Parents at Knox County school board meeting demand accountability after bullying and administrative complaints

Several public forum speakers at the May 7 Knox County Board of Education meeting made emotional and specific allegations about student safety, grievance procedures and past incidents they say the district has not publicly acknowledged.

At the start of the public forum, a speaker who identified herself as Candice Manister (transcript includes an alternate spelling, “Bannister,” in an earlier announcement) described the death of her child, Will, and said she believed he had been bullied, harassed and intimidated by a lead administrator while at Farragut High School. “No KCS employee should have ever felt that they could bully, harass, and intimidate Will,” she said, and urged the board to take action after what she described as almost two years of inaction.

Gavin Gambuza urged the board to issue a formal apology to the family of Trinity Gibson and criticized the district’s legal advice. He said the board had been advised by law director Gary Dupler to avoid apology because of litigation risk and called for the board to prioritize acknowledging harm to families.

Tierra Lady Wilson described efforts to file grievances about Austin East Magnet High School administrator Rob Spies and said her daughter, Leilani Simone Wilson, had been placed in a classroom with an assailant. She asked the board for clear, accessible grievance processes and to hold administrators accountable.

Brandy Jerrell (senior vice president, Value Teachers) raised separate concerns about the 403(b) plan RFQ and transitions in plan administration, arguing that the process limited provider access and asking the board to explain how the selection occurred.

The transcript records these claims and requests but does not show a board response during the meeting. The statements are presented here as speaker claims; they were not adjudicated or investigated during the session recorded in the transcript.