Tag: Metro Nashville Public Schools

Comptroller Report Shows Tennessee Public Schools Spent an Average Nearly $10K per Pupil in 2019-20 School Year

The Center Square

New data from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability shows Tennessee public schools spent an average of $9,753 per student during the 2019-20 school year.

The comptroller data shows the Franklin Special School District had the highest per-pupil spending in the state at $15,582.19. Oak Ridge Schools was second at $13,041.51 per pupil, and Metro Nashville Public Schools was third at $12,374.33 per student. Union County Public Schools had the lowest spending per pupil at $7,935.77.

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Tennessee Watchdog Nonprofit Wants Investigation into a Nashville Schools’ COVID Contractor

Bradley Vasoli
Meharry Medical College

The Beacon Center of Tennessee, a Nashville-based policy institute and fiscal watchdog, has added its voice to those calling for an investigation into Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) contract with Meharry Medical College Ventures. 

The contract provided COVID-19 testing and other services, including a COVID website for the school district—one that cost about $1.8 million.

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Parents, Educators Dispute over Critical Race Theory, Wit and Wisdom Curriculum at Metro Nashville Public Schools Board Meeting

Corinne Murdock

Parents and educators debated over the Wit and Wisdom curriculum and critical race theory during the Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) board meeting on Tuesday.

The room was filled with individuals, 60 of which had signed up to speak. Not all of the public commentary concerned the Wit and Wisdom curriculum or critical race theory – but the dialogue that did focus on those two topics was equally, deeply divided. A total of 10 individuals spoke in favor of critical race theory and the Wit and Wisdom curriculum; 3 spoke against it.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Drops Mask Requirement for Fall Semester

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) announced Tuesday that they won’t require students or faculty to wear masks for the upcoming school year.

MNPS said that these updated COVID protocols were “commonsense.” In the announcement, MNPS Director of Schools Adrienne Battle asserted that masks for the unvaccinated were strongly encouraged – especially for those with underlying health conditions or students under 12 years old. Otherwise, Battle said that MNPS will monitor case data in the event they need to adjust masking requirements.

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Metro Nashville Public School Leaders Hosted Panel on ‘Antiracist Teaching, Learning, and Leading in Classroom’

Corinne Murdock
Screencap from the school board panel

On Saturday, several Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) leaders were featured in a panel discussing anti-racist teaching, learning, and leading in the classroom. The Educators Cooperative (EDCO) hosted leaders Christiane Buggs, MNPS Board Chair, and Ashford Hughes, MNPS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Executive Officer as two of their four keynote panelists.

Buggs and Hughes were part of a larger EDCO conference, titled “Keeping What Works After Trying It All: A Celebration of Educator Brilliance.” Their panel specifically focused on a follow-up to the EDCO series, “Antiracist Teaching, Learning, and Leading from the Classroom.” The goal of their keynote panel on Saturday was to review educator progress on assumptions and practices that either build up or detract from culturally responsive classrooms. EDCO identified Buggs and Hughes as leaders in equitable education.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Says It Won’t Implement Critical Race Theory

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) informed The Tennessee Star that it doesn’t plan to implement critical race theory.

MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted responded to inquiries from The Star about remarks from the district’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion executive officer, Ashford Hughes. We asked whether Hughes would implement any of the banned tenets in MNPS’s forthcoming “Equity Roadmap,” and if MNPS planned to implement critical race theory. This was Braisted’s response.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools’ Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Head Promotes Critical Race Theory Openly

Corinne Murdock
Ashford Hughes Sr.

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Executive Officer promoted critical race theory over Juneteenth weekend. The DEI head, Ashford Hughes, encouraged his followers to read “Critical Race Theory: the Key Writings That Formed the Movement.” Among the co-authors of the 1995 book is Kimberlé Crenshaw, a scholar that helped found and popularize critical race theory.

“This Juneteenth weekend I hope we can increase the debate around what Critical Race Theory actually IS by reading the scholarly works that have been written by leaders of the theory for over 30 plus years,” wrote Hughes. “This book should be on your shelf whether you oppose or support [it].”

