02/03/26 MNPS Board of Education

001I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [clears throat] Okay. [laughter] All right. Uh we do not have any awards recognitions. We'll now move on to director's report. [laughter] >> All right. Good evening, U Chair Player and board members. I thought it was um important that um due to the inclement weather um the city experienced over the um last um week um and that's ongoing that I just provide a brief update. So over the past week, our city and community faced extraordinary challenge. Many families and staff experienced days without power or heat. And we know how difficult and exhausting that period was. I want to share we are now and I want

002to share where we are now and express our deep gratitude to the many partners who helped Nashville and our schools recover. Today we were able to resume operations for all of our school communities with our teachers and staff greeting families and welcome back students after an extended absence due to the challenges posed by the winter storm. Thanks to the work over the last week and weekend by the National Electric Service, power was restored to all school buildings after more than 70 schools were without power at the peak. That's more than half of our schools. We are deeply grateful to the line workers, electricians, um, and NES staff who work long hours under dangerous conditions. I also want to thank Mayor Okonnell, the Office of Emergency Management, the National Department of Transportation, other city departments, our

003school board, um, and the entire team for their coordination and support as we work toward reopening safely. Throughout the week and weekend, our maintenance and facility teams worked extended hours to prepare buildings for students and staff, addressing cold weather and power related issues such as water leaks and heating system challenges that often emerge after outages. Staff returned to buildings on Monday to assess classrooms to reconnect with one another and check in on families and prepare for students. We were clear then and remain clear now that we will not operate a school unless it is safe to do so. That did require some changes such as East Nashville Magnet Middle colloccating with East Nashville Magnet High along with some other adjustments at buildings including portable power when maintenance to HBC HV HVAC systems were still underway.

004Throughout the week, minor repairs will continue alongside normal operations um were needed. By bringing back staff on Monday, we use the previously scheduled professional development day, February 16th. That will now be a regular instructional day for students, which means that at this time we have not exceeded our allotted inclement weather days. Looking ahead, if weather related closures occur and remote learning is viable, that will be our preferred option. As we experienced this past week, widespread power outages can make that impossible. And in those cases, we may need to seek a state raver. We are seeking to adjust our calendars to reflect this change in February on February 16th as well as give us some more flexibility in our calendar going forward should we need to align with state policies on makeup days seeking to avoid

005extending the school year if at all possible. Our schools are more than places of learning. They are sources of stability, care, and connection for students and families. I'm deeply grateful to our maintenance and transportation team, support staff, educators, families, and city partners for their tireless work and resilience. because of their efforts, our schools are reopened and our community is moving forward together. Thank you. >> Thank you. And um I sure I speak for the board. Just thank you to all the teachers and support staff um who really made efforts to start school today. I was fortunate to be with Mayor Okonnell this morning um at JFK Middle School to welcome kids. Um and so we really do appreciate we know our kids are going through a lot right now and getting back into a rhythm

006um that they and yes um getting back to rhythm and in our staff too um getting back to a new rhythm at the beginning of the month after this um this past week that's been going on. And we just want to say thank you for just putting 100% in um and um trying to get back as normal as soon as possible. And I know um a lot of you missed the students as much as they missed you too. And so just thank you for all the efforts as we as you get back on power and the students families get back on power. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I know it was an easy adjustment, but we appreciate you. Um okay, I'm going to go ahead and um accept a motion um or have

007the adoption of the agenda. Uh member Lrod, >> I need to pull off action A3. Okay. So, I move to, you know, approve this consent agenda minus A1 A13 B3, excuse me. I forgot another letter there. >> All right. So, there is a motion uh to approve the agenda with um removing um A1 B3 um off of the consent agenda. Um, is is there a second? >> Second. >> There's a second by member Fain. Um, all in favor, uh, raise your hand. >> All right. Passes unanimously. 80. Um, thank you very much. Uh, the agenda passes. Now we'll move on to public participation. I believe we have two people um signed up. Uh, Mr. Thomas Yarro. Thomas Yarro. All right. Joseph Comolmes. Joseph Combmes. All right. Uh, those gentlemen are not here. So, we'll move

008on to governance issues. May I have a motion to approve consent agenda um with the exception of A1B3? >> Um, it's been moved by member Young. Is there a second? There's a second by member Lrod. All in favor say I. I. >> Any oppose. It passes unanimously. 80. Um now we'll go on to the contract uh Zo Education LLC. Member Elrod. >> Thank you so much. Um it is my understanding looking at past contracts we've had for Zo Education that they are a provider in case anybody needs that clarification. They're a provider of both internet and of course our phone services. My understanding looking at that is that we've had a RFP out in the past and that we currently have an RFP out right now. So I would like to know from whomever uh

009what is the update on the current RFP that is not including Zo. I'll do my best to to succinctly answer this. So, yes, we had a previous RFP. There was a protest for that RFP process. Uh, one of the the one of the ones that didn't get the offer was Zo and then there was another one that protested, I believe, as well. And so, that went through that. Um, so this is a consortium contract. So, what we do is we have in the past uh done this contract so that other counties and other m uh school districts can um use that. And so that was one of the sources of the concerns raised in that process. And so what we've done is we're going to another RFP process that is more um that sort of

010smaller. It's going to just focus on our needs. Um and so that is still in process. That hasn't been awarded yet. The idea with that is that it would be awarded for the implementation in the 27 uh 20 July 20 uh 27 because if it was to be another bidder if there was someone else was to get it, it takes quite a long time to put that infrastructure in place if we're going to switch to another internet prior. So this is one of the one of the options available to us to make sure that we have reliable internet in the upcoming fiscal year or school year. Um, it also offers the ability for other school districts continue that contract. It's based on the procurement policies that we have in place that allows for an extension

011if needed. We're also working with um, you know, USAC or uh, -ate consultants because the majority of our funding for uh, internet service comes through federal funds through the rate program. And so we're trying to make sure that we have as many options available to ensure that we can continue that internet service next year while continuing to go through these procurement processes for future contracts. >> Let me make sure I understand considering the timeline of procurement we've been doing for this. >> So we had an RFP out that was [clears throat] let me look through my notes real quick. was over a year ago. I know that much. They was not awarded that. They did what is called a protest and we pulled that so we could look at our RFP process. That is what

012we are doing currently. >> We currently have an RFP out. Uh yes. And so that is still in process in terms of review. So that hasn't been awarded yet. >> When do we anticipate that being awarded? don't know that I want to speak >> likely before the end of the month. >> So if that's awarded at the end of the month and our current RFP with AO ends when? >> The end of the fiscal year. >> So that's the summer. >> Yes. Then um I don't understand the need for an emergency contract I guess is the easiest way to say this is if we are whether they are awarded this contract or not why are we in the need to have a continuation of contract with them if we're in the middle of an RFP

013process that will likely be awarded soon it sounds like and will happen before the end of this fiscal year. >> Yeah. So um you know the approval of the contract and which contract we ended up using would be determined by various processes. So in this instance what we're trying to do is get ahead of I believe an April 1 deadline to file our rate uh paperwork so that we can get funding for the next fiscal year >> for federal broadband. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> If for some [snorts] reason if a similar process unfolds where they protest that then we would go beyond that scope for one. [snorts] And so we want to make sure that we have something in place in case we need to leverage that. We're also looking at other options too

014so that we can make sure that we have an internet contract in place so that we can continue service for the upcoming year. >> Okay. Um I guess for the point of the for I guess the so the board is all on where I'm trying to think where my thought process here is is Zo purchased ENA and they have been providing our internet and phone service. Our internet and phone service has definitely not been as consistent operationally, not on our problem end, but on theirs. Um, I mean, just this past March, we had the phones go out for over a week. Um, I know we have many other districts across the state that have had an issue with AO. So my concern is that we're continuing a a relationship with them that does not seem

015to be emergent. I mean I I absolutely want to have operational continuity. Internet particularly with us being onetoone devices is imperative to not only our students but of course our staff even just simply taking attendance and phone service as well. My concern again is that I if we are about to award a contract to someone Zo or otherwise um that seems like that would be able to take care of our need for service by June 2027 if I'm understanding correctly. >> But this one this contract expires in July 2026. So >> and they cannot take care of it by June 2026. >> I believe that is the case. I will defer to others in case I'm incorrectly saying that but yes um >> okay >> what we're trying to do is pres preserve our options

016>> we don't know how long that procurement process might take we know likelihood of the award but if there is also potential for you know there's a lot of lawyers involved uh in the last process and probably in this process as well so we want to make sure that those options are available to us um you know in terms of the contract extension we have the ability to cancel it if we have another option available to us. >> We also will be looking at those others. So, we're not necessarily locking ourselves into yet another year of of service from Zo. >> I don't want to get into the specifics of which company performed better because we're in the middle of that procurement process. should not. >> So, um again, that's that's the intent behind this

017was to extend that >> um also for the other uh awardee or the other people that were on that contract if they need to extend that another year as well so that they can continue their internet service. Okay, >> while we continue to follow this process, >> as long as it will not impede any future RFP processes that we need to follow, um I feel much better about it. But I needed to make sure that we were clear about that since it had been difficult in the past. Um, >> I will defer to anyone if I've misstated anything, but I believe that is correct. Yes. >> Okay, let me look at my notes because I know that has been a long process. May I pause real quick and see if there's any other questions? >>

018Yeah, member block. I I don't really have a question as much of just to offer that it having worked at the Department of Education and the Tennessee High Education Commission and in government procure and had to do procurements myself, this seems very reasonable and smart to me to have multiple options available. And when you're in a situation where cancelling a contract would actually cause more disruption >> and you couldn't emergency you couldn't do a thing to procure something different like sort of right away and all like it just there's more disruption possible and sometimes you have to make this kind of choice and I I haven't heard I didn't I was unaware of this issue before you asked the questions. I've heard nothing that gives me any pause. In fact, I feel perfectly fine with

