What was supposed to be a swift and simple Metro Nashville Public Schools board meeting Tuesday night was darkened by the news of the the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
“We are definitely devastated by the senseless, horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that has caused the death of several students and teachers,” Director of Schools Adrienne Battle said at the beginning of the regularly scheduled meeting. “Children have the right to learn and thrive in a safe environment, free from violence or tragedy, and far too often society fails in protecting that right. Our hearts go out to all the families in Uvalde who have lost loved ones. We will be working with our student support services team to offer our teachers and staff the necessary tools to help themselves and their students process this tragic event, and we will be consulting with the Metro Nashville Police Department and MNPS Security to determine any additional steps that should be taken in the immediate aftermath.”
A matter that has been neither swift nor simple in its passage is the MNPS budget for the 2022-2023 school year. The school board was supposed to vote on a version of the budget at the May 10 meeting to present to Metro Council. Board members had questions about a support staff pay study that was said to have informed employee raises; the study was made in collaboration with MNPS, Mayor John Cooper's office, the Nashville Public Education Foundation and Urban Schools Human Capital Academy. Prior to that meeting, the board hadn’t seen it. A specially called meeting was scheduled for May 17, but was canceled at the last minute. Metro’s legal team advised against proceeding with the May 17 meeting, citing inadequate notice. Another special budget meeting was held at 3 p.m. on Tuesday before the regularly scheduled board meeting, and there the board voted to approve this version of the budget.
As the board discussed the budget, chair and District 5 representative Christiane Buggs informed her colleagues of a letter from Metro Councilmember At-Large and Budget and Finance Committee chair Burkley Allen asking the school board to discuss cutting the budget by $10 million to $12 million. The board was shorted around $22.6 million from the state “based on late estimates that came from the Tennessee Department of Education and were contradictory to previously available information provided by the department,” according to Battle. (See Allen's letter in full below.)
“I do not have a problem looking at our budget to see where can we make some cuts,” said District 9 representative Abigail Tylor. “I would like to put in a plug to say that I do not want that money to come from our support staff. We had promised them that they were going to get raises this year.”
Between Councilmember Allen’s letter and the specific budget items Mayor Cooper proposed in his State of Metro address, the city is using the power of the budget and public opinion to shape MNPS spending — and asking them to reduce the amount they’re receiving while also publicly announcing how they should spend it. As mayor, Cooper can allocate money to the board, but he can’t dictate how it’s spent. Yet he specifically mentioned the 4 percent COLA increase and paid family leave in his address. He even released a video this week with MNPS bus drivers, touting his proposed raises.
Councilmember At-Large Bob Mendes called out the proximity of the events, and tweeted that “there’s some inside scrum going on.” The board will present the budget to the Metro Council on Wednesday at 4:45.
Addressing the budget, the Texas shooting and MNPS graduations were the main aspects of Tuesday's meeting. But Battle also spotlighted Carter Lawrence Elementary and Isaac Litton Middle School — STEAM and STEM schools, respectively, that were recognized by TDOE and the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network. There was also some discussion surrounding janitorial contracts. Tylor noted that she didn’t want to work with companies that provide “less than a living wage.” The board voted to defer approving those contracts.
