KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With a little more than two weeks until the start of school in Knox County, a big question is whether the district will have enough teachers for the classes it wants to offer.
Knox County Schools could join a host of other districts in Tennessee turning to Florida for a virtual solution to teacher shortages.
Florida Virtual School (FLVS) is Florida's public online learning solution. It was established more than 20 years ago and already has experience offering various options to out-of-state districts, including many in Tennessee.
Now, Florida Virtual School is experiencing heavy demand from schools across the country.
"They call us to say, okay, now we've got a pandemic. We need to expand, or we need to find a different solution to help meet the needs of our children," said Courtney Calfee, FLVS senior director of partner services. "Whether it's with our instructors or whether it's to train and provide the platform for the school district to take on, we do whatever the districts need to educate students."
FLVS provides a product that is ready to buy off the shelf, so to speak. School districts grappling with a deadly pandemic may not have the time or resources to develop their own virtual curriculum from scratch.
At the Knox County Education Association (KCEA), president Tanya Coats said around 50 teachers in Knox County are currently choosing to remain home without pay rather than venture into a classroom during a deadly pandemic.
"There are teachers that are still worried about 'what if?'" she said. "What if I get COVID in my classroom? We're going to actually have to ask them, almost beg them to come back. We need to bargain and say, 'What will it take for you to come back and help us teach kids?' We do not want to outsource, or only outsource as little as possible."
Coats noted Knox County Schools has previously outsourced specific courses to groups in Tennessee, as well as the local universities and community colleges.
If Knox County Schools decides to contract with Florida Virtual School, it could cost $1.5 million per semester.
"I think it was just hard-hitting to hear that we might have to spend $1.5 million in Florida. And in that situation, you have teachers in Florida who are able to teach virtually from a safe environment. Shame on Tennessee that we don't have virtual teachers in our own districts and our own state to actually take care of our own students," said Coats.
The board of education meets next Wednesday, Aug. 19. It is expected to decide at that point whether to outsource virtual classes.