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Knox County Board approves contracts, calendar and grant applications in special meeting
Summary
At the Feb. 27 special call, the board approved multiple facilities and governance items: awarding an audit contract to White and Associates ($32,000), approving several construction pay requests and change orders (except one change-order item that lacked a second to table), approving the 2025-26 academic calendar (Option 2), and authorizing a USDA grant application worth $1.1 million with a 13% local match; the board also approved an out-of-state softball trip.
The Knox County Board of Education used a special-call meeting Feb. 27 to approve a package of contracts, calendar selections and grant applications intended to keep construction projects and academic planning on schedule.
Board business included awarding an auditing-services contract to White and Associates for $32,000 (recommended under governance item 7A) and approving several construction-related pay applications and change orders for projects at Lincoln Memorial High School, Knox County Middle, Lane Camp and Girdler Elementary. Board members attempted to table a change-order request for the Knox County Middle School HVAC project (item 6E), but that motion received no second and the item remained on the agenda. A separate motion approved the remaining consent items after discussion; members answered "aye" when asked.
The board approved governance items that included an amendment to board policy on final reading and a proposed ability to extend the school day contingent on state action: the superintendent noted House Bill 241 (a measure to allow attendance to be tracked by hours rather than days) and said some local policy changes would be needed if the bill passes. The board also approved the 2025–26 academic calendar (Option 2), which, according to the superintendent's summary, would start student instruction on Aug. 6, include a full-week fall break and Thanksgiving break, have winter break Dec. 22–Jan. 2, and set a tentative last student day of May 15.
On teaching and learning, the board authorized staff to pursue a USDA Rural Development distance-learning and telemedicine grant application for approximately $1,100,000; the district’s share would be roughly 13% if the grant is awarded. The board also approved routine resources-and-support items including staffing allocations and PD tools and granted permission for the Knox Central High School softball team to travel to Myrtle Beach March 29–April 4.
Procedural notes from the meeting record: motions to adopt the agenda and to approve consent and resource items were made and seconded on the record, with board members responding "aye" to indicate approval; the transcript records no roll-call tallies with member names for these votes.
