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Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn is launching a bus tour to highlight summer learning and celebrate a job well done this school year.
Starting June 14, Schwinn is hitting the road to visit 50 school districts over the course of three weeks, the state education department announced Tuesday.
The “Accelerating TN” bus tour is meant to spotlight summer learning programs and school districts efforts to bolster student achievement after a year of disruption related to the pandemic.
“After countless disruptions caused by a global pandemic, Tennessee is focused on implementing innovative and student-focused learning opportunities that will help accelerate student achievement,” Schwinn said in a news release. “The Accelerating TN bus tour will support the important work happening this summer highlighting best practices, facilitating key discussions and connecting the many stakeholders who want to help all Tennessee stude
After Gov. Tim Walz ordered schools closed in March 2020, the St. Paul district converted all third- and fourth-quarter D’s and F’s into passing grades so that high schoolers would stay on track for graduation.
Washington County Schools cut the ribbon on a state-of-the-art electric school bus on Thursday. Itâs the first all-electric school bus in Tennessee.
The all-electric school bus, which was built by Lion Electric, will reduce carbon emissions and save the school system money in fuel and maintenance costs. The electric bus is also significantly quieter than diesel buses â so much so, it plays a warning sound when traveling at a low rate of speed to alert pedestrians and cyclists to its presence.
âI think that in this case as far as the state of Tennessee this is a big deal,â said Washington County Schools Director Jerry Boyd. âIn the sense of moving into zero-emission school transportation it is certainly a big deal, and it is so appropriate for Washington County to lead that way being the first, the leader of, basically, the beginning of the state of Tennessee.â
The Johnson City Commission unanimously approved Johnson City’s “extremely large” fiscal year budget of $302 million on first reading Thursday. Out of that $302 million, there’s probably $40-50 million worth
Washington Countyâs elected government and education leaders were told Thursday the regionâs workforce has not seen the type of growth that is being experienced in other parts of Tennessee.
Jon Smith, who heads East Tennessee State Universityâs Bureau of Businesses and Economic Research, said the labor market in Johnson City and Kingsport has been declining for nearly a decade.
âOur region has been left out of the explosive gains that have been seen in Knoxville, Nashville and other parts of the state,â Smith told County Commissioners and county Board of Education members at a joint workshop held at the Jonesborough Visitors Center.