a resolution reflecting the board’s views. The motion, as discussed, would specifically: advocate for (1) the same standardized testing requirements for any school or parent/guardian receiving taxpayer dollars; (2) a reduction in the number or scope of mandated standardized assessments for Tennessee students (options discussed included sampling or other reduced models); and (3) greater flexibility for licensure pathways or teaching requirements in certain CTE or specialized programs. The final resolution language will be prepared by the executive committee and shared with board members for review.

Votes at a glance - Motion to authorize the executive committee to draft a resolution on testing parity, reduced assessments and teaching/CTE flexibility: approved (voice vote; "all in favor say aye" recorded). The motion passed by voice vote; the record did not capture an individual roll-call tally.

Nut Graf: The vote came after multiple board members expressed concern that the new school voucher scholarship law (passed in a recent special session) allows public dollars to flow to private schools that are not required to meet the same assessment and reporting rules as public schools. Board members asked the executive committee to craft a resolution emphasizing parity in accountability and operational requests to state lawmakers.

Key discussion points - Equity and accountability: Board members argued that taxpayer-funded scholarship payments should be tied to the same publicly reported testing and accountability standards public schools follow. - Reduced assessments: Several members favored reducing the total number of mandated assessments or moving to sampling rather than universal end-of-year testing, to reduce testing time for students and teachers. - Teaching/CTE flexibility: Members proposed including language to streamline licensure or allow professional-experience pathways for CTE instructors and certain specialized roles where state teaching-certification requirements limit program offerings.

Next steps and committee work The executive committee — led by the board chair and vice chair — will draft the proposed resolution reflecting the discussion. Board members asked that the committee circulate a draft for comment before the document is finalized and sent to legislators. The board chair said the draft will be circulated to members for feedback before distribution.

Ending: The motion passed by voice vote; the board instructed the executive committee to proceed and promised follow-up discussion on the draft resolution.