District 9 covers all of South Knoxville and South Knox County from the Tennessee River to the Blount and Sevier county lines. The community includes urban areas along the waterfront, one of the county’s busiest highways and large stretches of rural but rapidly developing countryside.

The winner will be in office during the school system's upcoming comprehensive planning process for South Knox schools.

The district is home to seven elementary schools, the county’s virtual school, South-Doyle Middle School and South-Doyle High School.

With Knox County Schools poised to launch a comprehensive planning process for South Knox schools in 2029, the district’s next representative will be in a key position on the school board.

Kristi Kristy has represented the district on the school board for the past eight years and serves as the board chair, but political newcomer Bill Sofield unseated her in the Republican Primary by just 65 votes out of 2,989 ballots cast. He faces Democrat Brandy Jenkins, who was unopposed in the primary.

Sofield holds an edge in fundraising. He raised $27,906 during the first two quarters of the year and, though he spent much of it in the primary, had $9,254 on hand as of June 30.

Conservative political consultant Erik Wiatr is advising his campaign, and Sofield’s donors include several of Wiatr’s former clients and their supporters, as well as Wiatr’s Knox Liberty Organization. Fifth District Commissioner Angela Russell, developers Tim Graham and Parker Bartholomew, and former City Councilman Joe Hultquist are contributors.

Jenkins, who is working with Democratic consultant Greg Schmid, raised $9,868 from the beginning of the year through June 30, when she had $3,621 left for the final five-week push to Election Day.

Jenkins’ contributors include former Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, County Commissioner Shane Jackson, school board member Patricia Fontenot-Ridley, former District 9 school board member Amber Rountree, City Council members Debbie Helsley and Karyn Adams, and District 6 school board candidate Cadence Collins.

We interviewed Jenkins for this article and updated Sofield’s profile from our primary coverage.

Brandy Jenkins

Jenkins said she’s running for Knox County school board because her experience as a public-school parent showed her how decisions made far from the classroom can shape a child’s future.

“A few years ago, the third-grade retention law kind of opened my eyes to just different things that were going on in our schools,” she said. Her oldest daughter was nearly held back because of high-stakes testing, and the experience pulled Jenkins into board meetings and, eventually, into the race itself.

Jenkins, 39, was born and raised in Knoxville. She grew up in North Knoxville and graduated from Central High School. She met her husband, who is from Seymour, and the two settled in South Knoxville 16 years ago to start their family. Professionally, she has spent 14 years in the same industry, working her way up to senior manager of operations at a call center, where she oversees budgets, compliance, and policies and procedures.

She and her husband have two daughters, a rising seventh-grader at South-Doyle Middle School and a rising fourth-grader at Dogwood Elementary. Both girls have attended Knox County public schools their whole lives, as did Jenkins herself.

“Our family’s all been public-school families,” she said.

Asked about the biggest challenges facing Knox County Schools, Jenkins pointed first to funding, tying it back to her focus on early literacy. 

“Over 50 percent of the kids are still failing the ELA on the TCAP,” she said, “so money’s always been a problem.” 

Teacher pay, she said, has been a persistent issue, too, but the County Commission’s recent move to redirect $4 million that had been earmarked for the schools — forcing the district to reopen its budget and implement furloughs and staffing cuts — raised the stakes. 

“It’s making me really worried about how much we are truly investing into our schools,” she said.

“The first thing that came to my mind when that was all announced was, ‘What are we doing?’” she said. She stopped short of assigning blame, instead pointing to what she sees as a breakdown in communication.

“There just was a lack of transparency,” she said. Jenkins pointed to what she called a “severe division” among officials, but she said that shouldn’t get in the way of the work ahead.

“I don’t have to like you to work with you, but we still have a job to do,” she said. “I highly doubt (Republican 9th District Commissioner) Andy Fox will be my biggest fan, but I’m gonna try to work with him. You’ve got to let the emotions go, and we really need to focus on what we need to focus on.”

Jenkins said she opposes both private-school vouchers and an expansion of charter schools while the district struggles to retain teachers.

“The public money needs to stay in our public schools,” she said, adding that families who want other options are “more than welcome to go do that on your own private dollar.”

She was similarly direct about this spring’s library-book removals, describing the controversy as manufactured by outside political groups rather than driven by parents.