019all of the explanations. So just having done this before, all of the way that this is being approached makes good sense to me. >> Member Elro, >> I understand that we need to have of course a backup process and in essence usually 90 days would not be a good enough transition time for such a school system of our size. I understand that we also probably want to do whatever transition we would have through vendors if we choose to do that would need to probably be done during the summer for just a best practice because we don't want to interrupt service again continuity of operations. My concern is purely I know that we've gone through this process already once before it's been kind of drawn out. I just wanted to make sure that whatever we did

020today did not impede the current RFP process that we are readjusting or changing so that uh other districts no longer piggyback off of our RFPs, which I know they typically do because we are the largest of contracts and it makes it very easy for them to do so. Um and so I just wanted to make sure I think that's a good idea and I'm glad that that's something we're doing. Um if nothing else, it helps us with relationships with our ports. So I appreciate that process. I just wanted to make sure that whatever we chose to do today did not impede what we might do forward or what our RFP process might be doing forward since we are possibly changing that type. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Do I have a motion for the

021Zo uh Education LLC? >> Moved by member Elrod. Is there a second? >> Second by member Maize. All in favor say I. >> I. I. Any oppose? Passes 8 Z. All right. Now we'll go on to school start times. >> Thank you again. All right. Um so uh thank you uh Dr. Battle board members. Um tonight I'm going to start with an update on the engagement and feedback we [snorts] received through the school start time in endtime study. uh before turning it over to Carl uh Allen with Formative um to close us out with additional insights into feasibility of the plans that have been proposed. So why this study? So uh we wanted to step back and ask uh a basic but important question. Do our current start and end times still serve students and

022families today? This is not just an academic question. Um start times affect student learning, sleep, family routines, transportation reliability, and staffing. Nashville is growing and changing and our systems have to work in that reality. What made sense years ago may need a fresh look and from the beginning we were clear that any potential adjustments needed to be grounded in research local data and the lived experiences of our families, staff, students and not just assumptions. So um there's been an ongoing community interest especially around high school start times and we've heard consistent questions and concerns over that time. Rather than rushing to a solution, we made a deliberate choice to pause, listen, and study the issue with no predetermined outcome. This became a district-wide multi-phase study launch in fall of 2025 in partnership with the board

023of education and mayor Freddy Oonnell. Uh we brought in external transportation and education experts to ensure the analysis was technically sound and operationally realistic. Over several months, we engaged the community through surveys, focus groups, town halls, and school-based conversations to gather broad input. [snorts] U the goal was not uh to please any one single group, but to understand trade-offs and identify options that could realistically work for the whole system. With that uh foundation, the next slides will walk through what we heard uh what the data showed and how that informed the options that are now in front of you. So, as you can see here, uh, to ground the conversation a little bit more, um, under our current structure, MNS has one of the earliest start times in the state of Tennessee compared to other

024large school districts and surrounding counties, regardless of which tier starts first, which has been a driving motivation for having this conversation for several years. Um, and this is a refresher uh on the timeline. Uh, we are now in the decision phase after months of technical review and stakeholder input. The timeline and deadline for this initiative was based on the timing of funds being available uh by Mayor Freddy Okonnell and the metro council to engage with formative followed by a desire to have a decision uh which can be announced prior to the end of the school options process. Originally that was scheduled for this Friday, February 6, but extended to February 13th because of the significant power outages impacting Davidson County. So here are the models that we've all seen over the last month. Um, we've

025adjusted the language a little bit more to give a clear picture of what's uh attempted to be accomplished with each model. So, model one is a balance adjustment that decreases start uh times between tiers by 10 minutes from 55 minutes to 45 minutes, which allows us to increase the start time by 20 minutes for high school, 10 minutes for elementary, and keeps middle schools the same. This model requires some transportation adjustments, which we'll discuss in more detail later to accomplish. Uh, model two, shifting all start and end times equally by five minutes results in fewer adjustments, but doesn't align much as much with the stakeholder preferences, particularly about not having tier three end times pushed past 4 p.m. And then model 3 is no change. It's the status quo that we currently have. So, um,

026as a recap, our November engagement included surveys and focus groups aimed at getting quantitative and qualitative data from all stakeholders, multiple languages. It showed that a large majority supported moving high school start times later, but at the same time, uh, many did not want their own tier time to change and didn't want to extend the day past 4 p.m., which is indicative of the challenge we face when tackling this topic and creating solutions that work for the greatest number of stakeholders. Um, the January engagement took what we learned from October through December and put forward the three models discussed earlier for further feedback. The results reflected some of the tension between wanting high schools to start later but also wanting to preserve other tier times. Ultimately the majority 56% supported a model that changed start

027times later with the highest support for model one and much less for model two while a plurality supported the no change model. Um this chart here is a breakdown between uh all stakeholders and those at the high school level. um it showed a little bit more differentiation and it showed that high school stakeholders supported model one a bit more but still consistent that model one was preferred by all stakeholders supporting a change. So to summarize the two different engagements uh we heard from more than 23,000 respondents across two surveys including families, staff and students in multiple languages. Across surveys the feedback was consistent. People are generally comfortable with the current tier structure but open to modest targeted adjustments. High school students and families were clear that current high school start times feel too early. Preserving

028dismissal times mattered just as much as adjusting start times. Even among those who preferred no change, there was some agreement that high school starts early with their concerns focused on feasibility. [snorts] Overall, a majority of respondents supported some form of change rather than maintaining the status quo. So based on the stakeholder surveys and transportation feasibility assessments, there are a variety of reasons why the balance adjustment model would be favorable. But uh for further details and context, I'm going to turn it over to Carl Allen here with Formative to continue the presentation. >> Thank you. I'm Carl Allen, uh CEO of Formative Technologies. Pleased to be here with you today. And um just to go beyond the stakeholder input process, I want to speak to you know why our analysis supports this recommendation for a balanced

029adjustment just to recap some of the um some of the benefits that we see and then address how we think we can adjust uh address some of the risks and challenges. Um but first that this solution enables high school students uh the benefit of the 20 minute later start uh so so as to allow them to benefit from uh you know what the research shows the benefits of later start times. Um also helpful to move uh Metro Nashville schools into kind of more into the median of peer districts and other large districts in in the country and state of Tennessee in terms of typical high school start times. Um, broadly speaking, this is a solution that gets a lot of the benefits that were hoped for, but minimizes the broad impact across the district. Namely,

030that there's no change to middle school start and end times. Um, and uh a modest uh only modest adjustments to elementary start and end times. Now, um, one, uh, potential risk or drawback is the need for some transportation adjustments with the narrowing of the window between the tiers. Um, but I'm here to reassure um, the board that our analysis does show that this is we believe this is feasible uh, based on what we see in the existing system and in the data. um however would require some targeted um specific adjustments to the system that I want to talk about in the next slide. So the sort of modest and targeted adjustments to the transport uh transportation system that we're talking about could include but may not be necessarily limited to um adjustments to bus stops.

031So in uh Nashville's current system, uh the typical student has a walk to stop of about uh 0.1 miles or a tenth of a mile uh to their house. So relatively accommodating. While district uh guidance and kind of public uh language on the website indicates that the district will uh endeavor to put a bus stop within a quarter mile from each rers's home. So in a very efficiently run system, what we typically find in systems like these is that if you're uh routing as efficiently as you can with a maximum of a/4 mile, you would expect that the typical student would be about half that. So it would be sort of normally distributed um relative to that maximum. So that would mean you know adjustments to to make the system more efficient relative even to

032the existing policy might mean that the typical student might go from you know.1 mile walk to stop to just a point 125 mile walk to stop and our across a big system like this we know that even modest adjustments like that could have a huge impact and even here we're talking about much more even targeted uh targeted adjustments based on you know what we've seen uh where the the shifts are going to be needed where routes are going to need to be shortened. Um, but we also note that the typical gened route in the current system is only 30 minutes. We found in our analysis ample opportunities for rebalancing where there are some routes that have lots of excess time or slack and others that are more, you know, tightly routed, but opportunities to do

033some rebalancing there. That's another important key strategy that again we think uh is very very achievable. Um and that's that's why we're expressing confidence about the district's ability to adjust th those tier intervals to make this solution work. Um speaking about timings, of course, uh the the the goal is to have in particular the tier one students with a later pickup time and so this model would achieve that. um you know that results in the hoped for later pickup times for most tier one students but due to the rebalancing and perhaps changing the order of stops and and other route changes there may be other time changes throughout the system um that would be varied but also relatively modest based on the overall you know the amount of change across the schools in this plan.

