John B. Foster Jr., longtime Knox County educator and coach, will be honored by the school board at 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 10, in the board room of the Andrew Johnson Building. The court at the Austin-East gymnasium will be named for Mr. Foster, who taught chemistry and coached basketball at A-E. He passed away Feb. 16, 2016, at age 67. During his tenure as head coach, the Roadrunners won two state championships. Wonderful tributes to Mr. Foster are in his nomination packet: John_B._Foster,_Jr._Nomination
Austin-East students will host an Anti-Violence Parade starting at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 7. Only students will march, but supporters are encouraged to line the streets along Martin Luther King Avenue between the school and Dr. Walter Hardy Park.
Daniel Watson is back to the drawing board on his resolution to revisit the agreement between Knox County Schools and local law enforcement agencies to put armed police inside schools. During discussion on May 5, school board members resisted a task force/subcommittee, preferring that the full board be involved in a series of public meetings to develop a revised policy. The resolution will be voted on Wednesday, May 12, at the BOE’s 5 p.m. meeting.
Gus Paidousis, head of security for Knox County Schools, will be retiring in June.
What’s the rush, we asked when school board chair Susan Horn called a Friday morning meeting to vote on abolishing the KCS’s mask mandate immediately. Board member Jennifer Owen led the opposition, and Horn’s agenda was not approved. Life went on, including the Farragut High School prom the next day.
Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today.