KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knox County Board of Education approved a new strategic plan Wednesday afternoon.
Knox County Board of Education Chairperson Terry Hill said you can think of the plan as sort of road map.
"For us to use to give us some clear direction for what some of our goals are and where we want to be in five years," she said.
The multi-part document is required by state law, and the first pillar of the three-part plan addresses student achievement, which includes college readiness and reading levels.
"It's clear by the test scores we're seeing that we're not quite doing quite the job that we need to be doing in having our babies proficient when they need to be," Hill said.
Part of that plan is getting 75 percent of third-graders reading on grade level by 2025. Board member Evetty Satterfield says it's not just a goal, it's a must.
"It's something that we have to do because at the end of the day, these kids who are coming through the system will be adults and so if we don't do right by them now then we have failed society," she said.
The second objective aims to eliminate disparities by taking a look at access, student support and the achievement gap.
"Disparities is a real thing. If you look at the data it will show clearly where the disparities lie," Satterfield said.
She said the plan reinforces this, but it also takes it a step further with a special section dedicated to creating a positive culture, providing mental health and bullying resources.
Hill said this is vital now more than ever.
"It's incumbent upon us as a school system to help these kids so we can get them ready to be taught," Hill said.
With more than 60 thousands students across 88 schools, the board said a lot of this will mean adjusting as they go, and hopefully this new road map will lead students to more opportunities in years to come.