034So in order to implement these changes uh it is important that the the district gets moving uh quickly with a plan from implementation. Uh the remainder of our engagement is going to be supporting in that planning and that work. Um that work uh will include and and should include feedback loops with drivers and work with the existing routing team. you know, making sure not to um and this is part of our typical process is not to uh just kind of uh do a model and then and then uh suggest that it be implemented on face value. There's a lot of important iteration uh and and real uh iterative feedback with the experts uh you know on the ground which are really your drivers and your routing team and their local knowledge that that informs uh

035the details of the pro the uh solution that's ultimately implemented and formative and and my team has had extensive experience doing this and we feel confident uh implementing uh processes like this working hand inand with um routing teams most recently have had success with similar uh adjustments and and broader system redesign uh with Houston ISD and Prince William County in Virginia. So again, we feel like this is very uh much achievable. So this uh shows essentially with the implementation of model one where Metro Nashville would fall um much more decidedly towards the middle of larger districts in Tennessee with this shift. Um and then uh wanted to speak to uh quickly address two specific more dramatic shifts which were analyzed as a part of our process um uh and discussed but not supported by the

036stakeholder process or kind of the feasibility analysis that we did. First was the idea of swapping tiers one and two. Um this uh as an idea uh again not supported by the stakeholder feedback which was extensive and also harder to implement namely for reasons that um switching the tier structure not just kind of making small shifts would actually require much more wholesale revision to the routes themselves. Namely switching how the routes are paired. So actually requiring that you know routes that currently go from a tier one to a tier 2 school would have to be completely redone. And so that would mean a lot more change for a lot more students and families in the system. Um and then also of note that high school students and high school routes that are on tier one,

037those students typically live a lot further from their their school and so those routes tend to be longer. Those routes themselves would require a lot more adjustment. Um the other biggest need and we heard this a lot in our stakeholder engagement was around concerns about child care. Shifting in particular elementary school to the earlier tier would leave a big gap for a lot of families. And so if a solution like this were to be considered, that would have to be something that would have to be solved for. Um and so that was just a primary concern that was raised throughout the process. Um the next one I want to speak to is just the idea of a potentially just a much larger shift to make the high school um time even later. Um and but

038but requiring because we we didn't feel it was feasible to squeeze the tier intervals anymore than what we're proposing in this model that um that was basically um deemed infeasible by way of uh strong stakeholder input especially around maintaining earlier end times and not going past that 4 p.m. on the tier three. Um and also concerns within the high school uh student uh wi within high school families and high school students and staff about engagements and after school activities, caring for siblings, jobs and things like this where they actually wanted to maintain as much as possible their current end times. Um lastly were some considerations about traffic. You know, as you as you start to shift some of these times, they bump much more into the city's regular rush and that that would cause additional

039complexity um that would need to be modeled out and just was not deemed to be feasible. Finally, uh want to speak to a few other longerterm improvements uh or investments that uh we believe will help to ensure the long run success of this initiative and that will um need to be part of the long run strategy. And so some of these are you know discussions are already underway but thinking about uh ongoing improvements to real-time data capture that is the system and its GPS tracking and and understanding um just in much more granular detail um the effects of traffic and so on uh to to be able to more finely fine-tune and engineer the system. uh improvements to ridership tracking and more daytoday uh tracking of who is actually riding the vehicles and so that

040it uh uh could be fine-tuned even more. Um next uh a more in-depth partnership with the transit authority to better explore opportunities where more students might benefit from uh using the transit system and how that might better integrate with uh the the yellow bus system. And finally, uh, collaborating with the city to improve a sidewalk, walk, walking paths, and other infrastructure that would, you know, support safety, um, student safety, especially in instances where we might have students walking further. So, with that, um, I thank you very much and again, just to iterate, uh, reiterate that, um, uh, we've been privileged to be part of this project and, um, feel confident again that it's very much achievable. Thank you. Um, thank you and thank you performative uh for working with our district and the work that

041you put into it. Um, I will uh entertain a motion regarding start times. Member block. Uh, I move that we adopt the changes outlined in this balanced adjustment model starting in the 26 27 school year to decrease the gap between the standard tier times from 55 minutes to 45 minutes. adjusting later the start times and end times for high schools by 20 minutes, elementary schools by 10 minutes, and keeping middle schools at their current times. Is there a second? Second by member Tyler. Uh discussion. >> Absolutely. >> All right. [laughter] >> All right. Um I'll start with member block. So, she made the motion. >> Okay. And I'm I'm gonna talk for a minute. So, everybody be ready. Um because I I do want to try I mean I having been engaged as you all

042know pretty intimately in the process and going to a bunch of the meetings and all these things. I I have I've spent a lot of time thinking about the feedback that we've heard and and how it might how we might address it. Um so, but first I want to start by thanking Dr. Battle and her team and the communications team and transportation teams in particular for getting into this conversation. It's not an easy conversation. The city's had it a bunch of different times. Dr. Bottle after several, you know, requests from folks said after fifth grade transition is over, we'll have this conversation. And here we are having the conversation after fifth grade transition was over. So, I just want to start by saying thank you for entertaining that. Um, and then to the mayor and

043his team for supporting the work and formative y'all have been very impressed with. I'll say this again in my comments later, but um, you know, really high quality data analysis. they were committed to trying to entertain ideas that were out of the box even if we didn't quite uh we weren't quite able to get to as many of the out of the box ideas but but I think you know the last slide there shows that there's still a commitment to thinking about that and then lastly I just want to thank everybody who participated in this process all of the 23,000 folks who uh took the survey um folks who were engaged um also um had the opportunity to speak with bus drivers and staff and teachers and you know all kinds of folks about their

044opinions and it illuminated not just some things that we wanted to think about relative to this process but other things as well. And so um like the overall thing for me here is I I don't know I guess I thought this was an easier conversation just like oh yeah we'll move start times later and um but I what I've discovered is this is a really tough decisions. B schedules are as I've come to um know the terminology are uh they impact way more than just like when do I get my kid up, when do they get on the bus, how do they get to school. It impacts a lot of different things at schools. It's a huge impact for transportation staff, for other support staff, extracurriculars, jobs, um folks trying to get their kids to

045school and again get to work for themselves. Um and the infrastructure in the city as we've also seen happen um just recently doesn't necessarily allow for what we all might want in various ways as the ideal. So just to talk about the goals and the process and then my own goals and the thing I want to talk about. So the focus for me has been around number one the research that would say that uh healthy sleep for teens means sleeping later solutions that are cost effective but also things that we can do things won't cause as much disruption aligning with what we've heard from people and then making some potentially realistic options. So I'm going to talk about each of these things. Again I told you this is going to take a minute. I'm gonna

046try and go quickly. So I'll start with the research. What I I did some deep dives and one of the things that I found is that actually this is one of the more consistent bits of research on adolescent sleep health and how that affects health which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends actually 8:30 as a start time for high school students for um but also recognizes that that's not always possible and and the reality when research meets reality which happens a lot like I mean I'm supposed to eat a lot of vegetables at least I think that's still what is being recommended but I don't always eat six servings of vegetables a day, but if I eat more vegetables and I get more sleep, I'm likely to be more healthy. And so, in

047some ways, you know, we were talking about this question previously of like is 725 optimal or 810 or what I think that I felt I learned and in talking to some researchers is like what is the case is that you can pretty well say overwhelmingly 705 is not great. We can't necessarily say 7:25 or 8:10 is going to be that much better than if we could start everyone at 8 or 8:30 or 9, but it is at least progress on something that we've not made progress on. It's getting unstuck from something. Um, so that's sort of the the research part of it. And then, you know, from the cost and disruption standpoint, um, my understanding from Dr. about informative could folks could confirm this is that we don't anticipate additional cost should the things that

048we think are possible. So not not of the head is good on that and there is potentially if we can find some efficiencies and efficiencies by the way don't mean reduction in staff. It doesn't hopefully mean reduction in hours for staff. It doesn't mean reduction in pay. In fact if we found some ways maybe there's additional money that we could think about repurposing. Um, so you know, I think that's probably helpful on disruption. I know there there are real concerns for staff and students. I heard it. I'm sure you all have heard it. Um, for some 20 20 minutes later feels like traffic could be a lot worse. Uh, the data don't seem to bear that out. If you spend some time on Google just monitoring traffic from one place to another, but it doesn't

049necessarily feel that way in Nashville. And some days it might not be. But on par, I think my sense and my sense from formative's analysis of the transportation and traffic times is that that the 20 minutes in the morning shouldn't make [clears throat] should should not on average cause an issue. Will that mean that everyone every day it'll work? No. But that doesn't happen now. Um and the good news here is what we're proposing isn't a peace meal solution. So it's not like we're moving one or two schools. Like if we move systemwide and citywide, then everybody in the city and the mayor is behind it and hopefully he can help us with businesses and other folks and whatever. Like people started to understand that it's not just that this one parent is not going

050to drop their kid off and then has to be late to work. It's that the system has adjusted the way it operates in the city and therefore we might have to try and help make adjustments for folks to make sure that it makes sense. And then the last you know I have like two more points. One is about sort of after school and jobs and and and these things and again there will be people for whom that will be problematic. At the same time when I thought about this the one thing that kept coming up for me was we actually have schools several of them that go 8 to three at the high school level. And you know I know kids at all those schools who have that there might be in a sport they

051might be in theater. They also might have a job. I know a child who does all of that and then also is driving her siblings around, right? So, it is I think it is feasible. Um, and then lastly on feasibility, again, this team of consultants is one of the more impressive teams of consultants I've worked with and I think between them and transportation staff, um, I believe we can do it. um and that it won't necessarily be easy. But one of the things I found in my research on this was there was some research that was just done in 2023 where often these sort of disruptions um when people have followed these changes the research has found that often the anticipation is worse than the reality when we get into making even you know these

052sort of small smaller manageable changes. Um, I have a couple other things I would say, but I've talked for too long already. So, um, I want to just talk about like I think this makes sense to do. Uh, I think we should think about it the way the last slide said, which is do now, work toward, and my list of work towards includes things that I'm committed to work trying to keep pushing the mirror on additional uh because we were going to make any other change, right? No one we would not put any other group of students at 705. So unless we make a change to 7:25, there are no other options because high school students are the only kids we would have out at bus stops at 5:30. We make this change, a student

053who's normally at the bus stop at 5:30, which is the earliest time, is now at 5:50. The average student at 6:15 is now at 6:35 or 6:40. For me, if I get to set my alarm, that difference, like that's a better day, uh, personally. So anyway, the things I want to talk about going forward are um in general we need one of the things that came up in this work is we need additional before and after school options. That is clear. We need that for elementary and middle school students. We couldn't make any other changes if we wanted to, but we need to continue to push on that. I think the mayor is open to those things. We need additional child care options for our educators because we could never make any other change. We

054cannot move elementary schools around if we don't have more childcare options. Same with middle schools. Middle school educators need time off if we can find it sometimes during their days if they can't take it in other ways. I mean, it's just a tougher time. Middle school educators, sidewalks and working p and walking paths, aligning we go and ms and for us all of the things that are outlined here. So, sorry I told you it was going to take a while. I could I have like four other things I'd like to say, but I'm not going to. My overall point is this. Let's do now and build toward let's make a change. Ask all your questions. Thanks. >> Thank you. Um I just want to go down the road. Do you have anything member member Tyler?

