001uh, committee meeting, um, and I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Battle. All right, good evening everyone. Um, we are, um, going to be sharing some updates, um, from our last, um, Board Finance Committee meeting. Um, we met several weeks ago to kind of kick off our budget process with just our draft thoughts around, um, the approved priorities, um, our continuity of operations as well as other aspirational, um, budget items. We have followed that up with, um, a community, um, budget meeting and, um, being responsive to questions that, um, we have received, um, from from board members. And so, Chief Robles is going to lead us through this, um, presentation and then at the end, um, we'll take any questions you may have. Thank you. Is this on? Yep. Well, thank you, Dr. Battle.
002Um, committee chair, board chair, members of the board. Um, so as Dr. Battle referenced today, I will share what is essentially the same information that we discussed on March 24th, but I'll pause on on on the couple of updates specifically on benefits now that we have some additional information as well as referencing some of the questions that, um, have been asked by the board throughout this process. Um, I have to start again with celebrations. This, um, underscores essentially and showcases the return on the investments that this board has been supported. So, we'll keep bringing them back because it is important reminder of why we, uh, prioritize these key investments. And as you know, um, the district has had the highest TCAP and EOC scores in MNPS history. Um, and, um, we have we are a
003four-time level five and advancing district, um, outpacing the state growth in several categories, double-digit increases in proficiency and a historical high graduation rate. And we are grateful for the support of this board, um, as well as, um, the mayor and, um, his team's support and our educators and families. Um, we certainly need all of us, uh, to support our students in demonstrating the the main the the fabulous things that they can do and accomplish when when they are supported. So, let's talk about, uh, the proposed, um, FY27 budget and review this information and some of the key updates. Uh, as I mentioned last time, um, our budget process is anchored in our focused outcomes. And this process was guided also by the four priorities that this board adopted, uh, on, um, helping us define the
004key strategies and investments. This is a reminder of the timeline. So, we are right now sharing this information, um, with you again for consideration. Um, we do have, uh, the next key date is the state of Metro when the mayor, uh, will essentially, um, share what the allocation for MNPS is. And, um, we do now have a date for the Council Budget Committee hearing, which is going to be on May 21st. So, that's a, um, the key change from from this, um, part. So, a reminder of, uh, the responsibilities and, uh, for the different roles throughout this process on the budget, um, that you are well familiarized with. So, let's talk about, um, the continuity of operations, which as we discussed last time is one of the priorities that you set out and, um, we
005looked at what needs to change to, um, sustain, um, the current key investments that that, um, have been delivering the results for, um, our students. There are no changes, um, on the investments that we identified for continuity of operations. We do have a couple of updates. So, the, um, governing bodies for the health insurance, uh, the insurance trust board, uh, for certificated as well as the benefits board, uh, on Metro Government have voted and approved the rates for next year, um, and those are reflected here, which are, um, really what we have projected. So, the numbers uh, vary slightly, um, but it is confirmed for certificated insurance is, uh, 7.95%, increase and for support, um, professionals on the Metro Government side is, uh, 16.8% and the amount reflected as a reminder, uh, for the, um,
006support staff is 9.5 um, 9.25 million, but that is only half of that amount impacts our FY27 budget because the cycle is January to January. We also got confirmation on the, um, TCRS pension and, um, that is about a $1.6 million increase considering the, um, the number of employees that fall in this category. This is specifically, um, for the, um, TCRS plan, um, like for those that that have the social security, uh, um, TCRS with social security plan. >> [snorts] >> And we're up from Superintendent Battle, can you say the percentages of increase for the uh, insurance benefits you just said? Did you Did you give percentage increase or did I miss here? Uh, I did, but maybe I went too fast. Um, yes, no problem. So, for the certificated insurance, our insurance trust is
0077.95%. And for the support employee plans at Metro Government, that's, uh, 16.8%. Got it. Okay. Thank you. Sorry to interrupt. >> Yeah, no, no, no problem at all. It's important that you guys got all of that. Um, and as I was mentioning for the pension, it's an estimated $1.6 million increase for the, uh, TCRS with, uh, social security, uh, plan. It would, uh, went from a 5.77% to a 6.35%. Um, we have about 2,900 employees on that plan. So, it's an estimated $1.6 million. So, that essentially, um, completes all the numbers that that are, um, um, considering the continuity of operation. Um, the the one still pending is all the, um, Metro pass-through charges that, um, you know, they're allocated to us that they do revisit like the IT charges, the, uh, radio charges, um,
008that they calc recalculate that and if there is an increase, then they will let us know here in the next couple of weeks, um, what that is. Um, on the detail that supports our, um, estimate for the continuity of operation, uh, there's no changes on this information. It still, you know, makes up to the $12 million. And as we discussed last time, the detail that supports, um, the investment for, uh, SBB allocation for next year does not change too. So, no changes on this information. So, let's shift to, um, the aspirational budget and and key investment strategies. As we talked last time, um, we leverage logic models and continuous improvement frameworks to make sure that we're anchoring the budget investments and outcomes for students. And this is, um, the list that we showed you last
