The lawsuit against former Metro Nashville Public Schools superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph and the Metro government is still pending, one of the plaintiffs, a school board member, says.
Fran Bush is one of three MNPS school board members who are suing Joseph and the Metro government. The other plaintiffs are board members Jill Speering and Amy Frogge.
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WSMV polled the four major Nashville mayoral candidates on whether the Metro Nashville Public Schools superintendent should report to the mayor instead of the school board, and only one said “Yes.” That candidate was Dr. Carol Swain. WSMV’s story is here. The Metro Nashville mayoral candidates who were polled were Swain, incumbent Mayor David Briley, State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-TN-55) and at-large Metro Council member John Cooper. Swain told WSMV, “I believe the director of schools should report to the mayor because there has to be some accountability. We’ve had problems in the past. The school board has a budget of almost a billion dollars and we know that we have some of the worst performing schools in the state.” Briley, Clemmons and Cooper said “No.” One education expert told The Tennessee Star that requiring a superintendent to report to an authority other than a school board would be unprecedented. JC Bowman, executive director of the Professional Educators of Tennessee, said, “That structure does not exist in Tennessee. Mayors in urban areas around the nation have closely aligned economic development with K-12 education. However, we have elected school boards to exercise oversight in the state of Tennessee of public schools.”…
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Dr. Shawn Joseph is out as Metro Nashville Schools superintendent — and you can take that to the bank, or at least, Joseph can take more than $261,000 to the bank. The school board voted 5-3 Tuesday to buy Joseph’s contract out, according to NewsChannel 5. Board members Dr. Sharon Gentry, Rachel Anne Elrod, Christiane Buggs, Will Pinkston, and Gini Pupo-Walker voted for the buyout. Jill Speering, Amy Frogge, and Fran Bush voted against the deal. Dr. Joseph did not attend the school board meeting, nor did Anna Shepherd, who was out sick. … The buyout would have Joseph earn his normal salary through July 31st, 2019, in addition to being paid for any accumulated vacation time, and potentially sick time. He would then be cut a check for $261,250. The board would also pay for up to $10,000 in attorney fees for Joseph in the defense of his license by the Tennessee State Board of Education. The board has proposed a one-year suspension for failing to reporter teacher misconduct cases. (sic) Joseph last month told the board it needed to discuss terms of his departure, NewsChannel 5 said, even as the station revealed the State Board of Education wanted…
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Nashville Mayor David Briley says he plans to effectively seize control of the school board and lambasted board members who are trying to remove embattled Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph, Fox 17 said. Briley then turned his ire to the Metro Nashville School Board, saying he “will use all my legal authority to influence the school board functions from this day forward.” … Dr. Joseph has previously stated he will not seek to extend his contract when it expires in 2020. Mayor Briley said he plans to be involved in the search for a new director as well as how the school board handles operations and finances. According to NewsChannel 5, Briley called school board members racist but tried to deny it. “Some of our school board members have not acknowledged why their actions are seen through a racial lens. They’ve failed to acknowledge the legacy of racism and the legacy of systemic racism in Nashville, the legacy of inequality that this city is still trying to overcome today,” he said. Briley went on to say that he’s not calling anyone “a racist” and added he knows most people in leadership have “good intentions” and “good hearts.” Metro Nashville Schools have…
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Sharing his letter of resignation with the public via Twitter, Metro Nashville Public School Board member Will Pinkston called out the body on which he serves “impossibly inept,” just as another school board member has announced plans to make a motion to terminate School Director Dr. Shawn Joseph. Elected to Metro Nashville Board of Public Education in 2012 representing the 7th District of South and Southeast Nashville, Pinkston graduated from Metro Nashville Public Schools and, as a senior advisor, “helped Gov. Phil Bredesen shape the education agenda that made Tennessee the fastest-improving state in the history of the Nation’s Report Card,” according to his campaign website. Pinkston’s letter addressed to Dr. Sharon Gentry, Chair of the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education dated March 25, whom Pinkston praised, was not voted into the position as Chair without dissension, The Tennessee Star reported. Pinkston told Gentry in his letter that while his resignation from the Board is effective April 12, his resignation as Chair of the Budget & Finance Committee chair is effective immediately. Pinkston’s Twitter release of his letter of resignation included the comment, “Talk amongst yourselves. I decided this about a month ago, but Friday’s insane board retreat expedited…