055>> Um yeah, I had just a couple clarifying questions. The first one was um on slide when you're talking about the modest adjustments items to be implemented for success. The full imp implementation plan to adjust roots can begin immediately. So when you say immediately, you mean right now during this school year, we can go ahead while we still have some cushion in time to see if this will actually work. My biggest concern with this is can our transportation department actually do it in a way that does not create larger problems. >> Yeah. So, uh yes, we can start immediately and and based on building off the analysis that we've done, right, we've already uh identified um done a tremendous amount of uh work within the system, identifying where that slack exists, all of the walk

056to stop distances across the system, which trips, you know, would need to be shortened and so on. you know, drivers or the routing team with their local on the ground knowledge would have more safety concerns. And then we can use those opportunities to better codify in the routing system, you know, that these are actually routing, you know, hazards, walking hazards or things like that such that, you know, while we're modeling for next year, getting that feedback, we're at the same time kind of better codifying uh making the system stronger and like more resilient and kind of adjusting time assumptions and things like that such that it becomes more accurate for future moves too. So that yes, that could start right away. >> Okay, that's helpful to know. Something else I really appreciate is that you

057are including you're not just looping in transportation higherups, but the actual drivers themselves. Um, I have kids at every tier level myself that go to metro schools and um, I know that Mr. Tom and Miss Lynn in particular have thoughts about it and I want their voices to be heard because they're the ones who have to live it. They're the ones who are going to have to drive it and deal with it, not just the parents. So I think it's extremely important that we get their expertise because it is absolutely expertise um about what happens on their route and what does it look like and where is that efficiency actually going to be efficient and where is it going to create a larger problem. So I appreciate that you are including those voices that they

058are going to be part of part for the course is how you integrate that. Um that's extremely important to me. Thank you. Um the other question I had was um so obviously nothing will change for like the middle schooler their bus time is going to stay the same but the other two because of the I know it's not called squeeze anymore but because of that squeeze that means that those students will spend less time on the bus overall than they had previously. So the typical times won't change much but across the system in order to accommodate the squeeze. So both you know all of the intervals will be squeezed or adjusted. So actually you know systemwide that is where >> folks uh families even of elementary and middle school students may you know feel some

059of these modest adjustments. So that would be um not just for high school students whereas they're the ones experiencing the you know on average the the change in their pickup times and their start times. Okay. Um, and then just a general statement. Thank you for your responsiveness. Um, just a general statement is um, Dr. Battle, I'm one of the people who's been asking about starting the start time earlier for a while. And I really appreciate your willingness to hear our questions and then not just drop it, but to come back to it, um, to make sure that it's fully explored in the ways that we can actually serve the students and the families and the teachers and staff that we have the best way possible. Um, I think Obviously, in an ideal world, I would

060love for high schools to start at 8 am or even 8:30. I think that would be wonderful if we could make that happen. However, the feasibility and the reality is that with what we have available and the students that we serve and the traffic that we live in and and the constraints of the budget of being able to hire to buy more buses and then the ability of finding enough bus drivers to hire enough bus drivers to we just it can't work. We can't make that happen. Um, and instead of throwing out the baby with the bathwater and saying, "Well, we can't do what I ideally wanted to do, so we should do nothing." I have heard feedback from my district specifically has said, "This first option, this new balanced option is the one that

061they would want even if it doesn't meet their ideal." And so, to me, this first option does not meet my ideal, but it gets us closer to it. And so I am willing to do whatever small steps I can to get closer to what I think the ideal should be. And I don't think the ideal is to continue to start school at 705 for high school. And so a change that we can make that will not cause large disruptions that will actually make some efficiencies better for our students, smaller and less amount of time on the bus. I mean to me that seems logical and it seems like the right thing to do for our students and for our staff. So I I am in favor and my district from their responses overwhelmingly also said

062that's what they wanted. >> Thank you member Mace. >> Thank you. So uh I'll start with I'll start with the question that has plagued me since we started talking about these uh start time changes. What are we trying to solve for? What problem are we trying to solve for? Um is it and and let me let me add to that a question that I received from um several constituents over the last probably couple of days here. Um, what data have we seen that supports changing start times even by 15 minutes will increase academic outcomes for our students? And overwhelmingly in my district, even talking to parents and talking to uh uh some students that were uh wanting to get their opinions heard and several uh bus drivers overwhelmingly they said no change. So that's that's

063what the feedback has been in my district. Now having said that, I'll go back to my original question. what are we trying to solve for? And does this change do that? And I don't know that I have heard that answer yet. >> [snorts] >> Um um we also have to consider that when we are making changes to any type of um transportation that we're considering a couple of things that we are not just looking at routes on a computer or a piece of paper and saying this is how this needs to happen and this is what needs to happen. We need to be looking at the reality of how these routes are actually happening. We need to make sure that we are speaking directly to these drivers who are on these routes every single day

064because they know better than any of us sitting here how this would impact them on a daily basis. And um again, I've had conversations with uh transportation drivers and the overwhelming question is what are we trying to solve for again? Is this what are we doing? So that's my question and Dr. Battle, I'll allow you to jump in there because I want to know what are we trying to solve for and does this do that. >> Yeah, I'm going to invite um Sean know um you covered um some of that um at the top of the the deck. So two things um as he's coming um the first one is just reiterating um that we had we have and will continue to have representation um from our drivers um on the committees. Um so they

065have been involved um u maybe even some focus groups with with a larger group as well. So that is I mean clearly important to this process. Um so we value their voices. The second thing um is just for context for district six right okay trying to keep this together um is the only district that actually has a zone school that starts later. So that actually makes sense with regards to changing start times. And so, um, right now, um, you have the only high zone high school that actually starts at 7:15, which is a little bit later, um, than than the others. And from the benefits, because I actually used to be executive principal at that school, I can speak a little bit, um, to the advantages of having um, even 10 or 15 minutes. Now,

066I've been clear that I've been pretty partial in this discussion. So, this is in no way defending one uh preference over another. Um, but I will tell you as a high school principal at more than one high school, we um due to ourou and state requirements, um, we unload our high school buses and allow drivers and drop offs into our schools at 6:50 a.m. That's across every school regardless of what time the bell rings. So, you could imagine 6:50, bell rings at 7:05. In 15 minutes, we are expecting high school students to drop off books at the library, go to their locker, grab breakfast. >> You know, the socialization part is important, right? In 15 minutes, which al often translates into tardy students to school, which lead which means you're losing instructional time. Okay. Now,

067we also have the evolve system, which we've gotten pretty efficient, but could take an extra minute um for students to transition um in. I've had the reverse, which is the 7:15 start time where I almost always could get students to class on time, protecting instructional time, and as a result, um again, much improved, um as we recall, academic and non-academic outcomes. And so there are small changes that can translate into more efficient operations but also protection of instructional time that can lead to positive student um output. So but I just wanted to give the context that um that we have one district that has a zone school that starts a little bit later and it is in your district which would square with feedback around additional timing um as well. probably not holistic because you

068do have two um high schools, but that was in coordination to make sure that we could run routes, get kids to school on time because they're on the same street. Um so I just wanted to give that context and then Sean, if you can like reiterate some of the why um with regards to this particular study specifically to board members May's point, we've we've talked about this a lot um but we've tried to like kind of call down um the why behind this particular study. I I don't want to step on a great answer, but uh so we you know, just to reiterate, we do have [clears throat] the earliest start time among peer districts in the state of Tennessee for any tier. And so that's been driving the conversation over probably many decades about,

069you know, what are we looking at for terms of start times. There are also uh plenty of research in terms of adolescent sleep, in terms of getting additional sleep time. You can't guarantee that the kids going to go to bed at the same time and get up early. We can't guarantee a lot of factors in that, but what we are doing is creating that cushion. And so the why is is really to try to take a look at the reality of what the situation is. Understand, you know, the context that I I don't I wasn't here when it was I wasn't alive when when the start time tier uh was was originally for throw it out like that. [laughter] >> Come on now. >> But uh you know, it's been that way for a long

070time. And there's also been several conversations over the years and it is hard and I think that the stakeholder feedback that we got indicated that there is that balance m overwhelming majority think high schools should start later. They a lot of people just don't want to change other factors and so what we were able to do I believe with the help of formative and create a model that that that reaches some of those goals. It's not a perfect solution. There is not going to be a perfect solution to this, but it does help us to move that ball forward to get whether you know 20 minutes of additional sleep time. I know there's plenty of times where I've like I want another 20 minutes like that. That's just the reality that it gives an additional

071amount of time and it and it moves things a little bit further down the line. And then there's that do now build towards approach which you know if the if the board or if if you know Dr. pal or whomever decides in the future that we want to further invest in those resources that would allow for further changes, we've now at least got that data and feedback that allows us to make the argument for for that in the future. So, I I would just say, you know, the research certainly benefits later start times. The realities of families indicate that a full swap or whatever would not necessarily work within the current infrastructure we have as a district or as a city, but this would move the ball forward in that direction. >> Yeah. And just

072to call out some very specific points um in um aligning to research with regards to student needs, right? Student learning um supports, family support. So really trying to the why behind that is that that ultimately could lead to positive student um outcomes. So when you think about uh optimization of transportation just things of that nature that I think we would all agree with a mantra like ours every student being known um for them to be supportive seen and on a guaranteed path toward success um it is grounded in that why and that is something we've tried to be very um deliberate around um with regards to even having this conversation right because it is complex when you think about um trying to meet both individual needs needs and system needs um for a district our

073size. >> Thank you for that. And so let me uh also be clear that in conversations that I've had um I have been asked to share the reminder that transportation drivers are also parents and they have children in the district. So it's not only impacting them as drivers but also as parents. And so we need to always consider that um as we make any type of changes or any potential changes. And um again overwhelmingly the information that I received was no change. And so what I'm listening for tonight is something that says to me, yeah, this this makes more sense. Let's do this. because uh based on the conversations I've had, I've not found uh a lot of support for any change. But I wanted to make sure that I shared that and also shared

