While many turned their attention to election results, the Metro Nashville Public Schools board met for a relatively short and straightforward meeting Tuesday night.
Director’s Report
Director of Schools Adrienne Battle began her report by congratulating local educators who won the the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program award and nodding to the forthcoming MNPS celebration of schools, which will take place Nov. 19 at Nissan Stadium. Then Battle, with the help of executive officer of teaching and learning David Williams and director of pre-kindergarten programs Phyllis Phillips, introduced the district’s goals regarding children ages 3 and younger.
The goal of MNPS’ new Grow Together initiative, as stated by Battle, includes “eliminating disparities in education. It requires us to think beyond just catching kids up when they get to us. The truth is, we need to get them on a level playing field to start with.” A slide in the presentation notes that “children who receive high-quality pre-K have better attendance, fewer behavior problems, and increased chances of reading at grade level by 3rd grade,” and “children who enroll in kindergarten without a solid foundation of skills are likely to fall behind their classmates with each year becoming harder to catch up.”
To address these realities, Battle, Williams and Phillips outlined the goals of the Grow Together initiative, including pre-K expansion, home and tele-visits that would provide assistance to families, coordinated playdates and parenting workshops, and other resources for families with preschool-age children. Information about these resources would be made available to parents via a text messaging service, a website and a new early-learning hub. According to the report, the district is looking into pre-K expansion by creating more pre-K classrooms throughout the distinct and including more students with individualized education plans. It would also include two shifts of half-day pre-K programs for 3-year-olds. The district intends to work with community organizations to help realize these goals.
The board conversation following the presentation touched on the early-learning crisis — the need to prepare students for academic success before kindergarten and the benefits of investing in students early on. Some members expressed concern about the distinct’s ability to fund this expanded program on a long-term basis, while others discussed the need to make research and data-driven decisions, track goals and performance indicators and use them to adjust the program as necessary.
Public Comment
The majority of public comment came from familiar faces representing education advocacy groups. One group advocated for more environmentally minded education and practices throughout MNPS. A group of Nashville PROPEL parents approached the board and demanded more attention and action around the district's low-performing schools and students. A representative from Nashville Organized for Action and Hope celebrated gains in the district’s equity-related goals but also asked for more clear, specific goals regarding equity moving forward.