009time of all the, um, key investment strategies, uh, proposed for next year categorized by board priority. This has not changed. They're the same list of, um, strategies from last time. So, on the, uh, first priority on academic coherence, there are no change to the key strategies. Um, however, there are some questions around the, um, the some of the key strategies are, you know, that focus on learning enhancement. And, um, essentially, I know that you have already received an updates, um, on, um, the information on some of these questions, but this is really across, uh, grade levels. We we're expanding, um, capacity through targeted data-informed supports, um, real-time coaching, um, leveraging differentiated pay in impact schools and success coaches to accelerate student outcomes. So, um, really an example of academic coherence of different doing different, um,
010targeted, um, supports to make sure that we are, um, advancing learning for our students. On the next three, key strategies for academic coherence priority, there are no changes on the investments. Um, there were some questions, uh, last time, uh, specifically around the GATE program. Again, I know that you have received information on this, um, but the GATE program, the key strategy considers expanding and refining universal screening, uh, building stronger vertical alignment for curriculum, uh, building the teachers' capacity, uh, develop a college and career readiness profile for GATE students beginning in third grade, restructuring GATE staffing allocations to reduce the travel between schools, um, investing in professional development, uh, targeted GATE coaching and, um, collaborative planning. So, those are some of the think key key aspects of the strategy that is behind the investments on GATE.
011Um and on the unique learning learner enhancements, um this is about uh improving our differentiated learning strategies focus on our English learners and their evolving needs. Uh if you recall for this year, we made investments of similar nature for our exceptional education students. Um this uh proposed investment is focused on our English learners. Shifting to the talent strategy board priority, uh there is um no changes on the first key strategy around retention, recruitment, and workforce readiness, readiness, but uh from the questions um uh that we received from the board, wanted to um share that uh the item that um that is included for consideration on extending support staff calendar, that includes the opportunity to add dates days to the work schedule for support staff who who are not in the 260 day schedule >> [snorts]
012>> and that includes child nutrition, uh employee transportation, and our school-based support employees. Uh on the um the other two uh key strategies for the talent strategy priorities, there are there are no updates um to the strategies. So, then shifting to the uh key strategies for the priority of positive school supports, there are no updates to the three key strategies that we shared with you last time around facilities, facilities, maintenance, uh security, and philanthropic enhancements. The next three strategies that we shared with you, there are no changes or updates to that as well. They remain the same. Um similarly with family engagement enhancements and community achieves, expansion, uh no changes to what we shared and proposed to you last time. And last but not least, the last three uh proposed strategies around environmental stewardship, student
013success centers, and security enhancements um are also remain the same from what we shared with you last time. And um that concludes my sharing of information and I will turn it over to committee chair for any questions, comments. Thank you. Um I'm going to open the floor for questions starting with district one and working our way around. Good evening. Um Let me get back to my first question and then I'll pass to our next board member. Uh it's in regards to the grow your own program. I see there's it's $1.3 million and and I guess with the in the grow your own program, does that include um covering the cost of the parapros that need to take the Praxis as well as supporting them when they need to do their student teaching? Yes, it does.
014Um and it also includes some other um grow your own pipelines including um our classroom associates. So, yes and um some additional grow your own um opportunities. And so, currently we are not offering that to our classroom associates and the parapros and this was in our aspirational budget to be able to include that going into the new school year. Is that correct? I think we currently there are opportunities currently available. This one is specific to um our classroom associates who are preparing to move into teaching um positions and so it's a structured opportunity um that is specific for classroom associates. And parapros. I mean associates. And parapros, yes. Thank you. >> So, to really create um a program, right? Where we are intentionally um inviting uh classroom associates and parapros to actually you know, participate
015and work towards their certification. Okay, great. I just wanted to get that clear. I ran into one of our parents at Home Depot last night and had a much longer stay at Home Depot than I imagined having a discussion about this. So, um I just wanted to make sure that was included uh in there. So, thank you. District two. My questions are about some more specifics on what does the family engagement enhancements look like and what would the expansion of community achieves include? Like what schools, what are we trying to target? I mean, points points 6.9 or 0.695 million for community achieves is surely not all schools. So, No, we What are we trying to target? >> Yeah, as we all know, we um have had a pretty robust and strong community achieves model in
016the district for quite some time. In fact, um as we have evaluated and looked at student data, um we have seen pretty consistent um positive um outcomes in our community achieves schools. And so, the next um this represents the next kind of expansion um space to complete some of our pathway work. Um we've been working pretty diligently over the last few years that we um see the pathway all the way through. So, if you have a community achieve supporting elementary school, you have the same or similar supporting middle school and to high school. Um if I'm not mistaken, north east or west has several of the uh I don't I don't have my packet in front of me. Um but we have I think there's about six to eight schools that we're looking to um
