Knox County Schools received nearly $178 million in federal relief funding in response to the pandemic. Though these funds were meant to combat the pandemic and learning loss, they came with few strings attached. Records show KCS has budgeted nearly $12 million dollars on “Indirect Costs”, with no information provided as to what those dollars will actually be used for. In addition to millions of dollars going to unknown areas, budgeted items also included travel for teachers and an administrator to attend a conference in Baltimore, over $2.6 million in stipends for department chairs, and thousands budgeted on items that include imitation coins, mattress pads, and shopping carts, just to name a few.
Click here to see how all of the funds for this district were allocated.