Austin-East High School

Austin-East High School, also known as Austin-East Magnet High School, is a public high school in Knoxville, Tennessee, operated by Knox County Schools.

Austin-East Magnet High School
Address
2800 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue

Knoxville
,
Tennessee
37914
Coordinates35°59′23″N 83°53′14″W
Information
Established1879
School districtKnox County Schools
Teaching staff59.30 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment728 (2019-20)[1]
Student to teacher ratio12.28[1]
Color(s)   
MascotRoadrunners
Websitewww.knoxschools.org/austineastmhs

The school includes a magnet school program in performing arts.[2]

History

Austin-East is the successor to two formerly racially segregated schools, the all-black Austin High School and the all-white East High School. The two schools were combined in 1968 to form the integrated Austin East High School, housed in the East High School building.[3]

Austin High School opened in 1879. It was named for Emily Austin, a white woman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who raised money to establish the school as Knoxville's first black high school. She had arrived in Knoxville in 1870 with the goal of helping to educate African American children, who at the time were schooled in church basements, lodge halls, and one-room schoolhouses scattered throughout the area. For eight years she worked as a grade school teacher in black schools in Knoxville, then she returned to the North to seek donations for establishment of a black high school. She succeeded in raising $6,500, which was matched by $2,000 from the Knoxville Board of Education to start Austin High School.[3]

Edenton, North Carolina, native John W. Manning became school principal in 1881, the first black person to hold that position. An 1881 graduate of Yale University, Manning remained as principal until retiring in 1912. He was succeeded as principal by Charles W. Cansler, who had been teaching at Austin since 1900.[3]

In 1916, Austin High School left its initial location on Central Street in Knoxville to move to a new building on Payne Avenue. At the Payne Avenue location, the school was renamed Knoxville Colored High School. By 1928, that school building had become overcrowded due to a growing African American population, and the school moved to a new location on Vine Street, once again using the Austin High School name.[3] William A. Robinson became school principal in 1928. Robinson served for just two years before moving to Atlanta and being succeeded as principal by Thomas R. Davis. Davis was principal until his death in 1948, when Dean of Girls Fannie C. Clay assumed the position of acting principal until the appointment of Otis T. Hogue as principal in the fall of 1949.[3] In 1952 Austin moved to a new modern building one block from its previous location, remaining there until its merger with East High School.[3]

East High School was one of four schools, the others being West, South (now South-Doyle), and Fulton, that opened in 1951 following the split-up of old Knoxville High.[4] Initially an all-white school, East began to enroll black students in the early 1960s as the Knoxville city schools underwent a slow process of racial integration.[5] The school graduated a total of 17 classes before its merger with Austin High School in 1968.[6] Its sports teams were called the "Mountaineers."[6]

In 1968 the two schools, which were only some eight to ten blocks apart, were combined to form a single racially integrated high school located in the East High building and named Austin East High School.[3] The Austin school site became the location of Vine Middle School.[5] Following the merger, many white students from East High transferred to other high schools, leaving Austin-East as a predominantly black school.[7]

In 1987, authority for the school shifted from the city of Knoxville to Knox County when the city school system was consolidated into Knox County Schools.[8]

In 1997, the school received magnet school designation, offering a focus in performing arts, science and math.[9] In spite of the magnet program, which was intended to boost white enrollment, as of 2008-2009 more than 80% of Austin-East's students were African American. After several years of failing to meet performance benchmarks set under the No Child Left Behind Act, in 2008-2009 the school was reorganized into small learning communities.[10]

April 2021 shooting

On April 12, 2021, at around 3:15 pm EDT, a shooting occurred at the Austin-East High School. A 17-year-old African-American student, Anthony Thompson Jr., was shot and killed by the police during an armed struggle in the school's bathroom as the police were responding to a domestic violence call involving Thompson. Another police officer was wounded by a friendly fire shot, that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation originally incorrectly blamed on Thompson.[11][12]

After a controversy surrounding the police body camera footage in the case, the DA Charme Allen released the footage and other video evidence on April 21, 2021, and announced that no officers involved in the incident would face any charges.[13] The event resulted in ongoing racial justice protests in the community[14][15][16] as well as outside of Tennessee.[17] The students have been staging daily walkouts at 3:15 p.m. to mark the approximate time of Thompson's death and demand police reform.[18] Anthony Thompson's family is represented by Ben Crump, a prominent national civil rights lawyer representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Daunte Wright.[19][20]

The mother of Thompson's girlfriend expressed regret for calling the police regarding Thompson's fight with her daughter in the events before the shooting.[21] The Knoxville Police Department was investigating a possible retaliatory arson at her home on April 25.[22][23]

Following several weeks of protests and controversy about the role of uniformed police officers at schools after Thompson's death, Knoxville's mayor Indya Kincannon announced that at the end of the school year on June 12, 2021 the Knoxville Police Department will withdraw its uniformed officers stationed at Knox County schools.[24]

On May 14 the DA announced that a local man, Kelvon Foster, 21, had been charged in state court with illegally providing a gun to Anthony Thompson. The prosecutors allege that Forster bought the 9mm Glock on April 12 for Thompson at a local gun and pawn shop, with Thompson present for the transaction with two other males, as shown by the store's video footage. Forster was concurrently charged in federal court with making a straw purchase of the gun for Thompson.[25] [26]

