Tag: Metro Nashville Public Schools

Two Metro Nashville Schools Where Students Allegedly Brought Weapons Received ‘D’s’ on Their State Performance Reviews

Tom Pappert

Two Metro Nashville students were arrested on Wednesday as a result of separate incidents at two Metro Nashville schools involving firearms. Both schools, a middle school and high school, received D grades by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE).

A 14-year-old student was arrested on Wednesday at Hunters Lane High School after another student reportedly told school administrators he suspected a firearm in the other student’s backpack. School administrators searched the backpack and found a semi-automatic pistol, prompting the student’s arrest and transport to a juvenile detention facility.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Unveils Potential Changes for One of District’s Highest Performing High Schools

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) is considering making changes to Martin Luther King Academic Magnet School (MLKAMS), one of Nashville’s highest-performing high schools.

At Tuesday’s school board meeting, district Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle unveiled plans to move seventh-grade and eighth-grade students to Head Middle School and rebrand that school as Head Middle School at MLK. If MNPS goes forward with its plans, MLKAMS will become a traditional high school serving ninth-grade to 12th-grade. MLKAMS currently teaches students from seventh-grade to 12th-grade.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Experiencing Wide Spread Internet Outages

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public School’s (MNPS) teachers and students face widespread internet outages after returning from fall break.

Sean Braisted, MNPS’s chief communications officer, told The Tennessee Star, “We’ve experienced network traffic issues over the past few days, primarily linked to changes during a recent upgrade that has led to increased network saturation.”

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Tennessee’s Public Charter School Commission Overturns Five Local Charter School Application Denials

TC Weber

At this year’s annual charter school appeals hearing, the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission (TPCSC) heard from eight proposed charter schools. State law permits charter authorizers who have been denied by the local authorizer to ask for reconsideration.

Established in 2022, as a means for those appeals to be heard, the commission has the power to overturn local decisions.

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Metro Nashville School Board Proposes Lottery Admission at Two Top Performing Schools to Increase Diversity

TC Weber

The Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) Board this week considered changing eligibility rules for admission to its two highly successful academic magnet schools – Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School and Hume-Fogg Academic High School. If adopted, all prospective students would be subject to a lottery system for admission.

The proposed rule change would not go into effect until the 2024 – 2025 school year, but if adopted, would sever established pathways for entry into MLK and Home-Fogg. Currently, Meigs Middle School and John Early Middle School serve as pathway schools to Hume-Fogg, while Head Middle School and Rose Park Middle School serve as pathways to MLK.

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Concerned Parent Blows Whistle on LGBT Material Displayed to Four-Year-Olds in Nashville Public School

Peter D'Abrosca

A concerned parent shared a photo with The Tennessee Star this week depicting an LGBT pride flag at Dan Mills Elementary School in Nashville, which he said is on display for children as young as four years old.

The pride flag is emblazoned with the words “MNPS for All,” and hangs above a poster that breaks students into groups by race and sexual orientation, noting that each group is “loved.”

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Amends Discipline Policy

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) adjusted its discipline policies for the upcoming school to all first-time violent offenders to avoid expulsion by enrolling in a five-hour anger management course.

The new program was first introduced to MNPS principals two weeks ago as the First Time Violent Offender Program. The district has since changed the name and now refers to the initiative as the First Time Behavior Support Program.

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Tennessee Department of Education Releases Data on Third-Grade Retention Appeals

TC Weber

This week, the Tennessee Department of Education(TDOE) released final data on third-grade retention appeals.

In 2021, Tennessee lawmakers passed the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act. It set forth key academic supports for third-grade students who did not score proficient on the English language arts (ELA) portion of their TCAP assessment. It further updated requirements for students to move to the next grade via multiple pathways for fourth-grade promotion.

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Tennessee Department of Education Releases District-Level TCAP Results

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released the 2022-23 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) district-level results. TCAP provides insight into how school districts are performing across the state.

TDOE reported 68 out of 141 public school districts had 38.7 percent of students’ scores “met expectations” or “exceeded expectations” across all grades and subjects tested. An additional 19 districts reported 50 percent of students scored in the “met” or “exceeded” categories. Only nine districts failed to increase overall proficiency rates compared to last school year, while 107 increased those rates compared to the 2019-20 school year.

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MNPS Announces New Principal and Executive Assignments for Upcoming School Year

TC Weber

When the 2023/2024 school year opens for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) there will be 23 new principals employed by the district. A slightly higher number than in previous years, due to several veteran principals choosing to either retire or accept a position with a surrounding district. In some instances, MNPS has chosen not to renew a seated principal’s contract. 

On Friday, the district revealed upcoming assignments for the new school leaders. They also named three new executive leadership placements, including one for the district’s long-term chief spokesman.

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Nashville Mayoral Candidates Offer Views on City Schools

TC Weber

A poll conducted in May on behalf of Tennesseans for Student Success by VictoryPhones, showed that Nashvillians prefer a mayoral candidate with a strong position on education and infrastructure. That quality slightly edged “positions on social issues” as the leading factor in who earned their vote.

In discussing education policy with Nashville mayoral candidates, The Tennessee Star found few variances between potential city leaders. All candidates supported Metro Nashville Public Schools and appreciated the past administration’s efforts to increase teacher pay. They all voice a commitment to ensuring that Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) are among the best in the country. Outwardly, none are choice advocates.

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TDOE Releases 3rd Grade TCAP Scores Late Friday, Leaves Parents Scrambling

TC Weber

As promised, the Tennessee Department of Education released results from this year’s TCAP test for third-graders to districts on Friday. However, it wasn’t until after 3;30 that the data was delivered.