017expand strategically um with community achieves. Um with regards to um family um engagement um strategies, um as you all know, this is a priority for us um as um a district um as we've been studying um family engagement as a key strategy to the work um here in the district. So, it includes um supports for our schools, professional learn learning, but also um a vast number of opportunities that we're looking to um plan and share with families as we're moving forward. Um if do you have your packet up? Is there anything additional? There is also an amount of money that is um focused on what I would call um supporting the schools on on um showcasing themselves to families, you know, by engaging them so that we're also helping with enrollment >> Mhm. um and
018making sure that their fabulousness is known um by our families and that helps us recruit and retain uh families in the district. Is that like the quadrant kickoffs or not Excuse me, quadrant kickoffs, but cluster kickoffs that have happened at some of our schools? So, um of course last year we started our cluster um kind of back to school family engagement um sessions. It's supports within that department, but not specifically to those events. Okay. Okay. So, the opportunities to families, but that also include like our university Is it okay? Parent university? >> Parent university. Yeah, yeah. That whole entire umbrella. Okay, got it. Thank you. District three. Thank you, chair. Um the insurance increases, those figures, those are the increase um born by both the employee and employer, right? Cuz we're not eating that solely
019as the employer, right? The cost um that is outlined here is the cost to the employer. So, for what the district needs to budget to pay Right. portion of it and we in the MPS, which is one of the things that that we've highlighted in the past, um we cover 75% of that cost, which is a big benefit when you compare to sort of what what is the norm in many other places. Yes, but so what I'm saying what I'm getting at is this is also an increase for the employee as well. Right? Okay, I'm just We're sharing that. Okay. Um Adding a calendar day for support staff, like each day is a million dollars a day and that came out of I believe some of our conversation about the way the pay periods are
020kind of goofy. I think it's the month of October, maybe? Yeah, um and and mainly during that time, but it is born out of feedback um conversations, ongoing conversations we've had um with our support employees regarding breaks in pay where there's um holidays specifically. Um and as we bounce that up against district needs, um particularly around professional development, professional learning, um there we're putting forth this as aspirational item because it allows us to solve for both employee compensation, but also priorities of the school district as well. So it was born out of that conversation and it will all be dependent upon the investment that we receive. We have done some pre-work around where and how and which employees and things of that nature. So we would be positioned to move forward with the investment in
021order for us to add those days to our calendar. And so I guess say there's money add two days what what do those employees do on I mean I and I and maybe that's something that's still need to be figured out because obviously I guess if the nutrition staff is there on a day that students are not Oh. Lots to be accomplished. >> And I'm sure there is. I just >> [laughter] >> I have never worked in a school cafeteria. I don't know what the No this is a great question particularly for the public who doesn't always get to see the behind the scenes work of all of the teams. There are required trainings that even our nutrition staff is responsible for conducting. There is prep and planning to be ready to receive students but
022there's also just mere training around whether there's your nutrition service leader or a bus driver or a bus monitor. We want to mitigate any risk when it comes to any of those services we provide to our students our educators and our families. So we already have a prioritized list of needs that can help us be stronger and more efficient as a district that we can leverage those in this particular scenario as you mentioned two days for. Great. And so would the idea or the intent be to put those days in those areas where there's a difficulty with the pay period? That's correct. Awesome. I feel like that's Well, I shouldn't say killing birds with a stone cuz that seems >> two birds with one seed. Yeah okay. >> [laughter] >> Taking care of multiple birds.
023>> I guess. Um I've tried that one out as well. That's one of mine. So with um make all in with all the aspirational items. This puts our total budget request at what amount? So because this is built as an aspirational budget where we would total what you can kind of total is continuity of operations because that is a cost that will be required of us to serve at the same level in July as we do today given inflation. Aspirationally we always encourage not to total just simply because some investments could offset others. So we're trying to be as innovative as possible given the goals of the district to put forth the best research based practices that help us move the needle forward. So we we don't total them in that way. We typically take
024what our budget is this year at continuity of operations and then the ability for aspirational budget items in our budget request. Okay. I just if I'm going to go knock on you know the counselor or the mayor's door and if I want to say hey this is the amount you know to keep us going but hey if you look under the couch cushion and all in and and and then the city comes into a windfall I I would you know and I'll and I'll just add it up myself and do it but so what is then Well I think that I think the the >> for then continuity of operations? >> To to your point I think the power in that is being able to specifically articulate what we can do with those investments. Right?