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Metro Nashville Schools Allows Faculty to Implement ‘Gender Support Plan’ for Students Aged 16+ Without Parental Consent or Knowledge

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) faculty may implement a “Gender Support Plan” for students aged 16 and over without parental consent – or knowledge.

The Tennessee Star obtained a copy of MNPS’s Gender Support Plan. After listing the student’s preferred name, if any, the plan includes a questionnaire asking if the parent or guardian is aware and in support of the student’s gender status. It also notes that Gender Support Plans involving students under the age of 16 must be consulted with Student Services. Additionally, the plan asks what considerations must be accounted for concerning student safety if parental or guardian support is low, and if it would be necessary to develop a “safety plan.”

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Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order Last July Contradicts Claims to Sean Hannity That He’s Been Against Masking Kids

Corinne Murdock

Governor Bill Lee claimed that he’s been against masking kids, but his executive order last July contradicts his remarks. Lee made that claim during a special panel interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Lee was featured alongside fellow Republican Governors Kristi Noem (South Dakota), Ron DeSantis (Florida), Kim Reynolds (Iowa), and Christopher Sununu (New Hampshire). Near the very end of Executive Order No. 55, Lee “strongly encouraged” schools to impose mask mandates.

Local education agencies, schools, and institutions of higher education are strongly encouraged to implement a policy requiring the use of face coverings by students and staff, with appropriate exemptions, and consistent with any policies issued by the Tennessee Department of Education. No policy, local order, or official may prohibit a student, teachers, school employee, or visitor from voluntarily wearing a face covering except to the extent that such face covering presents a safety or security risk. (emphasis added)

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MNPS Security Officers File Numerous Workplace Complaints

Cooper Moran

Security officers serving the Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) system have been subject to a toxic work environment, according to the 14 complaints submitted to the human resources and employee relations departments. 

“The morale itself has been low. We had grievance upon grievance just sitting there. Not being answered. Nobody reached out. Nobody followed up,” Security Officer James Franklin Spencer III told WKRN.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Board Chair Joins Campaign to Stop Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education Chair Christiane Buggs announced her alliance with Save Nashville Now, a grassroots campaign to defeat the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. It is unclear whether this alliance poses a breach of MNPS ethics policy. According to the Metro Nashville Board of Education’s Boardmanship Code of Ethics, board members shouldn’t represent special interests or partisan politics.

“[Board members] will represent at all times the entire school community and refuse to represent special interests or partisan politics,” states the policy.

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Lawsuit Against Metro Nashville Public Schools for Making 4th-Graders Pretend to be Slaves Dismissed by Federal Judge

Corinne Murdock

On Monday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) and one of their teachers for a lesson making 4th-graders pretend to be slaves. U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger wrote in the ruling that the parents who filed the suit failed to state a claim in which relief may be granted.

The plaintiffs in the case Doe v. Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, et. al were the parents of a 4th grade Black student called John Doe for anonymity. The lesson plan was titled after the assigned reading “Let’s Make a Slave,” a graphic, violent speech purportedly given by an 18th-century white slave owner named Willie Lynch as advice on making slaves submissive.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Will Continue Requiring Masks, After Nashville Officials Ended the Mask Mandate Last Week

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) announced last week that they will continue enforcing their mask mandate indefinitely. The announcement came out Friday – the same day that Metro Nashville health officials ended the mask mandate.

The Tennessee Star reported on a recent court ruling that schools lacked the legal authority to impose a mask mandate contrary to state and their local government policy decisions. The Star inquired with MNPS about the relationship between this ruling and their decision to continue the mask mandate. MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted told The Star that the case referenced doesn’t prevent a school district from enacting or enforcing mask requirements. The Star asked if this ruling would jeopardize MNPS’s qualified immunity if parents challenged the mask mandate in court. Braisted responded that MNPS wouldn’t comment on hypothetical legal challenges.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Considering Paying Up to $500,000 for Additional Diversity Consultant

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) may award up to $500,000 in a contract for a new diversity consultant. MNPS Board of Education is considering an addition for the school district’s Diversity Business Enterprise (DBE) Program.