“I don’t think we need to micromanage” educators, she said, arguing that professional staff should retain the authority to decide which books belong on shelves.

She said she wants to see the district’s community-schools model, which pairs academic instruction with wraparound services like food access, expand further, calling schools “the center of our community” rather than merely a place to get an education.

Outside of work and the campaign, soccer dominates the Jenkins household. She and her husband both play; she serves as team captain of her own team. Both daughters play as well, and her husband coaches the South-Doyle Middle School girls’ team. Jenkins herself only started playing in 2024, after years of coaching her younger daughter’s team.

Jenkins has served on her daughters’ school PTO and organized statewide with parent advocacy groups Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) and Public School Strong during the third-grade retention law fight. She described herself as a “servant leader” who wants to represent the whole community regardless of political affiliation. 

“When we’re at the school, we don’t know if our children’s families are Democratic or Republican,” she said. “I want to represent our entire community.”

Bill Sofield

Bill Sofield, 61, has spent much of his adult life working in technology and volunteering in local schools. Now, he’s stepping forward with the belief that those experiences, and a push for change, should carry him into elected office.

This is his first campaign, but Sofield says he is no stranger to Knox County Schools. A parent and longtime PTA leader and school volunteer, he’s built his connections in District 9 through years of involvement in classrooms and school communities.

“I am politically astute, and I think I have enough on the ball to be a good representative on the school board,” Sofield said.

Sofield works as a computer applications analyst for a large healthcare company in Knoxville. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in English focused on technical writing, a background that led him into computer systems and support, where he has built a steady career.

Though he wasn’t born in Knoxville, Sofield has called the area home for more than 30 years, relocating from Pennsylvania in the early 1990s. He now lives in Mount Olive. His wife works at Mount Olive Elementary School, and their four sons have all attended Knox County Schools.

That personal investment has shaped his involvement. Sofield has served as both treasurer and president of the PTA at Mount Olive Elementary and has spent years volunteering across school levels.

“My kids have all gone to South-Doyle, so I have volunteered quite a bit at the elementary, middle and high schools,” he said.

His decision to run came after conversations with friends and a growing sense that the district needed a different direction. Sofield says he would bring a more conservative approach to the board.

At the center of his campaign is a focus on academic improvement, particularly raising performance across all schools, narrowing achievement gaps and improving student attendance. He is passionate about the role families play in that work, arguing that stronger parent involvement is key to better student outcomes.

He also places a strong emphasis on accountability, both in academic results and in how public dollars are spent, noting the significant portion of the county budget dedicated to education.

“I’m interested in raising academic performance and outcomes. I’m interested in championing parental rights and prerogatives in education,” Sofield said. “And I think we have a responsibility to the taxpayers. There’s a lot of money spent on education … and I think people deserve a clear accounting of that.”

He also emphasized the importance of supporting educators.

“You can’t just ignore your teachers and staff,” he said. “They’re the ones doing the work every day. If you’re going to expect results, you have to support the people who are making that happen.”

On divisive issues like school vouchers, Sofield frames his position around choice.

“School vouchers are a double-edged sword,” he said. “I understand the concern about public money going to private education. But I am absolutely in favor of parental choice and school choice. If vouchers can expand options for students and families, then I support that.”

He puts it in everyday terms.

“I often tell people, you wouldn’t let the government tell you what clothes your kids can wear or what food to feed them,” Sofield said. “So why do we let the government decide where they can go to school? That’s a question worth asking.” 

Sofield also says collaboration across all levels of government, particularly with state lawmakers, will be critical to making meaningful changes.

Beyond policy, Sofield has made clear that how decisions are made matters just as much as what decisions are made. He says he intends to approach the role with civility, emphasizing respectful dialogue even in disagreement.

“The challenges are immense,” he said, pointing to the competing expectations of parents, students, taxpayers and government entities.

Ultimately, Sofield says his candidacy comes down to perspective
and a belief that fresh leadership matters.

“I think it’s time for a change,” he said. “I believe I can bring a more common-sense approach, something more in line with the values of this district. I’ve spent years working in this community, raising my family here, volunteering in these schools. I know what’s at stake, and I’m ready to serve in a different way.”