Federal funding changes mean these Knox County schools will gain or lose staffers

Two Knox County schools will gain additional federal funding for the upcoming school year and two will lose their Title I funding entirely. A shift in economic demographics is behind the changes.

Federal Title I funds give an extra boost to schools with the highest levels of poverty, and Knox County Schools leaders regularly assess which ones get the funds to match community needs.

Adrian Burnett and Pleasant Ridge elementary schools are the newest schools to qualify for Title I funds. Two other schools, Beaumont Magnet Academy and New Hopewell Elementary , no longer qualify.

Adrian Burnett will gain four staff positions and Pleasant Ridge will gain two. The types of support jobs paid for with Title I funds include guidance counselors, behavior interventionists and instructional coaches.

At Beaumont, nearly 40% students come from families experiencing poverty. At New Hopewell, that number is 35%, according to data shared by Knox County Schools. Adrian Burnett and Pleasant Ridge both have higher poverty concentration levels at 51% and 45.5%.

KCS finance director Ron McPherson told Knox News changes with Title I money happen regularly, both in changing which schools are funded and how schools already in the program use the money for staffing.

Which Knox County schools are losing or gaining teachers?

Several other Title I funded schools will have changes as well, which is routine as administrators weigh the schools' needs versus funding levels.

Here are highlights from data shared with Knox News by the district:

• Adrian Burnett Elementary School: Gaining three full-time and one part-time positions.
• Austin-East Magnet High School: Losing two positions overall but new positions - numeracy coach, school culture manager and an academic interventionist teacher - will be added.
• Beaumont Magnet Academy: Losing three full-time and one part-time positions.
• Belle Morris Elementary School: Losing a STEM teacher position.
• Chilhowee Intermediate School: Gaining an education assistant.
• Christenberry Elementary School: Adding one position overall and slightly changing existing roles.
• Dogwood Elementary School: Losing four positions overall, but adding a first grade teacher and an intervention teacher.
• Dr. Paul L. Kelley Volunteer Academy : Losing a part-time art teacher position.
• East Knox Elementary School: Also losing four positions overall, including an English Language Arts and Math coach, but adding a permanent substitute teacher.
• Fulton High School: Losing an assistant administrator position.
• Green Magnet Academy: Losing an intervention teacher and a kindergarten teacher.
• Gresham Middle School: Gaining a data manager and keeping its other two positions.
• Holston Middle School: Losing a teaching position that was equivalent to half of a full-time position.
• Inskip Elementary School: Losing two positions - one intervention teacher and a behavior interventionist.
• Lonsdale Elementary School: Gaining four positions including a STEM teacher and education assistants and an English Language coach.
• Maynard Elementary School: Losing a guidance counselor that worked the equivalent of 20% of a full-time position.
• Mooreland Heights Elementary School: Losing two full-time positions overall and gaining a coach.
• New Hopewell Elementary School: Losing one full-time and two part-time positions.
• Northwest Middle School: Gaining two positions overall.
• Norwood Elementary School: Losing a part-time position and gaining a translator position.
• Pleasant Ridge Elementary School: Gaining one full-time and one part-time position.
• Pond Gap Elementary School: Losing half of a full-time position overall, but will have some changes. The school will add a full-time and a part-time education assistant position.
• Richard Yoakley School: The restorative position, paid by Title I funds, will be replaced by an education assistant.
• Ridgedale Alternative School: Gaining a part-time restorative assistant position.
• Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Academy: Gaining an education assistant position.
• South-Doyle High School: Losing a restorative assistant position.
• South-Doyle Middle School: Losing two positions overall and gaining a guidance counselor.
• South Knox Elementary School: Losing a part-time librarian.
• Spring Hill Elementary School: Losing an education assistant position.
• Sunnyview Primary School: Gaining a full-time permanent substitute and a part-time intervention teacher.
• Vine Middle School: Losing a reading teacher and a guidance counselor.
• Virtual schools: Losing two positions overall.
• West Haven Elementary School: No changes in overall number of positions but one education assistant position will be replaced by a intervention assistant position.
• West View Elementary School: Losing a part-time administrative asssitant position.
• Whittle Springs Middle School: No changes in overall number of positions but one restorative interventionist position will be replaced by a guidance counselor.

The schools' administrators work with district leaders to make staffing allocations "as they see fit and that maintains required class sizes," district spokeswoman Carly Harrington told Knox News. There can be instances when a third party, such as a nonprofit, provides financial support for positions.

How did we get here?

Before the end of the 2022-23 school year, Knox County Schools was notified its share of Title I funds had gone down because Tennessee now has fewer students in poverty compared to some other states, McPherson said.

To soften the blow for 2023-24, the district decided to supplement that funding by adding $1.6 million in positions for schools that would have lost the federal funds otherwise.

“This was a one-time funding source to essentially hold schools harmless for a year,” McPherson said.

This year, that pool has dried up, too, along with other unrelated federal funding going away.

When this year’s money came in from the federal government, which turned out to be less than even last year, the district had to make cuts.

How is federal Title I funding divided?

The federal government allocates money to states, which allocate to school districts whose leaders have the final say in how much each school gets.

At Knox County Schools, the district ranks schools based on their percentage of economically disadvantaged students, and then the amount of funding given is decided based on the concentration of students in poverty.

“The larger the concentration of students in poverty, the higher the per-pupil (Tile I) funding,” McPherson said.

With the ranking of schools in hand, district officials then have to carefully decide on a cutoff level of poverty concentration.

“We try to be as objective as possible,” but it’s done in a way that doesn’t dilute the funding per school, per student too much, McPherson said.

If you allocate funds to too many schools, “you’re in danger of schools not being able to make meaningful change simply because the dollars are just not available,” he said.

How will the schools fill in these gaps?

At Beaumont, the funding paid for a couple of days a week of social worker services, the magnet program coordinator position, a behavioral interventionist and an instructional coach, according to the school's Parent Teacher Association President Robin Nicks.

Moving forward, those services might be provided by the principal and assistant principal, Nicks said. "Which is wonderful that they're taking it on ... but it's hard for me to even possibly imagine that for somebody who already has a full-time job with full-time job duties and then is going to now just add on to that."

The staffers in the positions being cut are deeply rooted in students' lives, Nicks said.

"Anything that is happening at the school, they are there for," Nicks said.

What requirements come with Title I funds?

The federal dollars cannot supplant what the district pays for using its general purpose funds.

But those extra dollars can be used to pay for more teachers, social workers, supplies and professional development. The district works with principals on how those spending decisions are made.

Areena Arora , data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at areena.arora@knoxnews.com . Follow her on X @ AreenaArora .

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Federal funding changes mean these Knox County schools will gain or lose staffers