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Board holds public hearing on EdFlex waivers, staff explains proposed Title IV and paraprofessional changes
Summary
At a public hearing July 6 the Knox district described EdFlex waivers to allow flexibility in Title IV spending and alternative criteria for classifying paraprofessionals as highly qualified; staff tied the waivers to district goals and said outcome targets are annual and the district awaits iLearn score releases.
The Knox Community School Corp. board held a public hearing July 6 to review EdFlex waivers seeking flexibility in Title IV spending and alternative qualifications for paraprofessionals.
Staff explained that the district (referred to in the meeting as KCSE) is requesting authority to allow paraprofessionals to be identified as highly qualified through alternative criteria: two years of college, an associate degree, passing the parapro assessment within the first year, completing assigned professional development modules, or having a year or 1,000 hours of prior experience working with children. Staff characterized the request as a continuation of waivers the board approved last year and said the flexibility aligns with recent IDOE discussions with the U.S. Department of Education.
On Title IV funds, staff said the district is seeking permission to spend Title IV dollars primarily in two focus areas — well-rounded education and safe and healthy schools — rather than being constrained to required technology professional development allocations. Staff suggested that with the waivers the district anticipates at least 5% annual increases in student performance measures in ELA, math and reading, using the district’s baseline (last year’s data cited at about 31 percent) as a reference point, and noted that the waivers are an annual item the board will revisit.
Board members pressed for clarity on the 5% figure and timeline. A board member asked how long the 5% expectation applied; staff replied the 5% was a short-term annual target tied to the district’s goals and that targets are revisited each year. Staff also said the district has been unable to access this year’s iLearn scores yet and hopes to have them in the coming weeks (optimistically early August) to guide remediation planning.
Separately, staff announced that NEOLA administrative guidelines and several policy updates — including a bell-to-bell cell phone rule requiring phones to be kept out of sight during the school day (with medical exceptions) — will be presented at the July 20 board meeting for formal vote. The board had no public comments and the hearing was closed.