The MNPS diversity consultant, if approved, would be Gwendolyn Sims. She runs the Sims Strategic Diversity Consultants, which specializes in DBEs as well as diversity programs and management for contractors and companies. She’s identified as “Gwendolyn Davis” on her website.

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Critical Race Theory in Our Backyard: Metro Nashville Public Schools’ ‘Equity Roadmap’

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) may be the next leader in critical race theory (CRT) integration into classrooms. Their “Equity Roadmap” largely originated with MNPS’s newest Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Executive Officer, Ashford Hughes Sr. – a big CRT advocate and outspoken anti-racist.

Hughes served previously as the Chief DEI Officer for Nashville Mayor John Cooper from February 2018 until October 2019. During that time, Hughes submitted a report that was also called a “roadmap” to achieve DEI throughout all of Metro Nashville – the “DEI Roadmap.”

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Tennessee Supreme Court Agrees to Hear State’s School Voucher Appeal

Corinne Murdock

The Tennessee Supreme Court has agreed to the state’s appeal on the constitutionality of its education savings account program (ESA). The pilot school voucher program has been tied up in a legal battle for all of 2020 after its passage by the General Assembly in 2019, thereby preventing any planned advancement of the program.

The program was previously ruled unconstitutional by Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Anne Martin. She assessed it would disproportionately impact two counties: Shelby County Schools (SCS) and Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). Those districts reportedly contain about 90 percent of the state’s failing schools list. The Court of Appeals upheld Martin’s decision last September.

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After Around 25K Truant and 6K Transferred Students, Metro Nashville Public Schools Announces It Will Resume In-Person Learning

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) announced Monday that phased in-person learning would begin this week. The news was presented at a press conference on Monday. MNPS Board Chair Christiane Buggs, MNPS Director Dr. Adrienne Battle, Meharry Medical College President and CEO Dr. James Hildreth, Meharry Medical College Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement Patrick Johnson, and Nashville Mayor John Cooper were present.

According to the reopening plan, special needs students at Genesis Academy and High Roads School of Nashville will return to classrooms on Thursday. Then, preschoolers, K-4 students, and those with exceptional needs may return starting February 9. Grades 5 and 9 may return on February 18, followed by grades 6, 7, and 8 on February 25. The last to return will be the remainder of high schoolers – grades 10-12 – on March 3. 

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Mayor Cooper Claims Metro Schools May Open Up ‘Very Soon’

Corinne Murdock

Mayor John Cooper claimed on Thursday that Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) may open up in the near future. He cited the downturn in local COVID-19 case metrics as the main indicator of this prediction, though he didn’t offer any specific timelines.

“[O]ur COVID metrics continue to improve,” stated Cooper. “We’re working with public health and MNPS to evaluate the timely and responsible return of an in-person learning option on a daily basis. Current case trends will allow MNPS to have an in-person option very soon.”

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Metro Nashville School Board Doesn’t Have a Set Date for Reopening Schools

Corinne Murdock

Tuesday’s school board meeting made it clear that Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) doesn’t have an exact date for getting kids back in the classroom. As in past weeks, Metro Nashville Board of Public Education reiterated that reopening would be contingent on the level of community spread charted by the city.

In a director’s report presented by District 6 representative Fran Bush, it was revealed that the current level of community spread sits at 8. Bush repeated the same information found on the MNPS website regarding reopening: in order to gradually reopen, the measurement needs to be at 7 or below.

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Metro School Board Chair Vacationed in St. Lucia Shortly Before Closing Schools Due to COVID-19

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board Chair Christiane Buggs caught parents’ ire for continuing to keep schools closed in light of her activities in recent months. Shortly before the ongoing school closure began in November, Buggs hosted an election watch party and then vacationed internationally.

Buggs defended the board’s initial decision in the fall to adjust all schools to virtual learning. She described it as a necessity, explaining how her own father was concurrently battling COVID-19. Buggs explained that he was infected while working at one of their middle schools. She stated that preventing the spread was paramount to in-person learning, which she described as a “convenience.”

