Knox County Schools, Tennessee
| Knox County Schools |
|---|
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| Knox County, Tennessee |
| District details |
| Superintendent: Jon Rysewyk |
| # of school board members: 9 |
| Website: Link |
Knox County Schools is a school district in Tennessee.
Click on the links below to learn more about the school district's...
- Superintendent
- School board
- Elections
- Budget
- Teacher salaries
- Academic performance
- Students
- Staff
- Schools
- Contact information
Superintendent
 |
This information is updated as we become aware of changes. Please contact us with any updates. |
Jon Rysewyk is the superintendent of Knox County Schools. Rysewyk was appointed superintendent on February 22, 2022, and started serving on June 4, 2022. Rysewyk's previous career experience includes working as a teacher, department head, assistant principal, executive principal, assistant superintendent, and chief academic officer.[1]
Past superintendents
- Bob Thomas was the superintendent of Knox County Schools from April 6, 2017 until June 2022. Thomas' previous career experience includes working as a teacher, principal, and the district's assistant superintendent.[2]
- Buzz Thomas was the interim superintendent of Knox County Schools from 2016 to 2017. Thomas' previous career experience included working as the president of the Great Schools Partnership.[2][3]
- James P. McIntyre Jr. was the superintendent of Knox County Schools from 2008 to 2016. McIntyre's previous career experience included working as the chief operating officer of Boston Public Schools.[4][5]
School board
The Knox County Schools school board consists of nine members elected by district to four-year terms.[6]
| Office | Name | Date assumed office |
|---|---|---|
| Knox County Schools school board, District 1 | John Butler | September 1, 2022 |
| Knox County Schools school board, District 2 | Anne Templeton | September 1, 2024 |
| Knox County Schools school board, District 3 | Patricia Fontenot-Ridley | September 1, 2024 |
| Knox County Schools school board, District 4 | Katherine Bike | September 1, 2022 |
| Knox County Schools school board, District 5 | Lauren Morgan | September 1, 2024 |
| Knox County Schools school board, District 6 | Betsy Henderson | 2020 |
| Knox County Schools school board, District 7 | Steve Triplett | September 1, 2022 |
| Knox County Schools school board, District 8 | Travis Wright | September 1, 2024 |
| Knox County Schools school board, District 9 | Kristi Kristy | 2018 |
Elections
Members of the Knox County Schools school board are elected to four-year terms. Four or five seats are up for election on a staggered basis every even-numbered year in August.
Four seats on the board were up for general election on August 1, 2024. A primary was scheduled for March 5, 2024.
Ballotpedia covered school board elections in 367 school districts in 29 states in 2024. Those school districts had a total student enrollment of 12,203,404 students. Click here to read an analysis of those elections.
Join the conversation about school board politics
Public participation in board meetings
The Knox County Schools school board maintains the following policy on public testimony during board meetings:[7]
District map
Budget
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[8]
| SOURCE | AMOUNT | AMOUNT PER STUDENT | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal: | $105,252,000 | $1,742 | 15% |
| Local: | $359,581,000 | $5,951 | 50% |
| State: | $256,413,000 | $4,243 | 36% |
| Total: | $721,246,000 | $11,936 |
| TYPE | AMOUNT | AMOUNT PER STUDENT | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Expenditures: | $667,099,000 | $11,039 | |
| Total Current Expenditures: | $636,774,000 | $10,538 | |
| Instructional Expenditures: | $377,919,000 | $6,254 | 57% |
| Student and Staff Support: | $81,007,000 | $1,340 | 12% |
| Administration: | $73,315,000 | $1,213 | 11% |
| Operations, Food Service, Other: | $104,533,000 | $1,729 | 16% |
| Total Capital Outlay: | $16,039,000 | $265 | |
| Construction: | $3,719,000 | $61 | |
| Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: | $1,536,000 | $25 | |
| Interest on Debt: | $12,722,000 | $210 |
Teacher salaries
The following salary information was pulled from the district's teacher salary schedule. A salary schedule is a list of expected compensations based on variables such as position, years employed, and education level. It may not reflect actual teacher salaries in the district.
