ADVISORY: Knoxville Community Organizations Host Events Prior to School Board Meetings Opposing the State's Efforts to Discriminate Against Students

TIRRC Press

media@tnimmigrant.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 26, 2025

Knoxville Community Organizations Host Events Prior to School Board Meetings to Demand Education for All

Community Vigil on Monday, December 1; Press Conference on Thursday, December 4

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A coalition of local organizations are hosting public displays of support for students prior to the Knox County Board of Education Work Session on Monday, December 1, and the Knox County Board of Education General Meeting on Thursday, December 4. Both events will be held at the corner of Walnut Street and Wall Avenue (across the street from the entrance to the Board meeting), and start at 4pm.

The coalition is demanding the Knox County Board of Education pass a legislative priority affirming that public schools exist to provide a free education to all children and urges that state policy support this foundational principle, because discrimination against any child is unacceptable. The coalition includes Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM), Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Allies of Knoxville's Immigrant Neighbors (AKIN), and others.

“The commitment to educate every child who walks through the doors of our public schools at no cost to their families reflects the best of our community’s values, our Constitution, and the vision of public education as a place where every child can learn, grow, and feel safe; it’s the moral high ground,” said Reverend Chris Buice of Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, who will lead Monday’s community vigil. “But this spring, we saw the worst of political approaches; the targeting of our community’s best, children in K–12 and we must now make clear that our community does not support legislative threats to the wellbeing of children.”

Monday’s event is a Community Vigil, during which faith leaders will discuss the moral responsibility the community shares in protecting every child’s right to education and dignity. Following the Vigil, attendees are encouraged to address board members during the public forum session of the Board of Education Work Session. The KCS Board agenda includes a discussion of 2026 legislative priorities.

On Thursday, December 4th, the coalition will host a press conference featuring multiple speakers, including representatives from Centro Hispano de East Tennessee, Bridge Refugee Services, the Knox County Education Association, and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). Additional speakers will be announced as they confirm their participation. Community members will use the public forum following the press conference to reiterate the importance of opposing efforts by state legislators to discriminate against students. The Board is expected to vote on its legislative priorities at this meeting.

This grassroots coordinated effort is in response to several bills, including Tennessee House Bill 793, that were introduced in the Tennessee Legislature last year that aim to deny access to public education based on documentation status. At the November Board of Education meetings earlier this month, students, parents, educators, immigrant rights advocates, and other concerned community members packed the Board meeting room and filled the public forum. Watch some of the comments on SOCM’s YouTube Channel at youtube.com/socmtube.

For more information, go to socm.org/educationforall-knox.

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The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to build power, amplify our voices, and organize communities to advocate for our rights in order to build a stronger, more inclusive Tennessee where people of all nationalities, immigration statuses, and racial identities can belong and thrive. Since its founding in 2001, TIRRC has grown from a grassroots network of community leaders into one of the most diverse and effective coalitions of its kind, a model for emerging immigrant rights organizations in the Southeast and throughout the United States.