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Metro Nashville Schools Sending All Students to Distance-Learning After Thanksgiving

Jason M. Reynolds

Citing the “the alarming increase in the spread of COVID-19,” Metro Nashville Public Schools will move all students to distance-learning after the Thanksgiving break.

The district on Monday evening tweeted, “Metro Schools is returning to all-virtual learning following the Thanksgiving break on November 30 through the end of the semester, December 17.”

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Catholic Charities Receives $7M State Grant to Expand Services into Middle Tennessee Counties, But Model May Duplicate Liberal Advocacy Policies from Nashville

Jason M. Reynolds

Catholic Charities of Tennessee is receiving $7.3 million in state grant funds to expand social services to 10 Middle Tennessee counties, but part of the organization’s model is based on liberal services performed in Nashville.

The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) said it is giving $50 in grants to 23 organizations and educational entities through its Two Generation (2Gen) approach.

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Metro School Board Member and Plaintiff Fran Bush Says Constitutional Lawsuit Against Former Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph is Still Pending

Jason M. Reynolds

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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Truancy Letters Sent to Parents of Virtual Learners Should Be ‘Thrown in the Trash,’ Metro Nashville School Board Member Fran Bush Says

Jason M. Reynolds

Metro Nashville reportedly sent nearly 6,000 truancy letters to the parents of students doing virtual learning, and one school board member says that is wrong and the letters should be “thrown in the trash.”

School Board member Fran Bush made the comment to The Tennessee Star on Sunday.

MNPS sent the truancy letters because of poor student attendance in distance learning, NewsChannel 5 said. The letters threaten legal action against parents or guardians of students who have five or more unexcused absences.

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McGavock High School Aviation Teacher and His Program Compete for Share of $1M Award from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Program

Jason M. Reynolds

  Derek Rowe, a Nashville high school aviation maintenance teacher, is one of 50 educators and teacher-teams who were named semifinalists of the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, according to a press release. Rowe, a teacher at McGavock High School in Nashville, and his skilled trades program are in the running for a share of $1 million in total cash awards, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools said in a statement. More information about the program is available here. Rowe, who teaches aviation maintenance, was chosen by an independent panel of judges from among a field of 749 skilled trades teachers who applied for the prize. The semifinalists—some competing as individuals and some as teacher teams—hail from 26 states and specialize in trades including manufacturing, welding, construction, automotive and agriculture mechanics. Rowe moved to the United States six years ago from Great Britain to work as a training director with a helicopter company, according to a Metro Nashville Schools blog. That did not work, and he began teaching at the teach high school level. Rowe has been an aviation instructor for more than 30 years, serving 17 of those years in the British Army as a…

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Superintendent Should Report to Nashville’s Mayor, Carol Swain Tells WSMV, But Education Expert Says State Requires School Boards to Oversee Directors

Jason M. Reynolds

  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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More Than 900 Metro Nashville Teachers Stage Second Consecutive Sick Out Day to Protest Three Percent Raise

Jason M. Reynolds

  Hundreds of Metro Nashville teachers on Monday called out sick for the second day in a row to protest the size of their promised pay increase. WKRN reported that at least 906 teachers were absent Monday. A Metro Nashville Public Schools official told the station that reasons included personal and family illness, professional and personal leave and bereavement. The totals included 86 teachers from McGavock High School, WKRN said. On Friday, a total of 1,093 teachers and over 400 staff members from at least 18 schools were reported to have called out, The Tennessee Star reported. A total of 125 of McGavock’s 141 teachers stayed home Friday. The Nashville Scene reported that Friday’s sick out estimate has since been revised down to 960 teachers and 400 staff. Metro Nashville Mayor David Briley is proposing a 3 percent raise for educators, but that is not setting well with them. Educators, along with the school board, are demanding a 10 percent increase. Monday’s sick out forced the 9th grade college field trip at Hillsboro High School to be canceled. NewsChannel 5 said. One Twitter account that has been involved in the sick outs indicated that educators would return to their classrooms today.…