| Year | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-2025[9] | $47,011.50 | $78,275 |
| 2023-2024[10] | $44,800 | $77,552 |
| 2020-2021[11] | $39,827 | $68,943 |
Academic performance
Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements.[12]
The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-2021 | 29 | 57 | 10 | 15 | 25-29 | 36 | |
| 2018-2019 | 38 | 68 | 16 | 26 | 35-39 | 44 | |
| 2017-2018 | 36 | 68 | 15 | 23 | 30-34 | 42 | |
| 2016-2017 | 38 | 70 | 17 | 23 | 30-34 | 44 | |
| 2015-2016 | 13 | 35-39 | 5 | 6-9 | <=20 | 16 | |
| 2014-2015 | 58 | 85 | 36 | 46 | 50-54 | 63 | |
| 2013-2014 | 53 | 80 | 31 | 41 | 40-44 | 58 | |
| 2012-2013 | 55 | 79 | 31 | 43 | 40-44 | 60 | |
| 2011-2012 | 52 | 78 | 28 | 39 | 45-49 | 58 | |
| 2010-2011 | 47 | 75 | 23 | 38 | 40-44 | 52 |
The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-2021 | 33 | 55 | 14 | 19 | 25-29 | 40 | |
| 2018-2019 | 40 | 66 | 17 | 24 | 35-39 | 46 | |
| 2017-2018 | 39 | 65 | 18 | 22 | 30-34 | 45 | |
| 2016-2017 | 40 | 67 | 19 | 24 | 35-39 | 46 | |
| 2015-2016 | 41 | 60-64 | 18 | 25-29 | 30-39 | 46 | |
| 2014-2015 | 56 | 80 | 33 | 38 | 50-54 | 62 | |
| 2013-2014 | 56 | 80 | 31 | 37 | 50-54 | 62 | |
| 2012-2013 | 58 | 78 | 33 | 43 | 50-54 | 64 | |
| 2011-2012 | 59 | 79 | 34 | 43 | 50-54 | 65 | |
| 2010-2011 | 57 | 76 | 30 | 42 | 50-54 | 63 |
The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | 91 | >=95 | 85 | 81 | >=50 | 93 | |
| 2018-2019 | 91 | >=95 | 87 | 86 | >=80 | 92 | |
| 2017-2018 | 90 | >=95 | 83 | 77 | >=80 | 92 | |
| 2016-2017 | 90 | >=95 | 85 | 80-84 | >=80 | 91 | |
| 2015-2016 | 90 | >=95 | 84 | 85-89 | 60-79 | 92 | |
| 2014-2015 | 90 | >=95 | 84 | 80-84 | >=50 | 91 | |
| 2013-2014 | 89 | >=95 | 85 | 80-84 | >=80 | 90 | |
| 2012-2013 | 88 | >=95 | 84 | 75-79 | 60-79 | 89 | |
| 2011-2012 | 90 | >=95 | 86 | 90-94 | >=50 | 91 | |
| 2010-2011 | 87 | >=95 | 82 | 75-79 | >=80 | 88 |
Students
| Year | Enrollment | Year-to-year change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-2024 | 60,604 | 0.0 |
| 2022-2023 | 60,609 | 0.3 |
| 2021-2022 | 60,426 | 2.1 |
| 2020-2021 | 59,169 | -4.0 |
| 2019-2020 | 61,545 | 1.1 |
| 2018-2019 | 60,854 | 0.1 |
| 2017-2018 | 60,802 | 0.7 |
| 2016-2017 | 60,372 | 0.1 |
| 2015-2016 | 60,308 | 1.0 |
| 2014-2015 | 59,733 | 0.8 |
| 2013-2014 | 59,236 | 0.5 |
| 2012-2013 | 58,929 | 0.5 |
| 2011-2012 | 58,639 | 1.1 |
| 2010-2011 | 57,977 | 2.1 |
| 2009-2010 | 56,758 | 2.2 |
| 2008-2009 | 55,535 | 1.9 |
| 2007-2008 | 54,490 | -9.5 |
| 2006-2007 | 59,663 | 8.8 |
| 2005-2006 | 54,427 | 0.3 |
| 2004-2005 | 54,247 | 2.9 |
| 2003-2004 | 52,659 | -1.4 |
| 2002-2003 | 53,411 | 2.9 |
| 2001-2002 | 51,866 | -0.2 |
| 2000-2001 | 51,944 | -1.7 |
| 1999-2000 | 52,840 | 0.0 |
| RACE | Knox County Schools (%) | Tennessee K-12 STUDENTS (%) |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander | 2.6 | 2.1 |
| Black | 12.6 | 20.5 |
| Hispanic | 13.7 | 14.8 |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 6.0 | 4.7 |
| White | 64.9 | 57.7 |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Staff
As of the 2023-2024 school year, Knox County Schools had 4,059.90 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 14.93.
