The Knoxville School Board approved setting a date to fill the school board vacancy at their meeting Monday night, but a special election will still take place in March.

The board will meet in a special session on December 30th and look to appoint someone to fill the vacancy after the resignation of former board member Dave Smith. However, due to a special election being approved earlier in the meeting for a voter approved physical plant and equipment property tax levy for March 4th there will also be a special election that day to fill the school board vacancy for the remainder of the term through 2027. If someone is appointed on the 30th they will just fill in the role until the special election. 

Also at the meeting the board heard three presentations including one from the SIAC committee with a recommendation to ban cell phones during the school day for students. There were also presentations from the Knoxville Middle School and West Elementary Building Leadership Teams. The board then approved early graduation requests, the 2025-2026 course catalog, early retirement applications, and the affirmative action plan. After that the board approved a draft for the 2025-2026 school calendar and set a public hearing for January 13th.

Later in the meeting the board approved two SBRC applications, an architect fee proposal for the West Elementary School roof, and a safety grant proposal for the Northstar Elementary playground fence. The meeting concluded with the board approving the purchase of solar panels at Ken Locke Stadium that are currently owned by Red Lion Renewables and after an extended discussion between the board and the Knoxville Alumni Association it is currently unclear if those panels will stay at Ken Locke or if the school district will take them back. The district and alumni association are expected to close on the property this week.