074that uh in conversations, I've also recognized that anytime you mention the word change, people freak out a little bit. It's just the way it is. It's just a natural thing. But uh I'm I'm listening to see where we uh go with this. So basically convince me. I I can share one again I could argue both sides of this to be honest with you because this is very very complex but one compelling um data point is um the one and only [clears throat] zone high school that has ever been a reward school in the state of Tennessee is the one that has a later start time. Come on, Southeast Nashville. [laughter] >> Just saying. I'm very proud, very, very proud of them. Well, thank you for that. Um, I may have some additional questions later, but

075that's it for now. Thank you. >> Uh, Vice Chair Nabon Kenny, >> thank you. Yeah, I just want to start by um reiterating um board member block and thanking everyone um who has played a part um both those who have participated um given their feedback as well as formative and and our our leaders at the district level and all of that who have played a part in this um including um those at the mayor's office. So, um I do have a couple of questions before I be give a few remarks um related to feedback that I'm receiving in my community. Um but can you do some clarifications for me when we think about 0.1 mile versus.125 miles I believe is what we said as a part of the efficiencies. I I I have trouble with

076the miles. Can we talk blocks? So, how far is a student going from their home to a block to a bus stop versus how much further? >> Uh, yeah. So, I can answer that. So, a tenth of a mile may be a block um or block and a half um whereas, you know, adding another um 25% to that might be, you know, up to two blocks. And that's just but that's just on average. That's the typical student across the whole system. And so I think what's important to understand here is that the goal would not be to, you know, change stops willy-nilly or to consolidate stops across the board, but really to look at those targeted opportunities controlling for safety factors and neighborhood factors that by the way, you know, drivers are uh some of

077the best informed uh places where we'll learn where, you know, we want to be more cautious um in that respect. And then um so then you you know resulting in a more um a typical student walk to stop that might be more in that one point 125 zone or 0.125 zone excuse me. >> Thank you. And then when you say across the system are you referring to MNPS or schools across the nation or the state of Tennessee. >> I just mean within MNPS. >> Within MNPS. Okay. Uh but but our our research does show again when you have a maximum set what a uh if if the maximum for a cohort of students or a grade level is a quarter mile then a very efficiently routed system would have would tend to have a normally

078distributed walk to stop distance at about half that right so that's kind of where we derive that currently Nashville is not inefficient by any means but just slightly below indicating that there's some opportunity to stay within you know what we consider um an efficiently routed system in a without making too big of adjustments. >> Thank you. Um and then still in this context around efficiencies that we're looking to do around transportation, I would like to hear from someone within the district about the so so so we have theory versus reality when it comes to implementation of what those efficiencies would look like. Are we feeling confident that though that we can meet the needs around transportation given the shorter times um but the same distances that we're doing pickup? >> Yeah. And I'm I'm confirming

079what I'm getting ready to say with Chief Sullivan, but this has been a collaborative process. So, our team shared um all of the data, their feedback, their kind of analysis um on on everything. So this isn't just a just simply like formative from an external perspective um leaning in with these um efficiencies. It has been um a joint effort um between um the two and um again I think we've had that at one level. We've also had lots of engagement voices getting feedback um from the team as well. And uh my humble estimation of that from what I've heard and what I've heard from our drivers and the team is that there has been responsiveness um to that based upon the feedback that's been received. So um to answer your question, it's been a joint

080collaboration um between the the district and formative. >> Okay. And then do we anticipate >> can one caveat >> again connecting theory to reality like we still have to be very mindful that this doesn't also mean that this is a perfect scenario and there won't be bumps and challenges that we have to work through along the way. >> That's the part I'm worried about. But I understand that that happens. Um so the the so I have I've had an opportunity to attend some of the um forums that we have listen online to some of the virtual forums for feedback as well as talk to um uh people at all level within the school system outside of the school system with with students and families um just across my community. And and I just want to

081share some of the the feedback that I received because I have to name it. Um middle school teachers want to switch with elementary is one of the the the feedback that I've consistently gotten. We know that that's not a possibility at this point. Um again the challenges around before and after care and what that looks like efficiencies around transportation. One of the biggest things that have come up around transportation is uh are we able to get kids to school on time given the strict times? And so that's where my questions come from or you know when we think about that um we do have periodic challenges currently with transportation um and getting to kids to school on time. What will that realistically look like um given those shortened times? and and I and I hear

082you when you say that this has been a collaborative effort. There's a lot of work in there, but that has been one of the loudest challenges or loudest concerns uh for families um a and schools across my community that I that I just want to name. Um the other thing um in in talking with people in our community and and in my district um it's been mixed. Um about 60 40 60 want to keep it the same about 40 want are okay with the changes um but could go either way when it comes to what those changes look like um relative to that uh for various reasons. What has been clear is again with middle school if we remain the same we don't want to move further um related to that. So um you know

083I I as we continue to look at this um for me and and I'll name one of you know as we shift whe whether we if we shift to move towards the is it tier one that we're look that is the tier one the squeeze if we look Huh? >> Tier one is the motion. >> Model one, two, is the motion. >> Model one. Yes. Um, so if we look and we're calling it, it used to be called the squeeze. Am I >> It's the same thing. >> Oh, okay. So now it's balance. Okay, gotcha. Um, so if we're looking to move towards the balanced adjustment, um, as it relates to that, I I think that that will be the the biggest area that I would like to hone in on to make sure that

084we are really looking at those efficiencies and doing what we can um to improve transportation and and um ensuring that students are getting that access and and getting to school on time so that we don't have that. Um, but thank you member Feain couldn't get my um thing on. I think the biggest first off, thank you, Aaron. You and I for sure are data people, so I appreciate that. I feel like um looking at the data, looking at the numbers, I mean I agree with board member Mazize that um I mean the numbers are saying that our st our faculty and our students do not support it. Um and I think a big job of everyone sitting here on this board is to advocate and support those parent not only those parents but the staff

085and faculty as well as the students like I mean we are we are board members school board members and so if we are pushing something that they're not in support of of or that they're not advocating or rallying for then I mean numbers don't lie. I mean the numbers are there but what I I guess my biggest question or concern just like you said like what is what are we doing it for? I mean because if the students and the faculty and the staff are saying that they don't want it. Yeah. That's that they are if you look at the numbers in in there and the data that we have on this sheet the most of the support is seeing from the numbers in the resources that we use for them. They're not supporting it.

08641% is saying no. >> So if we're looking at page eight, which has the numbers on it, right? >> Are you looking at January survey responses highlights or January survey number one, all versus high school responses? >> I mean, if you look at both, but if you look at the bottom one, all versus high school. If you looking at model 3, no change, faculty and staff are at 58, schoolbased staff 58%, central office staff 50%. Nashville community 45% which is model 3 no change. >> We if we um kind of level set on u so those two let's set on what the responses say particularly in these um slides. >> Yeah. So the it is true that the plurality support no change in terms of the majority support a change and so tried to make

087that clear maybe I didn't but like so the majority of people support a change >> but the majority of the people not to cut you off Sean is coming from the community and not necessarily the staff and the people that are working with the students or the students. Correct. Because what I'm looking at the numbers for the family are high which again are not the students or the faculty. I I'd say that the numbers showed that a majority of the students wanted a change. They their preferred model if you just take the the top if if this was an election and it was three candidates that would win. But in terms of what what both of those services it's true that staff would prefer no change because staff are acclimated to that um it's not

088it's not clear-cut. I mean it's it's not the widest of margins but um in terms of if you look at say students if you combine model one and two and we say that because it shows that both of them want an adjustment of the start times later there's a difference in the way that the the the models work obviously in terms of whether we're doing the um whether we're shortening the the route times or just shifting everything 15 minutes. And so that indicates at least to us and and based on the previous survey results, >> the majority the vast majority supported higher school high school start times. >> Yeah, I it it I mean it makes sense. Like I said, I'm a data person. I do this for my nineto-5, so I know how to

089read and interpret. But I'm saying from what we're looking at and why we're making the change is based on not necessarily I mean the votes were important but we're looking at data beyond the the votes particularly. Um, and for me, 20, I don't know, 20 minutes, it's not a it's it's not a huge change that I think that will make that. I mean, we can I I I don't want to put that out there, but I'm just saying it's just 20 20 minutes. That's a big change and a big step for like our staff and our faculty more so than the kids, per se. Um, graduation rates are up, test scores are up. I'm just I mean, yeah, what what are we put what was the the major push behind it? It's not like we're

090in a deficit um or that we're trying to meet a a goal that we're not achieving already with the start time that we already have. >> Yeah. I mean I I would say that well to take it back several years back I mean back in 2001 or so 2002 this was a large conversation as we said at the time we were going to focus on the reimagine process that focused on the fifth grade transition from middle school to elementary school which if you looked at it holistically you'd say you can't do that. And then we we did it like we we phased it in. We were able to do it because we looked at the numbers we focused on our capital investments. we were able to make those improvements. And so that process ended and

091so we had committed long ago that we would take a look at this after that process. We worked with the mayor's office to secure that funding to do that process. And so we were trying to be true to our previous commitment that we would further study this issue. And so I think that with the feedback that we've gotten both in in the previous one and that on top of focus groups on top of all this other stuff, but also really focus in on the transportation school transportation experts that look at this in other districts as well as our own. We feel like we can make an adjustment that is reasonable that would try to try to balance out those those conflicts. Right? So if we look at the previous January or October engagement, you saw

092a large number of people support high school start times later. And then um but they don't want to move middle school later. They don't necessarily love a change. And so this is a very modest change to elementary start time, no change to middle school time, and you know, a 20-minute adjustment to high school start times to get us to that point that people said they wanted. Um and I and I understand that. um you know when we presented the three models and and that provides an opportunity for two models that make a change, one model that makes no change and so you know the plurality did support that and yes some schoolbased staff it's understandable they've sometimes had years to acclimate to that schedule and so I understand that any change is not necessarily wanted

