Budget Proposal

Board Recommends Aspirational Budget Proposal to Metro Government
Posted on 04/14/2021

The Metro Nashville Board of Education adopted a resolution to propose a budget and suggested budget investments to the Mayor and Metro Council for consideration in the 2021-22 Metro Budget.

“Our aspirational budget proposal allows us to meet the calls from the community for an aspirational budget that funds education, while giving the Mayor, Metro Council, and community a transparent view as to what it would cost for the many services and programs that could be implemented or expanded to meet the needs of the students we serve,” said Freda Player-Peters, Chair of the Board’s Budget Committee.

Over multiple virtual community meetings and presentations at the Board of Education, the district presented a continuity of operations budget that would fund step increases for teachers and support increases, as well as other mandatory increases to maintain the current levels of MNPS.

In addition to the continuity of operations, Dr. Adrienne Battle presented options for consideration of additional investments that can be leveraged to meet the seven budget priorities adopted by the Board:

  • Employee Compensation
  • Academic & Social-Emotional Learning Integration
  • Instructional Materials & Implementation Support
  • Infrastructure and Technology Support
  • Human Resources
  • Schools of Innovation
  • Community & Parent Engagement

Central to the investments is a teacher compensation study commissioned by Mayor John Cooper that seeks to revamp and repair a salary system that is failing to ensure Nashville remains competitive for teacher pay over the course of a teacher’s career. That compensation study, which was halted in 2020 due to the pandemic, is being reviewed and updated for release later this month by Mayor Cooper. The focused investments, a menu of options, represent different strategies for improving student focused outcomes in the areas of literacy, numeracy, social-emotional learning, and transitions. Certain strategies may be offset with other investments, or offset by federal stimulus funds, and so the total budget cost will be determined by which approaches are adopted by the Board of Education with the support of Metro Government.

Mayor Cooper will release his budget proposal for Metro Government by the end of April for consideration by the Metro Council, to include a proposed funding amount for Metro Schools. The Board of Education will adopt a formal budget proposal after that process that reflects the investments being made by the city to meet the needs of the students served by the district.

Read the 2021-22 Focused Investments proposal, linked below, and watch the Community Town Hall where district leaders presented the proposal and answered questions from attendees.

UPDATE: The Metro Council approved an $84 million increase in the MNPS operating budget for FY21-22. Click here for the final budget as approved by the Board of Education

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