Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn visited Brown Elementary School in Cumberland County today to see how education is progressing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m excited to be here at Brown Elementary. I am trying to get into schools in the state every week. I wanted to visit Cumberland County to see the great things going on. The students are doing a phenomenal job in the classroom and with the virtual learning. The teachers are fantastic,” said Commissioner Schwinn.

“The plan I have for schools in Tennessee is high-quality academics, and that’s focused on literacy and high-quality materials, effective assessment linked to those materials and career exploration in all grades. The other focus is on educators ensuring we prepare, support and retain educators so we don’t have 10,000 students every day who don’t have a credentialed teacher in front of them.”

She, along with Cumberland County Director of Schools Ina Maxwell and a few school board members, visited several classrooms. They saw how the teacher and students in the classroom interacted with the virtual students to complete assignments.

During the time at Brown Elementary, all students observed in the classrooms had masks on and social distancing was in place.

“We are taking every precaution we can to try to cut down on the COVID-19 in the schools,” said Dr. Maxwell.

Just how many students tested positive in the Cumberland County School System so far for the coronavirus remains up in the air. Dr. Maxwell said the school system is working on a report to be released soon. If not released by August 27, 2020 (the next school board meeting), it could be addressed then.

(Picture – Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn (standing) observes the classroom while a teacher instructs her students in the room and virtually)