093by some but it's not even that clear-cut because you know in the focus groups where they got the qualitative data a lot of it was they wanted to see it change. They just were concerned about the feasibility. And that's why we coupled the engagement part of it with the feasibility study with with formative to try to make sure that anything we presented forward was something that we thought we could reasonably accomplish within the resources that we had. >> I also saw that the majority of the votes from the parent or community came from elementary. They're not even involved in the change necessarily >> modestly. Yeah. modestly, but they're not, you know, and so I I don't know. Um I know we got a vote. I know that there is going to be a change, so

094I'm prepared for that. It's just I I mean, I'm just an advocate of like the why behind a lot of things and what is the real reasoning and what is the reason why we're all here and on this platform. So that's it. Yeah. Okay. Um I know there's members who want to respond. I'm going to let people who didn't speak first. I want people who didn't speak first and then we can go back for another round. Uh member Young, do you have any comments? >> Um thank you, chair. I do. Um, I've been making frantic notes all around my pocket tonight. So, I'm trying to think about the best way to I I guess I'll start change is is hard more often than not. Um, but I think that it's important for us to show

095that um, we have to show each other that we can do it because I think for some of us or for me at least, I I feel like maybe this isn't enough change for high school start times, but I think it's important that we show people that uh, change is possible and that it is um, moving in the right direction in this particular case. Um I I think it's worth noting at least for for me and in district three uh it was more than twothirds of families supported moving times backwards. In fact, I mean not backwards [laughter] shifting the start time. Um I think it was uh less than a third that prefer keeping high school start time where it currently is in my district. Um, I think a question I wanted to ask. I

096had an answer that I believe a rep from from formative had explained to me, but we've had quite a quite an ice storm since that conversation I had and a lot of other conversations. I had a question on this gets us to 7:25 and apparently getting to just 7:30 even in that five minutes was there was some apparently just mathematically couldn't work. Could I get a little reminder of kind of the explanation of why that five minutes just isn't quite possible? um why we can't just round it off to 7:30 because it sounds like oh just five more minutes but I think there was a lot more to that and if you could kind of lay that out for me. >> I can say 7:30 in principle isn't impossible. Um but a couple different reasons

097why it's not here. Um it wasn't one of the scenarios that was presented. Um, one the biggest reason being that uh the the strong uh public sentiment, strong stakeholder sentiment around not shifting the end times any later and kind of even in that that's middle model uh going further beyond 4 p.m. being one of the reasons why um and the strong desire within the middle school to keep the time as it is. So that was one and then the other being the other limiting factor being in our modeling um to shrink the window anymore from 55 to 45 to shrink that anymore say to to 40 or something less than 45 was where we perceived that you know a higher number of routes would need to be modified and that was what was raising the

098risk there. So that's not to say that there isn't a way to get to 7:30 while kind of tweaking or you know some kind of a hybrid new or different model. But then that wasn't you know those that wasn't one of the models that was shared with stakeholders. And so um again that's and for the reasons I mentioned but we wanted to of course present models that were you know went through this whole rigorous process um and so we had the opportunity to get stakeholder feedback on all of them. >> Thank you. That was the only question I had. Um, I have I've learned so much in the last several weeks. Um, so much. Um, and I guess [sighs] I I would just encourage us as a board that we don't see um if we

099do vote to move to 725, if we go with model one and that the motion on the floor passes. I hope we don't see this as the finish line and I hope that we see this as the beginning of a multi-year analysis or or process of refining this and figuring out um how to make it better. Um I I like the slide that says do now and build toward um because I think this model one that we have before us is some good uh lowhanging fruit. so to speak, that with minimal or no fiscal impact and not too much of an operational impact, we can make some change for families. Um, we can respond to what at least twothirds of families in my district say that they want to see. Um, and I I just

100I'm not one to say things to hear myself talk, so I'll just stop at that point because I think most everything else I think has kind of been said, so I'll leave it at that. Thank you, Chair. >> Thank you, Member Allard. Thank you, chair. >> Um, historically when making large operational changes, we do so with lots of consideration and the best example we have of that is when we transitioned our fifth grade into all of our elementary schools. Um, which was the impetus maybe for this board of us talking about our school start times as a lot of families asked when can we discuss that as well if we're going to be touching our schools. So again, I am glad just like uh member O'Hara Block brought up. I am glad that we are

101staying true to our commitment of what we said we were going to do of addressing it now after that lengthy process. Um and that process was lengthy. Uh it took us many years. We were able to do it in small groups. It wasn't always popular in my district. We were the last district to get fifth grade into our schools. People were not so happy about that. But it was the right thing to do and to do it in incremental portions uh because we wanted to mitigate unintended consequences and there were plenty of unintended consequences whether it was transportation or not. Um so when we've discussed in past meetings about doing the same here with transportation and seeing can we try this in a certain cluster or in a certain quadrant or even within a certain

102grade band. The response historically has been something along the lines whether it's from formative or feedback or whether it's been from um internal our own staff feedback has been that we can't really do that because it's just not equitable to do it in a small pattern like that. It needs to be done across the entire school system. So the information about your 715 school uh high school is frankly a little surprising to me. I did not know that we had a school that was an outlier in that situation. So, with the consideration of this new information of having a school that already has a 7:15 start time, uh, is there anything that we know from that, I hear Dr. Battle's example of that they are the only high school reward school? That's good to know,

103but is there other additional information that we know from that that would be helpful to this discussion? Like, for example, you know, what is the um, uh, on time rate for that school? Do we have an issue potentially with there's they're having a hard time getting to those elementary schools? Have we learned anything positive or negative from that experience since we do have it now to work from? Outside of pulling current data, I've shared my data points um that I have firsthand with regards to um attendance tardies, academic outcomes. So, I've shared my personal experience with that. Outside of that, that would be something our team would have to go back and pull. >> But qualitatively, we don't have like a massive issue with being able to flip buses to get to the next grade

104band or anything like that. It does not sound like. >> So, let me be clear though. In that particular situation, they still unload at the same time as every other bus. >> Okay. So, that is consistent across the board. They still unload at 650 like every other high school. >> Okay. I appreciate that clarity. All right. Uh my next is uh in light of our need of drivers in the past several years uh and just considering the overall expertise of our transportation operational team uh I believe that they also would like to be considered I think the term was uh highly efficient uh and when we were mentioning on slide I didn't write that in my notes my apologies uh slide 11 of moving from 0.1 to 0.25 miles from home to bus stop. So

105that begs to ask the question, and I understand that this is going to be qualitative data, but why is our current average stop distance 0.1 miles from home to bus stop? What are the data points that are making that happen currently where it's 0.1 instead of 0.25? My understanding is that it's specialty stop. So I'm hoping someone from our team can answer that question possibly. I'm informative may be able to. >> Well, I can speak to what we see in the data. Um I can't speak necessarily to kind of how the practice has evolved and so on over time but um what that 0.1 is actually gened stops so it's not um students it does not include students who have door-to-door transportation correct >> bringing the average down um and I can speak just from

106experience I was director of transportation for Boston public schools have been working in um the business for over 15 years um in student transportation and kind of what tends to happen is what I call um kind of well stops tend to be added and and not deleted over time. And so even if a district's policy is that a maximum walk to stop might be 0.25 over time, just because of the push and pull and tug of families and you know adding the you know keeping the stops that you had last year and then next year new kids are added, you tend to add stops and not kind of do spring cleaning. They tend to get more accommodating over time. And so what I'll say is that you know at 0.1 um what we found is

107that actually um you know given the 0.25 25 mile policy. The district is not routed terribly inefficiently relative to that policy. I will say um that policy however is generally more accommodating than uh grade differentiated policies that we see around the country. So it's already kind of de facto pretty accommodating and then 0.1 means that most students have a stop on their block or may not you know have to cross any roads even including high school students in that analysis. So that is uh reasonably accommodating but not inefficient relative to the policy. Um but I like I say that tends to kind of go that way over time as stops are added. Um but given that um I don't think the system is currently very inefficient. But the point was that we can actually there

108can be a lot of change across the system and there doesn't need to be a ton of change but just some targeted shortening of routes by just modest adjustments in walk to stop distances. When I said specialty, I didn't mean special ed. And I appreciate making sure that I need to be more clear with my language. To me, a specialty stop um is usually, I think, kind of what you were explaining. Uh particularly considering your expertise of an individual stop in front of a home because they live on a street that doesn't have a shoulder and there's not a walkable street for that pathway. Um maybe they uh frankly, as you mentioned, historically, there's always been a stop along those three houses. um there's large acreage between homes and so it's just not compatible to

109walk the 0.25 what have you. My understanding and again this is qualitative and just considering the experience I've had on the board of the past eight years is that we do have a lot of specialty stops and that surely is bringing down our average from to the 0.1 and not closer to the 0.25 that we need. And that's because we have a lot of students um that have historically we've made consensus for them uh so that they can be picked up right in front of their home. And that is usually done because of us as schoolboard members. Uh we get a request from our constituents. Uh we get an ask from our our city council members uh where there needs to be a specialty stop. And in some cases those are very very much needed.

