KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Knox County Schools sent a letter over Easter weekend to some workers that said federal, pandemic-era Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund funding will end by the end of this school year. The funding was used to pay for many people's tutoring positions.
Julie Gorman and several other workers went to a KCS meeting in early April to voice their concerns. After 30 years of teaching, Gorman retired but continued to tutor children.
"I loved my community school, we were a very small school, and I still wanted to be a part of it and thought this would be a great way to still give to the community," Gorman said. "We understand about budget cuts. But we would also love to continue. We need full-time tutors. But we also need part-time as well."
Alicia Jones, the school district's director of student support, said KCS currently employees 263 tutors across all schools, and all of them are paid with ESSER funds. The number includes both full-time and part-time workers.
Jones said it's unknown how many tutors they'll be able to hire for next year, and said the school district has a "tutoring plan" in place for the next school year.
"We know that these employees are very important to our team," Jones said. "Because it is federal dollars, we do have to inform staff that their position is not going to be funded. However, we do have a tutoring plan in place for next year."
Jones said they gather data from screening tests, TCAP exams, and assessment evaluations. She said KCS uses that data to decide how many tutors they need to hire year-by-year.
But, the district is now also waiting on the board and its budget meeting on April 25 to see how much money they'll have to spend on tutoring.
Tutors are there for more than just the children, Gorman said, and for her teaching is more than just a job.
"I think teachers they would lose an extra support," Gorman said. "I would love to continue in, you know, as always. It's always about the kids."