Districts still have to sort through the data and identify exclusions – students who are English Learners or have a disability that affects their ability to read – before they can send notify families of student status, Students failing to score “proficient” are eligible for a retake. That exam window is scheduled to be open from May 22 -June 5.

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MNPS High School Student Pepper Sprays Teacher for Confiscating Phone, Both Say They Were Assaulted

TC Weber

A video depicting a female student pepper-spraying a male teacher at Antioch High School (AHS) went viral over the weekend. The minute-and-a-half video, surfacing on Friday, shows the confrontation between the two after the educator confiscated a cell phone from the student for using it during an exam in the classroom.  The student was asked repeatedly to put the phone away, The New York Post reported.     

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MNPS Budget Request Grows While Attendance Numbers Remain Flat

TC Weber

MNPS has submitted a proposed budget that requires a funding increase of 5% over last year to maintain the status quo while addressing inflationary costs. The request comes even as MNPS enrollment remains flat. 

District enrollment – traditional and charter schools included – grew by o.26%, or 622 students, from 79,651 to 80,273 students in Pre-school to grade school. Tradition school enrollment grew by 460 students, while district-authorized charter school enrollment grew by 162 students. 

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MNPS Leaders Present Proposed Upcoming School Year Budget to School Board

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) leaders presented their proposed budget for the 2023/2024 school year to the school board.

Included in the presentation were numbers for a baseline budget that allows MNPS to maintain this year’s services, along with requests for additional money to fund new programs. The baseline budget called for an extra $55 million to account for inflation and raised the needed funding to just over $1.1 billion.

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Nashville Students Walk Out for Anti-Gun Protest

Peter D'Abrosca

Monday marked another day of anti-gun protests in Nashville, as hundreds of Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) students walked out of school and marched to the Tennessee State Capitol demanding gun control. 

“HUNDREDS of students, activists, and community members in Nashville walked out of school this morning with us and are walking to the state Capital to DEMAND action against gun violence,” said the anti-gun group March For Our Lives on Twitter, attaching a video of some of the student protestors. 

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Offers No Details on Student, Parent Involvement in Capitol Riot

Peter D'Abrosca

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) did not return a Friday comment request from The Tennessee Star seeking further clarifications about students and parents who were reportedly involved in Thursday’s protest-turned-riot at the Tennessee Capitol building.

WTVF reported Thursday that thousands of parents and students gathered at the Capitol to protest in favor of gun control.

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Report Says Tennessee Schools Spent COVID-19 Funds on Unrelated Projects

Peter D'Abrosca

A new report by the Beacon Center of Tennessee says that $4 billion worth of federal COVID-19 relief funding allocated to Tennessee’s school systems was largely spent on items unrelated to COVID-19. 

“The data suggests that Tennessee public schools have budgeted or spent millions of dollars on areas that had little to nothing to do with COVID or student performance,” said Beacon Research Associate and report author Jason Edmonds. “School districts across the state budgeted tens of millions of dollars for ‘indirect costs’ without any further explanation and also funded pet projects such as walk-in coolers and retractable bleachers.”

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Metro Nashville Schools Working with Police on Safety Protocols Following Uvalde Mass Shooting

Peter D'Abrosca

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) confirmed Wednesday that it is working with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) on safety protocols after Tuesday’s deadly mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. 

“Primarily precinct-based officers are visiting elementary schools today where they are providing reassurance and discussing existing protocols,” MNPD spokeswoman Kristin Mumford told The Tennessee Star Wednesday. 

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Says They Will Not Close Schools Amidst COVID-19 Spike

Aaron Gulbransen

Metro Nashville Public Schools said on Monday that shutting down in-person learning and switching the district to remote learning is “not an option”. 

An email sent out to staff by MNPS stated, “So, to be clear, switching the district to remote learning during this wave is not an option, and closing schools is not an option without extending the school year into the summer”. This is in compliance with current state guidelines, individual classrooms or schools may temporarily switch to remote learning for up to seven days, school districts are not allowed to. The need must also be documented.

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Nashville Chamber of Commerce Could Push to Restructure the City’s Public Schools

Chris Butler

Members of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce said they are displeased with the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), so much so the schools might require a dramatic restructuring — at least at the school board level. Axios reported this week that chamber members might prefer to do away with electing school board members. Instead, local government officials could appoint them.

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Metro Nashville School System Employees Complain COVID-19 Precautions Have Created Unreasonable Working Conditions

Chris Butler

Certain Metro Nashville Public School employees have come forward with a petition to say that COVID-19 safety precautions and staffing shortages have burdened them and created more difficult working conditions. On their Facebook page, MNEA officials complained of inconsistent contact tracing, bus drivers making double and triple routes without additional pay, and support staff covering classes for $2 an hour.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Partner with Vanderbilt University to Address ‘Educational Inequities’

Cooper Moran

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) and Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College are partnering to address ‘educational inequities’ in the Nashville area.

According to the two groups, the project will have the goal of “producing actionable, innovative and scalable research to address racial and social inequities in pre-K-12 schools.”

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Report: Metro Nashville Public Schools Paid Consultants $11 Million to ‘Help Students Return to School,’ But Insider Says They Did ‘Almost Nothing’

Zachery Schmidt

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) in January paid millions of dollars to Meharry Medical College Ventures (MMCV) to help students return to school, however, according to a person who worked in a city public school, the workers did “almost nothing.”

“It was boring, it was really boring and I said to this guy, ‘So this is what you do? You sit in this room for 8 hours?’ He said ‘No, occasionally I get up and walk the hall and at the end of the day go to one of the doors where the children leave’ and that was it,” an unidentified person told Fox 17 News.

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