| TYPE | NUMBER OF TEACHERS |
|---|---|
| Prekindergarten: | 49.50 |
| Kindergarten: | 232.50 |
| Elementary: | 2,541.82 |
| Secondary: | 1,236.08 |
| Total: | 4,059.90 |
Knox County Schools employed 19.50 district administrators and 303.78 school administrators as of the 2023-2024 school year.
| TYPE | NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS |
|---|---|
| District Administrators: | 19.50 |
| District Administrative Support: | 330.00 |
| School Administrators: | 303.78 |
| School Administrative Support: | 285.86 |
| TYPE | NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF |
|---|---|
| Instructional Aides: | 766.00 |
| Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: | 205.91 |
| Total Guidance Counselors: | 147.06 |
| Elementary Guidance Counselors: | 0.00 |
| Secondary Guidance Counselors: | 0.00 |
| Librarians/Media Specialists: | 78.50 |
| Library/Media Support: | 1.00 |
| Student Support Services: | 327.00 |
| Other Support Services: | 1,146.00 |
Schools
Noteworthy events
2016: Buzz Thomas accepts position as interim superintendent
The board voted to appoint Buzz Thomas as the district's interim superintendent after Superintendent Jim McIntyre stepped down in July 2016. “I am honored to be chosen by the board of education for this incredibly important position,” Thomas said after the vote. “I know how dedicated each board member is to the well-being of our children and the success of our schools.”[13]
Thomas was the president of the Great Schools Partnership, which had offices in the same building as the superintendent. He said he would leave his position and give the district "100 percent," but he said he did not want to become the district's permanent superintendent as he intended to return to his role with the Great Schools Partnership. His disinterest in the permanent position worked well for the board, as district policy did not allow an interim superintendent to be a candidate for the full position.[3]
School board member Terry Hill, who nominated Thomas for the position, called him "a strong person to rely on and bring all the facets together."[3]
After a request from Thomas, the board voted to lower his salary as interim superintendent on June 1, 2016. Though the board originally approved a $235,200 compensation package, the vote decreased the amount to a total of $220,200 including salary and benefits.[14]
2016: Superintendent steps down
In January 2016, Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre announced he would be stepping down on July 8, 2016. The announcement came one month after the board approved his two-year contract extension with a 5-4 vote.[5][15]
McIntyre was the superintendent for nearly eight years before he announced his resignation. He said that serving as the leader of Knox County Schools was the highlight of his career. "I'm saddened. I love doing this job. This is the best job I've ever had," he said.[16] McIntyre said he was leaving due to facing years of controversy.[5]
| “ | The current political environment has become increasingly dysfunctional, at times overtly antagonistic, and seemingly untenable. At recent months the focus of the conversation has all too often become about me, or the school board or other elected officials, rather than around the effective education of our children.[17] | ” |
| —Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre (2016)[5] | ||
McIntyre also said he was stepping down because he did not think he would get along well with the school board members elected in 2016. Doug Harris, Tracie Sanger, and Karen Carson, the three board members who most often voted in support of his proposals in meetings, did not run for re-election in 2016, which guaranteed three new members would join the board. In response to McIntyre's resignation, unopposed District 3 candidate Tony Norman said, "I think there are a huge number of teachers who will receive an immediate boost in their morale."[5]
McIntyre also had an uneasy relationship with the district's teachers. He helped Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) draft the state's grant for the federal Race to the Top program in 2010, which instituted new testing requirements and a new teacher evaluation system that was challenged in federal court by two Knox County teachers.[18] McIntyre and Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett also had a history of disagreement. Burchett once went as far as asking for McIntyre's resignation.[5]
Harris, Sanger, and fellow board member Lynne Fugate spoke in support of McIntyre's years leading the district. "The respect that I’ve got for this man, it exceeds anything that I can describe," said Harris. He called the job of superintendent "the toughest job in any county." Sanger said, "I'm sad to see him go and I think he's done great work for the district, and in the long run, I think it'll be a great loss for our students." According to Fugate, McIntyre "has been an excellent superintendent to move our district forward to levels of achievement we've never seen before."[5]
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) and Tennessee Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen also spoke in support of McIntyre's career with Knox County Schools. Haslam called McIntyre "one of the best superintendents in the state."