025And so that's also part of the strategy is if you know you're interested in moving the needle in this space like here are the strategies in order for us to do that so that we can move things forward. So if you were looking at your last question um What page is my continuity of operations? Um represented on pages 12 through 14. Um the key items are represented on slide 12. Correct. So I mean I I have added it up so So yeah for continuity of operations alone essentially it's up to 38 million before COVID. Okay. That's the that's the number I was looking for. All right. Before COVID. Yeah. Let me repeat that before COVID. Yes. Yes. Which brings me thank you to my next question {slash} point. Um I know I think some of
026us have differing philosophy on this. Um my responsibility are to the school employees and not the general government employees. And so I don't even think the Civil Service Commission has made the recommendation. I don't know but I'll tell you that we when you look at the CPI from March of 25 to March to 26 it was a 3.3% increase. This is Zack Young going on the record to the council and the mayor and anyone listening. I think the COLA should be 4%. Y'all might disagree. This is me taking the chance to say what I think it should be given where our economy is. And I'll leave it to our funding body to you know find those funds and I'll leave it to our funding body to decide how to pay their employees because that's their
027problem. Not problem their responsibility. Um so this is Zack Young going on the record not not school board. I know I don't speak for all of y'all but I think 4% is the healthy amount that I don't think it's unrealistic. I think it is rooted in in in the reality of what's going on and this is me just going on the record for it. And that's all I've got. Thank you chair. Thank you. District 6. District 7. District 8. I can come back. I can come back if you want me to. District 9. Um could you real quick just go over again what was included in the GATE investment? I was able to write some of them down quickly but I didn't get all of them. Or if you could email that either way I
028just want to have a written list of it somewhere. Yeah. Um everything that I shared with you was also provided already but I I'm happy to go over it again. Um so some of the key components are expanding and refining universal screening building stronger vertical alignment for curriculum building teachers capacity develop college and career readiness profile for GATE students beginning in third grade restructuring GATE staffing allocations to reduce travel between schools invest in professional development target a GATE coaching and collaborative planning. And Aaron wanted me to ask if you would give a little bit more information about how GATE works in general as far as the funding mechanism for it. So I mean is my understanding that every school is guaranteed at least 0.5 of a GATE teacher and then if they need more or
029want more than that that goes into their school based budgeting. Is that incorrect or is that That is correct. There is an allocation that is based on the number of students and the and [clears throat and snorts] the allocation varies depending on the number of students are served. I don't the school based budgeting component I don't It's not It's not It's not part of the formula but it is an allocation that they receive. Based upon the number of students being served. >> Right. Sir Just to clarify like so if you have 100 GATE students at a school you would get let's say say X. Well let's say it this way. If you have if the allocation is based on 50 students then you would get X for 50. If you have 100 students you get
0302 X allocated to your budget from the district or you get X and then you find another X within your school based budget. Does that make sense as a question? Okay thank you. So there there is an allocation that essentially shows based on the number of GATE identified students that the school is serving how many well what teacher allocations to get and the allocation goes up depending on the number of students. So to your point like if you are serving 100 you get X if you serve 150 you're going to get more than X. Maybe not X 1.5 X but >> Right. It could be you know from a 0.5 to a 0.7. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, no problem. Um And then just looking at those the um health insurance benefits that have gone
031up, is the reason that the support staff is almost double or a little bit more than double the certificated staff because we have hired more support staff or did their costs just go up that much more? So, what um I have learned from the information that was shared during the um benefits committee as well as the actuary um is a um is due to mainly two things. One, the projected cost for the health care inflation is projected to be nine 9% for next year. So, they're considering that. And the way that they they project the rate to cover the cost for next year, they look at the number like the cost for the last 12 to 18 months of the population they serve. And in the population served by Metro government, the number of high
032claims went up significantly. Um so, they are projecting a significantly higher costs. Um and there are no you know, reserves that can cover that um for the next year. Okay. We also experienced that post pandemic for our teachers as well um with the higher cost of claims um and had to do a lot of work um to get us where we are today to adjust. >> That is that is correct um committee chair so um we experienced that 2 years ago. I remember. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. Um I okay so I got that question. Focus on the EL students. Um also for some clarification board member Tyler um support staff fall under Metro government as far as their insurance is concerned. So, it's a combination of both um Metro schools employees and Metro government employees.