110And I have actually driven some of those routes and have thought, "Oh my gosh, how is your kid been getting to the school the whole time this way now?" But I want us to urge and I need to make sure I do it so publicly that if we so choose to change to any kind of model and maybe just going forward as best practice as we're discussing what is considered national best efficiency. If we're going to be asking our staff to be changing special routes to pick up additional students, we need to consider what we're asking of them and how it will have a trickle down effect on our ability to pick up the next grade band or otherwise. Because again, I know my district surely is full of those specialty stops. I have plenty

111of hollers in my district where people are running around driving fast particularly. They're not made those streets aren't made to be follow-up streets or filler streets or whatever the right city councilman. What's that called? What's that called? Side streets where they're supposed to not actually be on that street, but they are now. Who knows? They're called secondary. Thank you. I was going to call them surprise. They're called secondary streets. Surprise secondary streets. Uh we have a plenty of people on those. Thank you, Zach. Um, we have plenty of people on those streets now. Um, and there are going to be instances where we absolutely still have to have those stops for the safety of our students and our staff. Um, I just want to make sure and I know again that our staff, informative and

112whomever are thinking about this, Shirley, but I have to say it out loud that we are still considering some of those specialty stops and the necessity of those. Um, understandably, some of those will need to go away if nothing else. Historically, they're just not needed anymore. those students have since maybe they're employed somewhere now at this point. But I want to make sure that we say that out loud and to my colleagues that we consider those requests going forward if we so choose to make this change. That also though um Carl, is your name correct? Thank you, Carl. I called you Chad at the last meeting. I publicly apologize, so I wanted to make sure I had it correct. Um, Carl, uh, it's my understanding in looking at some of these, uh, forms that our

113gened average is less than 30 minutes on a bus. And I am to assume, I think correctly, that our sped average is shorter than that considering the unique needs that they have and the short routes that they have. It's also my understanding that that might likely have been a suggestion from a consultant standpoint to maybe reduce some of those or to um combine sped bus stops to free up those drivers to make other stops. Um and so what if any suggestion is there on sped transportation? So the the special ed transportation routes with their doortodoor stops and actually often farther program placements for students are actually longer on average quite a bit um than the >> Did I say shorter? >> Yeah, >> thank you for that correction. You are correct. That makes sense. >>

114Being doortodoor is much shorter. Um so those routes are longer and I you know that's where um and we don't you know this the strategy of looking to consolidate stops or um would certainly not apply um in those instances but perhaps some of the rebalancing um might be necessary. There's also just some instances with longer routes that they cannot currently be paired and so that's where a bus you even though there are three tiers not every bus currently can do three trips. sometimes they're, you know, only able to do two just because they have longer routes. And so those are just ones that are kind of currently built into the system and wouldn't, you know, may not be able to be adjusted. Okay. And so what we've found is that there's ample opportunity where we

115think routes need to be shortened. uh and in particular for gened routes where they can be that we believe there's ample opportunity with a multitude of strategies not just stop consolidation but that being one strategy also rebalancing to make it work within the shorter window given what we see but then what's really important is this process of implementation that's iterative and really really considers feedback of drivers uh working with the routing team building more padding and intelligence into the routing map and so that's really part of our uh triedand-true method methodology is not just to kind of throw a solution over the wall and you know say good luck with the theory but really to iterate with and building in that practical expertise and so understanding um though you know those specialty stops and where

116they are and taking them out of the of consideration for consolidation. But the good news is that you know we've kind of factored that in with the conservatism of the model that we don't need to shorten you know or remove consolidate all the stops right we just need targeted modest adjustments and so those should be able to be preserved and protected. >> Okay. I um it just it begs me to say on the board floor um and this isn't maybe to you this is just to all of us uh that I would like us to just be particularly careful with whatever consolidations we do. uh particularly considering our sped parents and staff and mostly our students needs um as they do have longer routes just because purely what are the needs between their IEP and

117the difference between their home and their school but also considering the needs that they have of ability being able to sit on the bus. So whatever those considerations are and I know we are very good at that between not just transportation but our own departments that work with our students with disabilities. I just want to make sure that I say out loud that we are considerate of that and that we try to mitigate any changes to those families as much as possible so that they're least affected um in any possible negative ways and only see as much as they can of a positive from this. Um I um have to say I've said in the past it's not very clear uh within my district though I've heard some definite statistics from some of y'all of

118what they want to be done and I'm not surprised by that. Uh again, nobody has touched this uh since Shawn was born. Uh because it's not popular, even maybe with Shawn's parents. We don't know. But like that's the the delineator. Timeline starts there. Um but I want to say it has not been very popular and that [clears throat] is why no one has touched it whether it's us or otherwise. But I was lucky to have formative some good data about how it was responded to and it was actual qualitative data. or quantitative instead of just qualitative data on the number of students and the number of parents and the number of caregivers that responded. And so since other staff or other people have mentioned theirs, I want to share mine as well as district 2

119um in district 2 uh 59% pe 59% of responders in my district 2 uh preferred model one which is the one that we're discussing and is up for consideration. Uh 43% preferred model 2 and 51 preferred no change. So, as you can see, there's no clear or direct response here. Uh, for me, that means I need to consider that, of course, because those are my constituents and otherwise. But I I also must lean towards the data that clearly states what is best for students and that data clearly states that it's a a later start time. Um, and historically when we've had to have schools closed, that is where I have leaned has been the data, be it popular or not, um, in the past. So, um I would say for myself that I'm going to

120vote for us to do this, but in the spirit of do now, build towards I consider this a vote of good faith for us to change our school start times and as a good starting place. I think it is the best we can do to do it in a small section just like we did like going back to my first statement about bringing fifth grade into all of our elementary schools was overwhelmingly interested of we want it to be done but we just don't know how to get it done. I think this is the closest way that we can get to having um a starting place for it and hopefully doing better. to uh member O'Hara Block's comments. I absolutely agree that that does beg of us as a district to continue to discuss whether

121it's with local entities or state entities about the definite need that we have for child care for not only our parents but also for our staff and for the flexibility that we need of additional buses and bus routes. I also encourage our communications to continue to do a good job communicating about transportation changes to include our new tracking device tracking abilities, excuse me, because I think that that will be really important to parents as they know that this change is coming. They also have some um maybe uh good feelings about being able to also be able to follow their students more closely so that they're not frightened if their students time is missed and they have forgotten. Otherwise, thank you for the answer to my questions and I appreciate your time. Thank you. Member Taylor.

122>> Good evening everyone. >> Um, we spent a lot of time on this and at first I was feeling like it wasn't enough. Um but as I um I got a chance to speak with uh your colleague uh Mary um a few weeks ago and um we had a very robust conversation about um just why we were doing this, why is it moving so quickly? what it felt like to me. And um as I got more information and data um it became clear that [clears throat] um this is just like any other uh issue that we have to make a decision on. Um it's about what we value as a community um and then individually as board members and then how we prioritize those values. And so when I make this decision like I'm thinking

123go like we're about to change the regional traffic patterns for middle Tennessee. You got truckers coming through the city at that time. And I mean just the impact of this is far greater than what we can even imagine probably. Um, [clears throat] and so I don't take this decision lightly and uh, and I know we all take this very seriously and have spent a lot of time uh, thinking about this and uh, and working with uh, the folks from Formative to um, to help us make our decision. Um, as I make this decision, I think about what I value and what my community values. Um, and for me, I'm a public health person. Um, the American Academy of Pediatrics said that 8:30 is a good start time for our kids and it'll make them healthier.

124That's the goal, right? Um, now when I came back to Nashville, it was in 2014, about the same time that the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with this. That's when I came to Metro Schools, um, and was working as a family involvement specialist. Um, and so I realized that, you know, I was doing tobacco control when I first came back to Nashville. And the goal for a tobacco control program is to get people to quit smoking, right? So the ideal is to quit. But you got to get there somehow. And so if you're a 20 a full pack a day smoker, if I can get you to only smoke 10, we're doing a whole lot better than just letting you continue to smoke those 20 cigarettes. And so I liken that to what we're

125doing here. I think that our goal is to get as close to the uh the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Um logistically, it just doesn't work. And I think that uh you know we've talked about the issues. I I made a list of them over here as my colleagues were going around but uh we need more child care. We need more bus drivers. We need sidewalks. And so that's a part of our value system as well. Do we value it enough to spend the money to invest in it? Right now, we're coming off of a a major snowstorm, and we realize that there were potentially some investments that we could have made over the past couple of decades that would have kept our power on, but at the time, we probably didn't value

126making those investments. We valued our trees a little bit more than making sure that we cut the limbs off of the power lines, right? But now that all of the power lines got knocked down by these tree limbs, I think people's value may change. And so you see that as we make these decisions and we have our different values and what we prioritize at the time, we have to each be able to live with the values that we prioritize as we make these decisions. So for me, I value um the public health side of this. I value doing what's in the best interest of our children's health. Um I also value the input of our our students, our parents, the um the faculty and staff in our buildings, our bus drivers. We had a process

127that gave folks an opportunity to provide their input. And so like others, I asked specifically what's going on in my cluster. I said, I want to know for district one, my constituents, what were the survey results. Um, it was about 50/50. Um, about half of the folks wanted no change, and the other half said that they wanted some type of change, either the 20 minutes or to 25 minutes later for high school start times. And um and so I I had to think about well as an elected official I also believe a part of our responsibility is to educate our constituents on why we're making the decision that we're making and why it's important. The survey didn't necessarily give us that opportunity, but we have it now. And that's why we're having this conversation is

128to provide information to the community to say this is why we're making this decision. And if they want to have input, I'm not hard to [clears throat] find. I think Dion says that too. And uh but my phone number is on the website. And there are some people that know that because they call me very regularly and keep doing it. It's okay. Um, I might not answer right away, but call and let me know how you feel about these issues because I take your phone calls, your emails, your text messages into consideration as I make these decisions. Um, I had a lot of faculty or I would say faculty and staff. Um, but our teachers and staff members have reached out. They have called me and text me and many of them um when we

129have the dialogue about the health of our children and what science says is the best for them, they understand. They say, "You know what? You're right. It makes sense to do this. Um but why aren't we going further?" And then we have the conversation about limited bus drivers, um the scheduling of buses, not necessarily having sidewalks. my community. I have people that are walking down a two-lane street with no sidewalk for almost a mile to get to school. And so we've our neighborhood has gotten together and we've organized car pools and all of that to get the kids to the school. But that's an issue in this city. And so as we go forward, I think, you know, y'all can kind of feel that I'm starting to lean towards voting in favor of one um