McQueen said about McIntyre that:[5]
| “ | Just last year, the Knox County School system was named the first urban school district in the state to receive Exemplary District status. The district has also exceeded growth expectations for multiple years in a row. These accomplishments are outstanding and will serve Dr. McIntyre well in whatever he chooses to pursue next.[17] | ” |
| —Tennessee Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen[5] | ||
The board approved a $227,256 severance package that included a one-year salary and 18 months of health benefits for McIntyre with a 7-1-1 vote on January 19, 2016.[16]
McIntyre said he and his family planned to stay in Knox County. He also said he hoped to remain in the education field, though he had no specific job offers as of his announcement.[19]
The board said they would appoint an interim superintendent by the first week of April 2016.[20] Buzz Thomas was officially appointed to that position.
In March 2017, the board voted to appoint Bob Thomas as the district's next superintendent. Thomas served as the assistant superintendent of the district.[21]
2016: Testing suspended in wake of state terminating TNReady contract
After the Tennessee Department of Education terminated the contract with the provider of the state's new TNReady test assessments on April 27, 2016, Superintendent Jim McIntyre suspended the district's assessments for students in grades three through eight. Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said the contract was terminated with North Carolina-based Measurement Inc. after it failed to deliver all of the testing materials by the deadline.[22]
McQueen called Measurement Inc.'s performance "deeply disappointing" after months of delivery delays and a failure to roll out the assessment online in February 2016. "We’ve exhausted every option in problem solving with this vendor to assist them in getting these tests delivered. Districts have exceeded their responsibility and obligation to wait for grade 3-8 materials, and we will not ask districts to continue waiting on a vendor that has repeatedly failed us," said McQueen.[23]
Measurement Inc. President Henry Scherich said the contract termination was a disappointment. "It has been a very difficult job, and we were within a couple days or so of having all the tests in the state," said Scherich.[24]
Scherich said that the company had been put in a "difficult, and even impossible, situation" after they were required to switch to a paper test in response to the failed online assessment, according to Chalkbeat Tennessee. McQueen said the state's contract had included provisions for paper tests in the case of technical difficulties.[23] As of the termination, the state had paid $1.6 million toward the $108 million contract.[24]
The state decided to continue testing high school students, as those materials had been received, but it suspended the tests for younger students. School districts that received the needed materials for testing younger grades were allowed to choose between continuing the assessments or suspending them.[22][23]
“I believe it’s the right decision that we made here locally from Knox County Schools to pull the plug and say ‘look we’ve had too many delays, we’ve had too many challenges, we’ve had too many frustrations,'” said McIntyre.[22]
Due to the suspension, accountability measures related to test scores, such as teacher evaluations, were also delayed for one year. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) said that despite the delay, the state was still moving forward.[23]
| “ | The failure of the testing vendor to deliver the tests and meet its own obligations does not take away from the fact that Tennessee has created our own, higher standards, we have an improved assessment fully aligned with those standards, and we remain committed going forward to measuring student performance fairly and ensuring accountability for those results.[17] | ” |
| —Gov. Bill Haslam (R)[23] | ||
2016: Federal judge tosses out Knox County teachers' lawsuit against evaluation system
U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr. ruled against a lawsuit filed by two Knox County teachers that challenged the state's teacher evaluation system. Mattice said the issue had to be taken up at the ballot box rather than in court.[18]
Teachers Lisa Trout and Mark Taylor filed the lawsuit in 2014 and were later supported by the Tennessee Education Association. The lawsuit challenged the use of Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS) scores in evaluating teachers in order to determine bonuses, promotions, and firing decisions. The evaluation system was set up by the state in order to secure federal Race to the Top grants. Though not every grade level takes the TVAAS, the scores accounted for 35 percent of teachers' evaluations, whether or not they taught the students who took the tests.[18]
