The Knoxville School Board recently decided to move back to Tier 2 of its Facilities Usage Plan. This allows all indoor facilities to be used by groups of 25 people or fewer. Superintendent Cassi Pearson says that the board plans to expand to Tier 3 in the relatively near future, but that COVID-19 case counts remain too high at this time.
“The board will take another look at that at its next meeting at the end of January. In order to move to Tier 3, which would allow outside groups to have large gatherings, the county numbers are going to need to come down a little bit. Once that happens, I think we’ll be recommending moving to Tier 3, which would open up our facilities a little bit more. At this point though, those small groups is what we’re comfortable with. We continue to look at data every single day, and we continue to take it as it comes.”
The first semester is coming to a close at Knoxville Schools. Superintendent Cassi Pearson says this is a big milestone in what’s been a challenging year, and thanks all students, parents and staff for taking COVID-19 preventative measures seriously.
“Last summer, I don’t know if there was a lot of hope that we’d still be in session, in person in January. It’s really exciting that we’re here, our numbers are looking great inside the district, and we expect that to continue. Our students and staff are doing all the safety measures we need them to do, and we appreciate that. Our families are keeping kids home if they’re sick, and that’s definitely making a difference too, so we appreciate the collaborative spirit to get our school year in. We’re looking forward to having some of the normal activities this spring for our students at all levels.”