033[clears throat] And so, they go through a And the teachers yeah are on a different plan. That that is a that is a great clarification when they're looking at their pool. It encompasses everyone in Metro government and it includes our support staff but also the rest of the population that works at Metro government. Okay. All right, that makes a lot more sense. All right, um and then um I think I'm going to go with Zach and I'm going to go on record as well saying that I think that the a cola 4% is absolutely not unreasonable and it is something that I'm willing to advocate for. Thank you. Board uh district eight rolling back to you. I always kind of go ahead and add it up anyway when I'm not supposed to um and um
034when I do that and add in 4% we get close to a hundred million dollars which is a lot of money. Um but these are also things we're putting forth I think generally things we know are working to improve This is what I gather when I hear you talk about this at the beginning. Right, these are things that we know are working to improve student outcomes. And then that's our continuity of operations budget. And then these are on top of that other things that we think would help to push those achievements forward even faster. Um and I'm excited about a lot of these different things. I have a question that's not um that's not specifically related to any of the things in here right now but um or maybe it's just a statement. Coming off
035of the recent convening with peer um which is the partnership between Vanderbilt and um and MNPS, there were a couple of studies in there that I think will be really interesting as we get the results to then go back and look at some of our continuity of operations budgets and some of the other things we have. Obviously, we won't have this right now but as we think about budgeting for next year um there were a couple of things related to college and career readiness and um coaching and um thinking about um what college counselors can be doing and if we um can have systems that are enhancing the work that counselors are doing that I think could go a long way and actually might they wouldn't cost probably any extra. There was one study that
036I'm particularly interested in um around the benefits of various SEL programs. Um so, we've talked a lot about that on the board. We've talked about it at a at a board retreat. We've talked about it more recently. But just to see, you know, how are things that we're already doing working? What are some of the most um the highest bang for our buck for um uh things that we do? We know that they're working generally because we see the results that we're getting generally. I'm excited to see as we get into it some of the more specific things that we're able to learn. So, again, not really a question as much as a comment um and um uh you know, basically just saying I will look forward to hearing more results of those types of
037studies when we get them. And having them then inform the budget. Thank you, district six. Circling back. Okay, back to district one. I probably should have jumped in on the insurance conversation um I just need more clarification and understanding um so, please um bear with me. The um insurance premium that we pay is to increase by 13%. Is that correct? Is that the number? Or go ahead. When you say the insurance premium that we pay, are you referring to We have two insurance plans, health insurance plans. One for our certificated employees which is done through a trust. It you know, covers our certificated employees not part of the Metro government. Our support staff including myself, folks in this row, um we are part of the Metro government health insurance plan. They both have governing entities
038that define, decide on, vote on what the increase is needed to actually fund the the the plan. Um and the certificated one essentially for our teachers um is um voted for an increase of 7.95%. Um to sustain the costs projected for the next year based on the actuary analysis of our pool of people that we serve. And for the support professionals [snorts] um that are part of the Metro government um that is a 16.8% which was voted by the um benefits board over there. And that includes as we um said before all of the Metro government employees of which we represent a portion of. Okay. And so, that increase is the increase to our MNPS budget, the original amount that you stated. And then will the support staff and teachers see an increase in their
039premium that they pay on their side and what percentage would that be? >> The the premium increases by the percentage established. >> Mhm. Then the employer Right. >> we cover 75% of that. Got it. >> That's what we budget for. So, then the 25 remaining is covered by the employee. Okay. Um which depending on which plan they chose, that number varies uh what the increase would be on what they see. Okay, so they will see an increase but it will vary based on the plan they chose. >> options, yeah. Thank you. The second question that I have is specific to family engagement. And this is just going into weeds. Um you know, one of uh my goals is to see more school support organizations uh especially in my district. And um and so, I wanted
040to know if the funding that we're providing for family engagement um as a part of the education that's being provided for parents, will there be support for parents that want to start school support organizations like a PTO or a PTA? So, I know that's a in the weeds kind of question but I'm just wondering. >> [clears throat] >> First of all, we already we do already provide support to um schools that want to start um PTOs or PTAs. This actually the opportunity that's there is that you have to have a willing parent to do that. And we know leading a PTO or PTA comes with pretty great responsibility. Um and so, so, we're educating, we're supporting um the organizations and the schools in that process. Um but it really is a great responsibility for a
041parent to take on. I don't know if folks have been watching the news um but there are lots of instances that instances that come up because of the responsibility following state law. Um responding to comptroller reports. I mean all the things. And so that model has shifted over the years. It used to be more school embedded. It is not um anymore. And so that's where we see more of the opportunity. Um the supports they're staged and ready to go. Um we always encourage um schools to have them. So what we've tried to do is to take on um add an additional layer. So um in a few ways. One um at the district level, one of the reasons we have um a parent cabinet is to build capacity, awareness, connectivity to schools, and connecting to
042resources. Um so that is one strategy. We've also um strategized as an example um with the work that happened at Percy Priest, Paragon Mills, and Lakeview. Is that right? I get the right three schools. Okay. Um so that as we are investing, as we're thinking about um particularly from an investment and funding space that we have strategies that are beneficial to um all of our schools regardless or not if they have a PTO or PTA. Um this does include things like extensions of community achieves and other um engagement supports um across the district. So we're constantly monitoring that, making sure that we have those seamless supports across um all of our schools, all of our clusters and quadrants um in the district. Thank you. We have one last thing I want to uh in looking