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Over 1,400 Metro Nashville Teachers, Staff Scoff at Proposed Three Percent Raise, Call Out Sick Friday

Jason M. Reynolds

More than 1,400 Metro Nashville Public Schools teachers and school staff scoffed at receiving a 3 percent pay raise and called out sick Friday, WKRN said. A total of 1,093 teachers and over 400 staff members from at least 18 schools called out. McGavock High School was one of the hardest hit, with 125 of 141 teachers staying home, WKRN said. Metro Nashville Public Schools denied all the absences were due to the strike. Mayor David Briley proposed a 3 percent raise during his State of Metro speech Tuesday, WKRN said. Teachers had demanded a 10 percent increase. The proposed city budget is $2.33 billion, a 4.55 percent increase over the current year, Nashville Public Radio said. Briley is calling for $101.5 million in new spending, with most going to Metro Schools ($28.2 million), salaries ($23.3 million) and debt service ($44.1 million). Mayoral candidate Carol Swain said in a press release she stands with the 1,400-plus teachers. “MNPS’s sickout is another glaring symptom of a broken system,” Swain said. “As Nashville’s next mayor, I would work with teachers, parents, school board members and other stakeholders to identify and creatively address the broken system where teachers and low-wage employees have become afterthoughts.…

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Metro Nashville Public School Board Member Will Pinkston Resigns as Vote on Terminating Director Shawn Joseph Appears Imminent

Laura Baigert

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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Metro Nashville Public School Board Member Will Pinkston Reportedly Calls People ‘Nitwits’

Chris Butler

Metro Nashville Public School board member Will Pinkston reportedly thinks that people who complain to him about the latest goings-on at the school system are “nitwits.” This, according to the Nashville-based NewsChannel 5, which publicized a series of tweets Pinkston recently released. “An email sent to Metro School Board members on Tuesday criticizing MNPS leadership set off a flurry of tweets and responses from School Board member Will Pinkston, referring to apparent critics as ‘broke nitwits,’” the station reported. “The email sent to school board members by David Jones was later posted on Twitter, which prompted the response from Pinkston.” “’I like making nitwits meltdown on Twitter,” Pinkston wrote in a tweet. “It’s kind of a thing.” Pinkston, when tweeting again, said Jones has no right to criticize as he does not live in Davidson County. “I’ve got enough to do without fielding bone-headed missives from Rutherford County,” the station reported Pinkston as tweeting. Jones wife Katie, though, said she is a tenured teacher who works for the Metro Nashville Public Schools. “Your response to the email is both shocking and unprofessional,” the station reported Katie Jones as saying when she wrote back. “As a teacher, if I responded to…

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Metro Nashville Schools Director Ducks Questions on Sexual Harassment And His Handling of Complaints

Jason M. Reynolds
Shawn Joseph

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 Faces Reality of Heavy Borrowing in $34 Million Revenue Shortfall

Jason M. Reynolds
John Cooper

Surprise! Nashville is growing skyscrapers and other developments at an ever-increasing rate yet faces a $34 million revenue shortfall. Councilman-at-large John Cooper, who is on Metro’s Budget and Finance Committee says Nashville’s revenue continues to grow faster than most cities, to the tune of a couple billion dollars, NewsChannel 5 reports. At the same time, Metro can’t fully fund schools or provide promised pay raises to employees, and some are calling for a property tax hike. Nashville has been glutted with massive capital projects despite some narrow misses. Most of the new money has gone to debt service to pay for pretty and shiny projects like the Sounds baseball stadium and the convention center, plus more conventional needs like school improvements. Borrowing costs have increased about $100 million in the last five years. Former Mayor Megan Barry’s resignation earlier this year following a sex and ethics scandal was followed by the failure of the $9 billion transit plan, the Nashville Scene reports. Then there was Barry’s quickly abandoned plan to end inpatient care at Metro General Hospital, the same week that the Metro Council approved a $275 million soccer stadium plan; the proposed Cloud Hill development, a sweetheart deal for…

