The budget process for Metro Nashville Public Schools board has been vague and at times tense. A vote that was supposed to take place at the May 10 board meeting on the Summary of Changes to Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Operating Budget wasn’t necessarily a requirement, but more of a half-step in the process that would communicate the school board’s intention to the Metro Council, who must ultimately approve the budget. The board deferred voting, instead calling a special May 17 meeting to further discuss the matter — a meeting that was ultimately canceled due to concerns regarding “adequacy of notice,” according to the district’s legal department.
As the board discussed the budget highlights at the May 10 meeting, the origin of some numbers — mainly new figures that show pay increases for support staff — remained unclear. The support staff pay raises were said to have been informed by a pay study that was done in collaboration with MNPS, The Nashville Public Education Foundation, the mayor’s office and Urban Schools Human Capital Academy, but the board hadn’t seen that study before being presented with proposed budget items. Board members decided to defer voting until they’d had a chance to see the results of the study. A similar pay study was implemented for teachers last year, which led to pay raises.
Some MNPS support staffers and the union that represents them are not satisfied with the proposed pay increases. “We have concerns about equity in how the raises are distributed, and a lot of positions are left out,” reads a blog post on the SEUI Local 205 site.
While the origin of some figures proved unclear, other aspects reflected in the budget come from specific items that Mayor John Cooper announced in last month's State of Metro address, like a 4 percent cost-of-living adjustment and paid family leave. While mayors decide how much to give schools, they don't typically decide how it’s spent — but Cooper announcing these items basically gave the board a directive to adopt them. The mayor is allocating around $90 million in new revenue to MNPS this year.
The support staff pay study was sent to the board a few days after the May 10 meeting. MNPS board members intended to discuss the study, and what it means for support staff, at Tuesday’s specially called meeting. Every board member was in attendance, along with members from the NPEF and the mayor’s office, but no one got a chance to address the pay study, support staff or the budget. Though the meeting date and time had been posted on the MNPS Board calendar the week prior and MNPS posted about it on social media, MNPS’ legal department advised the board not to move forward with the meeting because proper notice hadn’t been given.
“While notice of the meeting was posted on the MNPS website last week, there were issues with individuals' ability to access that notice,” said said a John Whitaker, an attorney with the Metro Nashville Department of Law assigned to MNPS. “So out of an abundance of caution … given the shortness of the knowledge of that, and the fact that the board can vote on the budget at the board meeting [next] Tuesday, it's the Department of Law's recommendation that the meeting not proceed.”
As such, the specially called board meeting has been moved to 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 24. At 4 p.m., a Parent Advisory Council town hall will take place, and then then board will vote on the budget at the regularly scheduled meeting — one that some members will have to skip or leave early to attend graduation ceremonies. Though the board attempted to give itself adequate time and information to discuss changes in the budget, it’s proved to be a slippery process. Let’s hope that's not to the detriment of support staff members, who are crucial, underpaid and overstretched in the district.
A previous version of this article identified Whitaker as a district representative; we have since corrected his role. We regret the error.