043at all the different things in aspirational budget, I really really really really love um and I'm going to do my part to advocate for including this when we get our final number from our funding body, the the $0.58 million so less than $600,000 for environmental stewardship. Um I'm just shouting that out as something that I really like. It's low-hanging fruit. It's a relatively low dollar amount that I think pays dividends in the ways of diverting a lot of our waste in our school cafeterias and teaches some kids some wonderful habits that probably also potentially save us money long term with our waste disposal maybe. And I just want to shout that out cuz I love it. Well, there there is one strategy um specifically and this one specific investment in that strategy that um we're
044looking to reinstitute cuz there was a grant that was funding that came from um natural government around uh with our composting um project across our schools that was unfunded this year. Um and so that in itself is something that we want we would like to um re-implement into our schools that went away this this past school year. So um we've already had early conversations um around around that, what it might look like. And again, the reason you know, we've had have had the conversation about adding everything up. There are phases to some of these aspirational items as well where you can start making progress towards them where you might not necessarily, if you're divvying up funds, if we don't get everything we've ever wished for, you can take a good step um in the right
045direction in some of these aspirational um items that um you know, keeps us moving, keeps us driving, but also improving along the way. District 2. My apologies. Um our redesign of our ALCs is not in our aspirational budget directly here listed. But I know it's been something that we've had on our desires desirable list uh for a long time. One of the things that I feel like um some of our our both of our ALCs could probably benefit from is the community achieves expansion into them as well though they're not directly in a pathway. Would they be considered within that? They're probably not a part of the community achieves strategy specifically simply because our goal for our um ALCs is for that to be temporary. Right. >> Like our goal is to transition students um
046back into their school of choice um as quickly as possible. But our student success centers um are a part of this aspirational budget. So it is it is there. Um 2 years ago we did um leverage some investments to do some of the expanding you've seen in our ALCs like having um academic pathways when you think about the podcast um that exist and other um experiential learning opportunities we have been um expanding um in that way to more closely mirror the experiences the students would have um in their school of choice. Um but likely not a community achieve strategy just simply because of the temporary nature um of ALC. Okay. So if those parents came into an ALC and needed some basic services that maybe a community achieves partner would typically or community achieves department
047usually provide, what would happen with those parents? >> So those supports are embedded in the ALC model. We take a very wrap-around service approach um to our ALCs. So while they don't have the standard um definition community achieves model, those individual supports um are there and students are connected to those resources um within their respective communities. Okay. Thank you. This side of the board room, any other? Uh District 8. I just want to recognize that I should not have added up the budget. >> [laughter] >> Uh require the the aspirational budget um because of the all the different things that that Dr. Battle just said. But it is uh I wasn't saying it for the >> No, no, I know. But it is No, it's help it is helpful to both like have as a
048board member to have a generalized sense of if we were to get every single thing we wanted, what could that possibly look like. Um and then also I you know, the thing I do really love about this approach to it is the ability for folks to say, I feel really strongly about this particular thing. Um one of the things I've I have felt um most I have when I talk to folks in schools about something that is incredibly beneficial, I it is the classroom associate expansion in the classroom associate program. Um and so um among the other things that have been discussed, I just want to uh to highlight that as something I know is um is really it's a unique strategy nationally. Um it's an important thing that we have done and in order
049to get to a place where we are providing students with the kind of um instruction that they deserve every day, having someone who knows how it works in every given school and understands the different processes, I think is so important. Um but I did have one quick hopefully quick question. In under the grow your own program, there's uh the first bullet is establish MMPS as an educate educator preparation program. I'm curious about what that specifically means. Um I know that there are some requirements with the state for being an educator preparation program. I know that there um I I what I don't fully understand is if that means there I would suspect that means there's no cost to people who come through that program, but a lot of educator preparation programs do have a cost.
050I'm just sort of curious like what does this literally look like if we are to do it? And um how many districts, if we know, have actually been approved as EPPs with the state? There's only a handful across um the state. So what um EPP stands for is a early preparation program. It gives um it would give the school district an opportunity essentially to train and certify um our own um talent within the district. Um there are specific areas. I was trying to pull it up really quickly. Um team, y'all might have to lean in to help me here. Um that you can prioritize. So we wouldn't we're not proposing to be a total comprehensive EPP. We're looking at targeted areas um that are approvable by the state that meet the needs um of the
051district um to start at least um given the EPP model. Um so there's a few we've been in conversations with the few that do exist across um the state. We know that our targeted areas are approvable um at the state level, but essentially gives us um the latitude um to certify um our educators without having to kind of farm them out to to other places. You One of the benefits um is kind of, you know, we have our playbooks, right? We can embed um our district specific training and research and evaluation um data as a part of the preparation program itself. Um so it comparably, I went through a tradi- traditional um educator preparation program which typically happens through a teacher prep undergrad training, right? So it's essentially that, but usually a more mature um
052experienced um pool of individuals who are in the system and at the they're working and working towards the certification at the same time. Lisa, anything Chief Spencer, anything else you would add? Chief Bell. Oh, Arvella. Okay. Yeah. Go ahead. Um no, I think you hit all the big ones. I think there are three districts currently doing this in Tennessee and all three of those focus on either EL or EE certifications. Those are the easiest to get off the ground at first. Currently, we're not aware of anyone building to a full EA5 certification program. Those are quite a bit more complex. So, this particular strategy is to start go slow to go fast. Start in the areas where we already have the the biggest need EEL. Learn as we build those and certifying our own teachers.