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Council on Islamic Education Worked with Textbook Publishers, Educational Organizations and Teachers to Erase ‘Miconceptions’

Chris Alto

Public school students across the country are receiving instruction about Islam from proselytizing Muslim speakers using the excuse of “correcting misconceptions” even though the Council on Islamic Education (CIE), worked for years with textbook publishers, provided teacher training and supplemental classroom resources for teaching about Islam consistent with state social studies standards. Shabbir Mansuri founded CIE in 1991, to: provide academic support and scholarly resources about Islam and Muslim history to K-12 textbook publishers, educators, and others. We went on to cultivate expertise in world history and teaching about world religions, producing assessments of national and history-social studies state standards, training thousands of teachers, publishing high-quality teaching materials, and reviewing numerous social studies textbooks. To that end, CIE sponsored multiple conferences focusing on textbook content and national standards related to teaching about Islam and Muslims. In 2007, CIE changed its name to the Institute on Religion and Civic Values. An article posted on SoundVision, an organization that promotes proselytizing Islam to students in public school, quoted Abigail Jungreis, Editorial Director for school social studies at Houghton Mifflin regarding CIE: We’ve had a really good relationship with them [the CIE] over the years. Their reviewers are knowledgeable, access to primary source materials. She gives Susan…

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Students in Tennessee And Across the Country Are Targeted By Proselytizers of Islam Claiming to Address ‘Misconceptions’

Chris Alto

Last month, students from Nashville’s Meigs Middle Magnet School received a presentation about Islam during a field trip to the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN). The mosque’s Director of Operations, Dina Sirois, told the students that they would “talk about beliefs and practices in Islam” and that “another little piece of your brain that has some new little storage compartment” would get “filled with Islam stuff.” Anna Shepherd, Chairman of the Metro Nashville School Board, defended the ICN presentation  when questioned by The Tennessee Star, saying that “[Sirois] was addressing any misconceptions the students/parents might have had in the context of the [social studies] standards.” U.S.-based Islamist organizations proselytize Islam to public school students through presentations alleged to “correct misconceptions,” “supplement the curriculum in the context of social studies standards” or “correct inadequate and biased” teaching resources. Rashed Fakhruddin, president of the ICN is also a founding member of the Tennessee American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC),  which in 2012 became a formal affiliate of the Islamic Networks Group (ING) and established an Islamic speaker’s bureau with training using ING’s prepared presentations. ING claims that its outreach to middle and high schools will correct “inadequate and biased” teaching resources, supplement the curriculum in the context of the standards…

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Fourteen Students Charged in Brawl Fueled by Ethnic Tensions at Nashville’s Overton High School

Wendy Wilson

Fourteen students at Overton High School in Nashville faced charges Tuesday after a massive fight broke out on campus. Police said the brawl was between male students of Latino and Kurdish descent ranging in age from 14 to 19. There were no serious injuries. Twelve juveniles were charged with disorderly conduct, with one also charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. The student put his hand on the officer’s holstered gun during the struggle, according to a spokesman with the Metro Nashville Police Department. All twelve were taken to juvenile detention. Two adult students, 18-year-old Bayar Abdullah and 19-year-old Azad Abdullah, were charged with disorderly conducted and issued misdemeanor citations. Located on Franklin Road north of Brentwood, Overton High School is one of the most diverse high schools in the South with hundreds of immigrant and refugee students. The school was placed on lockdown around 11 a.m. because of the fight. WSMV News 4 reported that the fight broke out upstairs in one of the freshman hallways and bathrooms. According to WSMV: A student told News 4 there is one hallway inside the school that is referred to as the “Kurdish hallway,” and another is referred to as the “Mexican…

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Administrator Accused of Sexual Harassment