Magnet program

The Austin-East magnet program in performing arts operates as a "school-within-a-school." Specialized offerings include dance, theater, vocal and instrumental music, and finance and business.[9]

Sports

Austin-East fields interscholastic teams in football, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, cross country, track and field, marching band, wrestling, volleyball.[27] The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) classifies the school's football team in Class 3A[28] Its sports teams are nicknamed "Roadrunners." The boys' basketball team won the state championship in 1977 (AAA), 1985(AA), and 1987 (AA).[29][30] The football team won the Class 2A state championship in 1983, 1986, and the Class 3A state championship in 2001.[30][31] In 2007, Austin-East won the state championship in Class AA girls' basketball.[32] The boys track team won state championships in 1981(AAA) and 1987(A/AA). The girls track team won the A/AA championship in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 2007.[30]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Austin East High/Magnet". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  2. Magnet Schools Archived August 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Knox County Schools website
  3. Robert J. Booker, Austin High School (1879-1968), A Profile of African Americans in Tennessee History, Tennessee State University website, accessed April 7, 2011
  4. John Shearer, Historic Knoxville High Recognized for Classic Revival Detailing, Knoxville News Sentinel, May 28, 2010. Retrieved: April 8, 2011.
  5. John Shearer, Students, leaders made integration successful, Knoxville News Sentinel, February 13, 2011
  6. Reunion brings together Knoxville East High School students, WBIR-TV, September 4, 2010
  7. John Shearer, Experiences from merger formed coach; Torbush helped ease Austin-East transition, Knoxville News Sentinel, February 13, 2011
  8. Ed Young and Harry Green, School System Consolidation, TACIR Staff Education Brief 8, Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, November 2005
  9. Austin-East High School (profile), Knoxville News Sentinel website, accessed April 8, 2011
  10. Rebecca Williams, Magnet schools offer variety, but still have problem attracting students, Knoxville News Sentinel, March 17, 2009
  11. "Bullet that injured Knoxville officer not from student's handgun, per TBI's preliminary findings". WRIC. April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  12. Rich Barak (April 14, 2020). "Tennessee student involved in shooting at high school ID'd". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  13. Caleb Wethington (April 21, 2021). "DA Allen: No officers will be charged after fatal officer-involved shooting at Austin-East". WATE-TV. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  14. Dom Calicchio (April 23, 2021). "Knoxville sees second night of protest over Anthony Thompson Jr. shooting death: 'Enough is enough'". Fox News. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  15. Curtis Carden and Austin Martin (April 24, 2021). "Protests continue over the weekend in Knoxville following the death of Anthony Thompson Jr". WATE-TV.
  16. "Multiple agencies respond to protest in Knox Co. community". WVLT-TV. April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  17. "Minneapolis high school students demand: Justice for Anthony Thompson Jr, no police in schools". Fight Back!. April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  18. Monica Kast; Isabel Lohman (April 30, 2021). "Austin-East students call for justice since school shooting through walk-outs, song and unity". Knox News. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  19. Nina Golgowski (April 19, 2021). "A Tennessee Teen Was Killed By Police Inside His School. Here's What We Know". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  20. Adrian Sainz (April 19, 2021). "Pressure mounts for release of Knoxville shooting video". Associated Press. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  21. Chris James (April 30, 2021). "Knoxville, Tennessee, is reeling after another Black high school student is killed -- this time by police". CNN. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  22. "KFD investigating after someone set fire on porch of Anthony Thompson Jr.'s girlfriend's home". WBIR-TV. April 28, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  23. Brittany Crocker (April 29, 2021). "Knoxville investigates possible arson at home of police shooting victim's girlfriend". Knox News. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  24. "Knoxville police to pull its officers out of Knox County Schools starting this summer". WBIR. May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  25. John North (May 14, 2021). "Man, 21, charged with providing gun Anthony Thompson Jr. had at Austin-East High School". WBIR-TV. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  26. Satterfield, Jamie (May 14, 2021). "Anthony Thompson Jr.'s friend bought the teen a gun before police killed him, records show". Knox News. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  27. Member School Directory listing Archived July 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association website, accessed April 9, 2011
  28. Classifications Archived April 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association website, accessed April 9, 2011
  29. Mike Strange, Chemistry made A-E state champs; 12 Roadrunners went on to play at some level of college basketball, Knoxville News Sentinel, February 26, 2008
  30. TSSAA website Archived January 20, 2002, at the Wayback Machine, accessed July 25, 2011
  31. Oak Ridge taps former player Stanton Stevens as head football coach Archived March 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, WATE-TV website, April 14, 2005.
  32. 2007 TSSAA Class AA Girls Basketball State Tournament Bracket Archived July 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, TSSAA website, accessed April 9, 2011.
  33. Jack Neely, "A Tale of Two Brothers," Metro Pulse, April 3–10, 1997. Accessed on the University of Tennessee website, April 7, 2011.
  34. Nikki Giovanni Bio: Timeline Archived February 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Nikki Giovanni website, accessed April 7, 2011
  35. Jesse Smithey, "Austin-East Honors Raleigh, Reggie McKenzie," Knoxville News Sentinel, September 10, 2011. Retrieved: March 24, 2013.
  36. Reggie McKenzie - Bio Archived February 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved: April 7, 2011.
  37. Carl Torbush profile Archived October 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, University of North Carolina Athletics website, accessed April 7, 2011
  38. About Elston Archived March 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Elston Turner Basketball Camp website, accessed April 9, 2011
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