053Um which retention rates tend to be pretty high for higher for teachers that have come through those programs that we've invested in since day one. And then as we to Dr. Battle's point about the aspirational budget, as we explore things and need this much this year, if you wanted to go further and you realize there were other areas, CTE for example, niche areas where we struggle to find teachers, you can add on those certifications later. It's a very complex process, takes years to build, which is why everyone starts with those typical first ones right now. I just want to note to given the question or the statement that I made earlier about the research-based element of you know both expansion and and consideration for budget items. This is one that if we do have an
054educator preparation program, there is a required review of that by the State Board of Education and so there would be a built-in way for us to know how are the teachers that we are preparing faring against if you're to to put them up against each other against teachers from similarly based programs around the state and so there's like a built-in evaluation component that I find appealing. Thank you. We are now it looks like 8 minutes, 6 minutes over there, 8 minutes over here over the time for our general board meeting. >> [laughter] >> And somewhere else at 7. So, we're anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes over time or 1 No, I'm sorry. 6 to 8 minutes over time, but I wanted to take the time to ensure that everyone got their questions out. And
055so we're going to finish it up. We have one question over here with board member board chair Freda Player and then I have a couple of questions and then we'll close it out. That's okay. District 6 7 7 7 She's 6. I'm 7. 6 7 >> [laughter] >> I knew it was me. I couldn't myself. Um How much of our What's the rough percentage of our budget that goes to salary benefits and pension? Is it roughly about 80%, 70%? It's in the high 70s. Yeah. Okay, in high 70s. And I want to say that for the record just as we go and advocate for our teachers and our support staff and all of our employees, education is a service-based um industry for lack of a better word and that it costs to provide the service
056and go cheap on providing the service. And so as we advocate to um to the governmental into these the mayor of the council, but also to the public, I want the public to understand with the cost it takes to run schools. You can't do it on the cheap cuz if you do it on the cheap, you're doing on the backs of employees. And so as we go advocate, as we ask the parents and community members to advocate to understand that these are humans providing services to other humans and those humans have to make a living, have to sustain themselves, but understand that is the true cost of of of providing an education system. And to understand that we have a thousand more employees than Metro General Government and that we're only about 38% of the
057Metro General Government budget. So, also put that in perspective that as we go on that you may hear things that we're half the Metro budget. We are not. I wish we were half the Metro budget. We have been in the past. We have been in the past percentage-wise. So, as we go and advocate, I want to let the public know the true cost it it takes to educate our children and when it takes a village, it takes a village and so we're just not that we're saying this and when we advocate for employees and their their complete compensation package, it's because it's a service that's being provided by other humans and humans deserve to live in dignity and respect. So, I just want to put that out there for the record. Thank you. I have
058a couple of questions for you. Maybe you Dr. Battle or Chief Robles. Um At our last meeting, there was a brief conversation and we really didn't delve into it about relooking like we're in that cycle again to kind of look revisit employee compensation as a whole and make if or necessary salary adjustments. Where are we in that process? What does it look like for that and when do we anticipate to revisit? We're just because of the cycle, we're now starting the cycle again of review. I will call your attention to slide 20. We actually have embedded in our retention, recruitment and workforce readiness a specific um investment around strategic compensation. So, through strategic compensation, our HR department led by Chief Spencer of course has started to do some analysis around our remaining competitive with our
059pay. Where we've seen acceleration, where we've seen a little lag comparative to other markets that are near us and like us in in the area. And so we are just starting that phase. We of course are starting with our educators in this specific strategy. That doesn't mean there's not other strategies here to help the various roles in the district, but we're just starting that with our first aspirational budget item here addressing strategic compensation to continue to move that original pay study forward. Okay. The other question around that last time when we looked at revisiting employee compensation, we kind of looked at teachers one year, support staff the next year. Are we anticipating to do the same process or similar similar? Okay. Thank you. The next question is every year we face state and federal sometimes
060adjustments in our allocations. Do we What do we anticipate some of our challenges to be as we go into this FY27 school year? I'll just call us back to so that our original budget presentation, we had a few slides where the team has been able to forecast both local, state and federal implications. And so we can reshare that for just kind of a global perspective. And I will also add that we've not received our fiscal capacity um pro proposal yet, right? So, we're still waiting on that. The last I heard, which was last week, was that we are likely to get that at the end of April, 1st of May. Is that correct? Yeah. Hopefully. Yeah. So, on the state funding side, as Dr. Battle referenced, there's a projected allocation for what the state would