Wendy Wilson

An administrator with Metro Nashville Public Schools has been put on paid administrative pending an investigation into charges of sexual harassment. Moreno Carrasco, executive officer for priority schools, received a letter from employee relations last week citing “accusations of harassment committed by you towards female staff members at MNPS.” The letter noted that “this period of administrative leave is not a form of disciplinary action, it is just for the purpose of investigation.” Carrasco was tapped by Superintendent Shawn Joseph in summer 2016 to lead efforts to turn around the district’s lowest-performing schools. Joseph had recently been named superintendent and knew Carrasco from when they both worked in Maryland. Carrasco held positions in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland as a central office administrator and school principal. In 2007, he won the Met Life High School Principal of the Year award for Maryland, given by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. In a Metro Nashville Public Schools newsletter at the time Carrasco was hired, Joseph called Carrasco “one of the strongest school leaders I have worked with.” “He can be a coach, a strategist and a mentor, which is exactly what our highest priority schools need,” Joseph said. “He learned…

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Chairman of Metro Nashville School Board Defends Mosque Speaker Giving Students Misleading Information

Chris Alto

On October 17th, students from Metro Nashville Meigs Middle Magnet School visited the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) where Dina Sirois, the mosque’s operations director, told them that they would “talk about beliefs and practices in Islam.” The Tennessee Star contacted Ms. Anna Shepherd, Chairman of the Metro Nashville School Board about the audio recording of the presentation given to the students, and asked the following questions: how to find a copy or link to the MNPS policy that complies with the [2016] Tennessee law [regarding inclusion of religion in local curriculum] and whether public notice and comment related to the adoption of the Metro policy was provided as required by the state law how to access information required by part (c) of the state law [a complete syllabus that includes information regarding major assignments and field trips] confirmation as to whether MNPS considers that the provisions in the [state law] also apply to guest speakers on and off school grounds during field trips Ms. Shepherd responded as follows, explaining: Please see the policies below in regard to religious education. I hope these are helpful. Sixth and seventh grade students study a number of religions as part of state’s approved Social Studies Standards. Sixth grade concentrates…

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Textbook Shows Islamic Center of Nashville Speaker Was Misleading to Public School Students About Islam

Chris Alto

The presentation to students from Metro Nashville Meigs Middle Magnet School at the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) on October 17th was misleading when compared to corresponding information in a popular Islamic school textbook. ICN’s Director of Operations Dina Sirois claimed that her talk to the students was not about “trying to win you over,” presumably a disclaimer of proselytizing Islam to the students which would otherwise violate federal and state law. However, her comparisons between Islam, Christianity and Judaism, especially when considered in light of her incomplete explanations on topics such as the resurrection of Jesus and jihad, suggests that her talk was more in line with the Islamic mandate of dawa and designed to be “the seeds of Islam [that] can be sowed inside the hearts of non-Muslim students.” But a school textbook included in a video about Annoor Academy, a private Islamic school in Knoxville, shows that Sirois’s explanation of Muslims’ belief in the resurrection of Jesus is incomplete making it appear the intention was to have students think that Christian and Muslim beliefs are more alike than different. A 2013 promo YouTube video for Annoor Academy shows a row of textbooks titled What Islam Is All About. (See at the 1:04…

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Metro Nashville Students Visit Local Mosque for Religious Instruction

Chris Alto

On October 17th, students from Metro Nashville Meigs Middle Magnet School visited the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) where Dina Sirois, operations director of the mosque, told them that they would “talk about beliefs and practices in Islam.” An audio recording of Sirois’ presentation was forwarded to The Tennessee Star. Using a set of prepared slides, Sirois alternated between talking about Islamic religious doctrine and posing comparisons of Islam to Judaism and Christianity. She opened her talk telling the students that: We’re all on a learning journey and on a faith journey and today’s talk is to expand your critical thinking skills. We’re not trying to win you over. We’re trying to give you information so you can leave here today with yet another little piece of your brain that has some new little storage compartment that has been filled with Islam stuff and then you take that on with your life and your faith journey and then you keep adding more and more aspects from different faiths and different cultures until you make your final decision as to what kind of person you want to be when you grow up. Sirois described how she came from a “mixed family”: So I call…

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