In their lawsuit, Trout and Taylor said using test scores from students they did not teach was "unfair, unreliable and a violation of their constitutional due process rights," according to the Knox News. Trout had been denied a bonus after her evaluation was tied to student test scores involving algebra II, though she was only certified to teach algebra I. Taylor was also denied a bonus due to poor test scores from students he did not teach. Both teachers appealed to Superintendent Jim McIntyre, but their requests were denied. McIntyre helped Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) draft the proposal for the Race to the Top grant in 2010.[18]
Mattice said the teachers' complaints were "not unfounded," but he said their problems were with the Tennessee State Legislature rather than the U.S. Constitution.[18]
| “ | The judiciary is not empowered to second-guess the wisdom of the Tennessee Legislature's approach to solving the problems facing public education but rather must determine whether the policy at issue is rationally related to a legitimate government interest.
While the court expresses no opinion as to whether the Tennessee Legislature has enacted sound public policy, it finds that the use of TVAAS as a means to measure teacher efficacy survives minimal constitutional scrutiny. If this policy proves to be unworkable in practice, plaintiffs are not to be vindicated by judicial intervention but rather by democratic process.[17] |
” |
| —U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr. (2016)[18] | ||
Contact information
Knox County Schools
400 W. Summit Hill Drive
Knoxville, TN 37902
Phone: 865-594-1800
Fax: 865-594-1907
About school boards
Education legislation in Tennessee
Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.
See also
| Tennessee | School Board Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Knox County Schools
- Tennessee Department of Education
- Tennessee School Boards Association
Footnotes
- ↑ [https://www.knoxschools.org/domain/100 Knox County Schools, " Superintendent Dr. Jon Rysewyk," accessed December 5, 2023]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Knox News, "Knox County School Board approves $200K salary, 2-year contract for Thomas," April 5, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Knox News, "Buzz Thomas is nominee for Knox County Schools interim superintendent," April 4, 2016 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "interimdetails" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Knox County School District, "About Our Superintendent," accessed July 27, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 WBIR.com, "KCS Superintendent McIntyre to step down," January 4, 2016 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "superintendent" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Knox County Schools, "Board of Education," accessed July 27, 2015
- ↑ Knox County Schools, "Public Forum," accessed April 21, 2025
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
- ↑ Knox County Schools, "2024-2025 Salary Schedules (200 days)," accessed April 21, 2025
- ↑ Knox County Schools, "2023-2024 Salary Schedules," accessed February 5, 2024
- ↑ Knox County Schools, "2020-2021 Salary Schedules," accessed May 4, 2021
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2018-19 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed February 25, 2021
- ↑ WATE.com, "Buzz Thomas accepts Knox County Interim Superintendent position," April 4, 2016
- ↑ Knox News, "Knox County school board OKs lowering interim superintendent’s salary," June 1, 2016
- ↑ Knox News, "Knox County School Board balance about to change," December 12, 2015 (dead link)
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 WBIR, "Board approves McIntyre's departure terms," January 19, 2016
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 Knox News, "Judge strikes down Knox challenge to state's teacher evaluation system," February 19, 2016
- ↑ Knox News, "Governor responds to McIntyre stepping down as Knox schools superintendent," January 4, 2016
- ↑ WBIR, "Knox County Board of Education choosing interim superintendent by April," February 18, 2016
- ↑ WBIR, "Bob Thomas to be next Knox County Schools superintendent," March 21, 2017
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 WATE.com, "Tennessee Department of Education terminates TNReady testing contract," April 27, 2016
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 Chalkbeat Tennessee, "Tennessee fires TNReady testmaker, suspends tests for grades 3-8," April 27, 2016
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Tennesseean, "Tennessee terminates contract with TNReady test company," April 27, 2016
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