061fund next year. There's a the increase in the base weight. We don't know yet the fiscal capacity which will dictate how much is covered by local county versus the state. So, that can swing um further towards you know pressure on the local budget versus getting less from the state. Can I pause you really quick? When you say that that we're getting an increase in the base weight, what is what is that increase amount? Do you know? It's about almost 3% on the base weight. Okay. And then the fiscal capacity will impact our allocation of that base weight, right? >> It would It would impact how much the county is responsible for. Okay. So, there's there's the the base weight, then the unique learning needs weights for this the students that we serve. So, that's where
062the conversation around the classification or the definition of economically disadvantaged is is a big portion of it. So, at the state level, um we have the unknown yet of the fiscal capacity factor and we don't know yet essentially you know, what what might happen sort of with with the pending legislative or like the bills that are still going on their way. One of them being economically disadvantaged. >> The economically disadvantaged, yeah. The the federal level, the grants have been funded for next year at the same level. Okay. Which is compared to what was forecasted initially several months ago is good news. Now, funding at the same level is not keeping you whole because obviously as we know, we've discussed there's cost increase due to number reasons. So, from a from a federal perspective, that is
063has been funded and set for the same level as what we had for this fiscal year. Um The things With no in in inflationary increases. >> [laughter] >> There's no inflationary increases. I just want to name that. Yeah. Um so that's going to Well, we are going to talk about a reference. We can reshare the the big picture as No, I just wanted it just for public record. Um the other thing that I I do want to name is when we're looking at the budget, we're right around 6% federal allocation at this time. Is it about 6 or 8%? Y- yes, I should know that, but yes, it's a single digit. >> Okay. Um and then our state allocation is right around 18%. >> 18%. Um and that could either remain the same or decrease.
064Correct. Okay. Um and then locally we're right around 74% for local contribution to this budget. And and I also want to name that we're only 38% of Metro government's budget um as opposed to the 50% I was talking with um I had a meeting earlier with Phil Ponder, who is a former Metro Council person, and he said during that time it was right around 50 a little over 50% um Metro schools budget uh took over um a little over 50% of the budget. So he was surprised to hear that it was down to 38% um for that contribution. So as we look at all of these considerations around our our budget as a whole, the strategic investments, employee compensation, and all of that, I just want us to keep those in mind as we continue
065to advocate um and work through this budget process. Um Dr. Battle, Chief Robles, if you could kind of walk us through next steps um that's coming up next. Can you go back to slide um nine, please. Right there. So yes, so next step, the next big milestone is on April 29th when um the mayor has um the state of Metro address. That's when he submits the um the ordinance with the proposed budget, and that will essentially establish the amount allocated to MNPS specifically for next year. Um from there, essentially, there's work on our side to um as the conversation said, taking place depending on that amount, what needs to be adjusted, decided on, considered. Um and then there is a um council budget committee hearing uh towards the end of May, um last day of
066school, when uh we will essentially present that um and in the May to early June time frame, depending on sort of what uh the allocation is and the discussions that take place, um we would come back to this board with a line item budget essentially that will um meet the allocation um awarded and um essentially align where every dollar goes as we've done in previous years for your consideration subsequently to be approved and adopted. Thank you. And then if you could go back to slide 10 for me, please. For- or forward slide 10. So just to just just so that we're grounded in the way this process is um as as a part of the MNPS board, we work through the budget that we submit to the mayor's office. The mayor will include that budget
067within the city government's uh budget um and make um and make the necessary adjustments or recommendations based on competing priorities for the city that also includes Metro Nashville public schools um and then it goes through the Metro Council for the same considerations. Um and so we will be working through this budget probably over the next few weeks to month um getting it right and making sure that we work the necessary adjustments that way. Um so just kind of reminding everyone of the three different layers that we we work through before we finalize um the budget for Metro Nashville public schools. Um And Board Member Navarro McKinney, I think that the the important distinction as we've discussed in the past is that is uh this board's responsibility to adopt the budget. Um the mayor proposes and
068the council adopts an allocation. Right. So they don't say what the council adopts. >> Yes, thank you. Thank you for that, absolutely. And so once that again, we we adopt that budget and we determine the allocations on where that that money is being spent, but it's also being seen through several different layers as well. Um and so thank you so much. Um if there's no other questions, we will adjourn this meeting. Thank you. This has been a service of the Metro Nashville Network. If you would like to see this presentation again or for more information on this and other programs, visit nashville.gov.