TRI Education Year in Review: Focus on KCS

Well no “Year in Review” can begin without the electoral and popular vote win by President-elect Donald Trump. We will begin with the Trump political wave election and move to the local level from there.

1. Donald Trump promises much needed reform at the federal level, even threatening to eliminate the Department of Education. I do think the Dept of Education has served some important roles. It has protected the rights of students with special needs and made sure that impoverished students were fed. But it has abused its rights as well. The Race to the Top grants under Obama/Duncan held state funding hostage, demanding that states write a grant (to their liking) which included gobs of state assessments and handcuffed schools in disciplining students. Race to the Top gutted the teaching workforce of veteran teachers who left due to stifling rules about teacher evaluation. Interestingly, it was Race to the Top which encouraged the reduction of collective bargaining by teacher unions. The Department of Education also has pushed for the indoctrination of students in regards to non-traditional lifestyles, embraced equity instead of equality, downplayed America’s contributions to the free world, and encouraged locking kids out of classrooms during COVID. Even school lunches began to get worse as cafeteria staffs were dealing with heavy regulations about what could and could not be served. We traded in great lunches for rotten strawberries. In short, the federal Department of Education became a political weapon of the Left.
2. Benchmark testing in Kingsport continues unabated. I will post on this later, but Elon Musk was part of a recent conversation where it was noted that many American students are not going into the sciences, specifically physics. Well, right now we are over-assessing to the point that students don’t want to be in those classrooms. Parents and students have had to resort to extra curricular activities in order to make sure their kids learn important lessons in life which are grounded in reality(leadership, perseverance, work ethic, strong expectations, critical thinking) – not abstract testing.
3. The much promised turnover at Kingsport’s ASC (Central Office) has been putrid at best. Our leadership is riddled with people who have never taught in an academic classroom.
4. Construction by Lakeway/Tri-Cities Christian continues on the old Colonial Heights Middle School Property. They are gutting that building. It is going to look nice. This will give Kingsport/Tri families a much need alternative to over assessment occurring in our schools.
5. KCS will build two new schools in Lynn Garden and the North Campus. Neither of those areas are in regions of potential residential growth. This will put us behind the eight ball for decades to come. Growth needs to be along both interstate corridors which will mirror inevitable residential growth there. We need schools in Indian Springs, Colonial Heights, and Rock Springs. A middle school is desperately needed in those areas.
6. BOE elections. Two of the three incumbents will no longer serve on the BOE. Jamie Jackson, Phillip Marshall, and Todd Golden claimed the open seats. It is nice to see new faces on the BOE. Term limits are needed in Kingsport at all government levels including bureaucratic jobs – no offense meant to Mr Golden who has served with honor and been outspoken on many conservative topics. He is the exception to the rule.
7. The Dobyns-Bennett Band places 10th in the BOA finals. Any top ten finish is amazing. Cook and Co continue to show why money spent on the band is money well spent.
8. The Dobyns-Bennett girls softball team wins its first state softball title. Great job by the girls’ team!!!
9. The Daniel Boone XC boy’s team placed 9th in state after winning both the conference and sectional titles. This was Boone’s first conference title in three years. The repeated in impressive fashion at sectional qualifiers for state. The Trailblazers fell behind at regionals, but collected 6 straight top-ten finishing positions to win the boys meet.
10. Elon Musk(reference X below) noted that for the first time in American history, more people are working in the education field in non-teaching positions than actual teachers in the classroom. In Kingsport, the nicest overall facility is Central Office…that should tell you something.
11. The Dobyns-Bennett Dome is about done. It looks great. I had some mis-givings about this(and still do), but it is going to look really good. I was for building a new HS natatorium and basketball field house (and still am). That said, it goes to show that sometimes a difference in opinion still works out well in the end. Nice job by the BOE on that one for sure.
12. Elon Musk promises to downsize our government. I think this will have downstream effects at LEAs (local education agencies) across the country.
13. KCS thankfully did not yield to DEI and universal bathroom calls in its schools.
14. Aspen is still the data management system for students, and it is terrible. Please go back to PowerSchool.
15. Sullivan East Middle School remains the best facility in Sullivan Co. The county made out like banshees when the county trade North to KCS and took KCS’s bond money to build both West Ridge and Sullivan East Middle. Kingsport was absolutely fleeced by that deal and the then superintendent and KCS leadership. And (gasp), Sullivan County built both of those schools in projected areas of suburban growth – i.e. tax collection growth.
16. The latest US Presidential election definitely has undertones of Americans wanting to retake their freedom from people who live in the ivory tower. That movement surely will continue to take hold in the TRI region. Those who neglect that will be out of a job.
17. Johnson City’s superintendent steps down after leading JC to the top of regional academic metrics in many areas.