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“Chaos” is one word used by a teacher to describe student behavior in Metro Nashville Schools during a shocking town hall discussion hosted by Phil Williams of NewsChannel 5. A story about the town hall discussion is available here. “There’s no accountability for the students,” one teacher said. Metro Nashville Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph is trying to reduce the number of students who receive suspensions. His policy, especially aimed at minorities, is blamed. Retired teacher Karen Gordon told Williams one of her former students was one of the youths who was arrested in connection to the murder of musician Kyle Yorlets. The district does not respect teachers’ opinions and does not give them resources to handle troubled students, they said. One shared how her principal laughed over her receiving a death threat. Joseph has generated his own controversy. The Tennessee Star reported last May that his playing explicit rap music during a principals meeting led to a civil rights complaint by a female school board member because the song “Blow the Whistle” degrades women. The Star also reported on a NewsChannel 5 story last August that Joseph ducked a reporter’s questions about alleged sexual harassment and coverups in the…
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Metro Nashville Schools’ director is ducking questions on alleged widespread sexual harassment — and coverups — in his district, news outlets are reporting. NewsChannel 5 reported last week that school director Dr. Shawn Joseph tried to run from their reporter who wanted an interview on the topic and his role in the investigations. The TV station has tried to interview him since June 5. He tried to dodge the station’s reporter at a news conference to ask about Dr. Sam Braden, the executive principal of John F. Kennedy Middle School in Antioch. Among other things, Braden allegedly hired a school employee from an adult bookstore he allegedly frequented, NewsChannel 5 said. He was placed on administrative leave two days after the station aired its story on him. Spinning the damage Joseph sent a memo to school board members, saying he was “concerned that the reporter … will report on information that was ‘alleged’” and he wanted to lobby the Tennessee General Assembly to keep human resources files secret, the station said. NewsChannel 5 also reported the school board met in closed executive session to discuss Braden. Braden’s lawyer, Michie Gibson, released a statement saying, “Dr. Braden denies all allegations made…
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Metro Nashville Public Schools is paying an “educational consultant” who does not have a four year college degree $80,000 in a 12 month contract to provide the school system with a “pilot project” that has vague deliverables. Bruce D. Taylor, who apparently had a similar consulting contract with the Prince George’s, Maryland school system when current MNPS Director Dr. Shawn Joseph was an administrator there, does not have a four year college degree in any subject from an accredited American university, according to both his Linked In profile and his own website. Taylor is the “educational consultant” who received a $25,000 contract with MNPS in 2016, shortly after Dr. Joseph was named MNPS Director, and an additional $80,000 contract for an additional 12 months that began on July 1, 2017 and continues until June 30, 2018. “When Dr. Shawn Joseph began as Metro’s director of schools almost two years ago, he skillfully convinced school board members to treat him more as a partner than an employee,” NewsChannel 5 reported in April: So when critics questioned his spending on a luxury vehicle and a driver, School Board Chair Anna Shepherd had his back. “I think that Dr. Joseph needs to do…
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Metro Nashville Schools Director Dr. Shawn Joseph’s love of explicit rap music is hitting a sour in the district. An attorney, Jamie Hollin, told NewsChannel 5 he represents “more than five” principals who attended a recent principals meeting in which Joseph played a portion of the song “Blow the Whistle” by rapper Too $hort. The song title refers to a sexual act in street lingo. According to Hollin and other principals who spoke to NewsChannel 5, Joseph told the group that, when dealing with a difficult board, he sometimes hears the song in his head. He played the following lyrics: I go on and on. Can’t understand how I last so long. I must have super powers. Rap two hundred twenty-five thousand hours. A school district spokesperson said Joseph cut off the song to avoid any explicit lyrics. However, the lyrics go on to use a word for women starting with the letter “B” several times. One female school board member has filed a complaint with the district’s civil rights coordinator. “I could not understand how this misogynistic song could be appropriate in ANY educational environment,” board Vice Chair Jill Speering said in the complaint. “What kind of example does this set for…
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The Metro Nashville Public Schools admitted the school system has a $7.5 million budgeting shortfall in a blockbuster announcement released on Friday. “Teachers braced for impact after Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Dr. Shawn Joseph made the stunning admission that the district was set to lose $7.5 million in state funding, due to a unpredicted drop in student enrollment numbers,” NewsChannel 5 reported. A grim fiscal outlook for next fiscal years, means some principals may be forced to cut as many as 17 positions at schools where enrollment decreases are the highest. For the first time in 15 years, Metro Nashville Public School’s enrollment numbers have dropped. District officials thought they would add more than 1,500 students in 2017 instead the district lost 500 students. Because of the drop in enrollment, the district is expected to lose $7.5 million in state funding, which had already been built into the budget. MNPS School Director Dr. Shawn Joseph offered no explanation for the administrative budgeting fiasco that failed to anticipate the enrollment decline in a letter sent to teachers on Friday. Instead, he simply acknowledged that a budget shortfall existed for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. “Budgeting for the many needs in our…
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