During Thursday, Knoxville School Board meeting the board approved an employee emergency leave proposal to create paid employee emergency leave available to all employees from March 23rd through April 10, 2020. In addition to the paid emergency leave, the district will also pay an overtime rate for regular hours for six specific positions that are essential to the remaining operations of the district during the leave period. Those positions include one custodian at West Elementary while Steppings Stones is operating Kids Club, one custodian at the high school while the Free Lunch Program is in operation and four Child Nutrition Staff members to run the  Free Lunch Program which begins Monday. Knoxville Schools Superintendent Cassi Pearson says the overtime pay for the six employees is an incentive as well as a reward for helping the district continue to function. She says the district knows these individuals are going above and beyond what any other employee is asked to do and she says it’s important to make sure they know they are appreciated and rewarded. Pearson says, if it weren’t for the work of these six individuals the district wouldn’t be able to provide the children with meals as well as keep the district as safe as possible from the COVID-19 pandemic.