130of option one. Um, I do want to make sure that we are intentional about not having this be the stopping point, but talking about all of those other issues, the child care issue, um, the infrastructure that we need in the city as far as sidewalks, transportation, buses, and so I'm glad that we are doing this in conjunction with the mayor's office because we're going to need that support um to be able to do the things that we need to do to support getting us closer to what the science says is best practice. Um the last thing that I do want to uh to ask as far as um going forward um I think did you you just brought up um the fact that we do have some schools uh Antioch starts at 7:15 currently. Um

131I have a couple of questions around that. So Dr. about you just said that um the uh drop off time is still the same even though the start time is later. So with this particular model, model one, would the drop off times still stay the same uh for the students even though we're starting late or how much later are the drop off times to have that gap? >> Yeah, I believe it's my understanding the drop off times will remain the same. Is that correct? No, I'm sorry. They will shift It's not the >> It's not the full 20 minutes. Can you come up and answer this question so I don't mess mess this up? Thank you, >> Susie. So, yes, >> uh the tier one drop off times don't shift the full 20 minutes, more

132about 10 or 15 minutes in some instances and it might differ. Some days stagger in some instances just because of the nature of drop off. Um but it's also true that you know the um uh you know the the the schedule change for the school affects all the students that attend the school, not just those that ride uh transportation. So the shifts on average of the pickup times are in the 10 to 15 minute range. >> Got it. Okay. No, that's that's great to know. That's the answer, right? Okay. Um and then my other question, I have a couple more questions, so I'm not going to pretend like I'm about to stop. Um what was the impetus behind Antioch having the later start time? >> Well, we were you know sometimes we create our own

133challenges, right? So, um, when we built two high schools on the same street, [clears throat] >> that changed the cha traffic pattern and flow and we had, um, a bit of congestion and buses on off of Murphy'sboro Road going to the left to the right. >> Um, and so it was supposed to just be a shortterm, I'm being honest, it's supposed to be just short term. Um I thought even when I transitioned in we would just change it back because I was told that then I got there and I was like ah it's actually is a benefit so I can get kids to class on time. And so we've not shifted it because this conversation has been ongoing and so we just paused because the whole process and thinking was if we're going to shift

134forward it doesn't make sense to shift them back to shift them forward and it's been that long of a conversation that we haven't felt necessary to make that adjustment. >> Great. So that's that's what that's what caused it was was that now we've gotten the development in the area has shifted and changed and expanded in ways and I know that's something that the team has been looking at um as far as resetting them on the same um pattern at this time. >> Great. >> If if this is approved >> I feel like an attorney because I I knew the answer and but I did you set me up I wanted us to get that out there to say it out loud. Yes. so that people can understand that because we talk about equity, right? And

135it's um equity is not equal. It doesn't mean that we're going to do everything exactly the same. It means that we're going to provide what's necessary for those individuals to be successful in their community. Um so in that vein, um I think some people may know where I'm going with this. in that vein as we commit to this not being the stopping point. Um just like you mentioned earlier that when we did the Don't get nervous, it's okay. >> As you mentioned earlier, the um when we transitioned the kids back to fifth grade, we did that school by school. Your district got it last. >> It was the right thing to do. >> Yeah. When we put the football fields in, we did school by school. When we did the evolve system, we did school

136by school. It gave us an opportunity to kind of work out the kinks, figure out what's going on, but we got it right. In this situation, I feel like we keep being told that it's got to be the whole district. The whole district has to do it because of the transportation and this, this, and that. Um, and I want to be convinced of that. Um, however, I do want us to consider moving cluster by cluster as we continue to adjust the times because there's been a precedent that we've done some schools at a different time than others because of specific need or what have you. We found a reason to do that. And so I do want us to consider that as we move forward um as a part of the modeling that we get

137going forward as far as transportation and so forth because just like you mentioned the Antioch Cane Ridge area that is a completely different traffic pattern than what I have going on in Whites Creek right and Jolton it's just different. I got Maplewood. Also, I also got East. And I realized today that I got a couple of schools from Stratford and Hunter Lane. And so those parts of town are completely different from each other. And looking from an equity lens, I do believe that we can figure out how to make sure that the times work in each cluster for the families. and uh taking into consideration the different traffic patterns and so forth. Um I had another question related to that. Let me just make sure I don't miss it. Um my question related to that

138if we change to this um option one the balance. Thank you. I didn't want to call it squeeze the balance. If we change the balance, is that going to change all of our schools, including Antioch, our magnet schools or any other schools. >> The the primary intention of this is to change the zones and the ones that provide transportation. So, Antioch would shift with uh with that to that that tier start time. um the optional magnet schools that you think of like MLK [clears throat] they would stay at 8 to there there are some sort of optional elementary schools that might shift a little bit ELC's would shift a little bit as well um the special I think the question came up the special day schools like uh Harris Hillman and CH how wouldn't change

139because they are so dependent on um longer [snorts] uh getting there so we're we're going to keep those um with with that tier as well so um we're working on compiling list and you know if if the board adopts it we'll we'll provide that information too so people can start to plan and prepare. >> Okay. All right. So my last two questions one uh we got formative assisting us with this process. How long do we have them for and as we continue to go forward at looking at other options to move uh in the future? Um what is our plan for making that happen? So that's my first question. Uh the scope is I believe runs through March and so we're going to do a lot of that and it may be something where we

140bring back to try to get them to assist further at some point but as of right now the the scope of the contract is through March. >> Okay. I'll add to that and I think this is okay for me to share because um the mayor and I have had conversations specifically about this um and one of the things he's asked me to do is if this is the decision of the board um for us to have conversations around what are additional needs to help with um operations and routing um to get us to an effective um planned implementation for the fall. So, um that is going I also think it's going to be an ongoing conversation as needed. >> Okay. And then my second question is more of a procedural question for us as we

141um [clears throat] make the the vote on the motion. Are we able and I don't know if David answers this or but are we able to put into the motion um additional commitments that we're looking for as far as what the uh the future adjustments would look like? So, for example, um are we able to say that um we're going to vote for option one with the intent to continue to modify the plan to meet the needs of the community or I'm just asking for language purposes uh for the motion. Um >> thank you. Uh board member Taylor, you have a motion on the floor duly seconded. Uh you have the opportunity to make an amendment to that motion >> uh which we've voted on separately either up or down which would which would change

142that motion or not change that motion depending on the outcome of that vote. >> Uh yeah you have to amend your own motion and it has to be voted. Yes. >> Okay. And so my purpose for asking that question is I just want to know I want there to be a commitment on our part as a board and the district that this is not the finish line for this process that we make this decision with the mindset that we are going to continue to review um the outcome of this decision and identify the positives and the negatives and then make adjustments going forward um with the process. So with that being said, I'll turn it back over. >> Thank you. And then also just um as any board member in the future, you can bring

143items to the agenda to be discussed um also. So there's also more than one mechanism later in the future to have discussions on um actions of the board. Um, student board member um, Wyn, >> good afternoon everyone. Um, I apologize for being about an hour late. I know that we were starting an hour earlier today. Um, but yeah, um, I didn't get to kind of speak on this last time and what my perspective was on the issue and being able to look at this um, pretty much since it launched um, with Carl, Mary, Sean, I've got to spend a little bit of time with you guys um, in the kitchen cabinet meetings and um, it's really complicated stuff, right? Like we all like I feel like recognize that this is extremely complex. Um, but I

144wake up at 4:00 a.m. every day and it sucks. Like, it really, really does suck. Um, and I go to the gym and I go get coffee to offset that and I still have it on me. And, um, I go to school and, you know, like there are certain things I think that we can mitigate a really early start time with. And I think that almost what I've heard from students um speaking to different student leadership groups like the mayor's youth council um just speaking to my peers, students who even switched from um our public zone schools and had a 705 start time moving on to maybe a private school or a school that has a later start time um and what their perspective was on it. Um and I think that you know rest

145is really important. There's other things that we can consider like just simply like the the why is student success outcomes, right? >> Um so yeah, I think that change is possible. Um, I think that 25 minutes or 20 minutes or 10 minutes is not necessarily um a lot just looking at it um on paper. Um, but I think that in terms of routine and the transportation experience as a student that's driven themselves to school, that's taken the bus, that's walked a block or two to the bus, that's had a parent take them to school, who's taken the city bus even, um, I think that there's room for accommodation in all of those. Um, I leave school, I have early release. Um, I think that the CPL program and college career coaches are extremely important. Um

146I think a concern for high school students is are we going to be able to get out of school at a decent time? Is the sun going to be setting whenever it's winter and um I mean like look outside right now. Um yeah. Um same thing that we talk about in reducing specialty stops. Um I think these are all things that we can do to ensure that students are um getting the help they need both within schools and also um at home. Um and I think that holistically I think that no change is the comfortable option. Um but we say you know where you are but don't stay there. Um, so yeah, I think that this is a step towards progress and overall very many well said sentiments about um, not necessarily this being the

147end of us looking at school start and end times. All right, thank you. Um, how many board members want to respond for a second round? >> Okay. Um, we'll come back down. This will be the last round. U member, uh, Tyler, sorry. >> No, that's fine. Thank you. So, I keep hearing people ask, "Why are we doing this?" And I I've been asking to do it for so long that I realize not everybody I've just thought it was well known. So, um why are we doing this? And I think you just spoke to a lot of that, but there's a lot of research around what happens to these early start times. Um, one of the research papers that I read said 90% of high school-aged adolesccents get in insufficient sleep on school nights or barely

148meet the required amount needed for healthy functioning. 90%. Now, if you look at the impact of chronic sleep loss in adolescence specifically, there is a litany of negative effects that are that are directly correlated here. So, we've got chronic sleep loss for adolescence, has an increased obesity risk, has uh an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, has an increased cardiovascular morbidity risk, has an increased rate of motor vehicle crashes, higher rates of caffeine consumption, non-medical use of stimulant medications, lower levels of physical activity. Um, there's an increased risk for anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideiation. There's um poor impulse control and self-regulation. Increased risk-taking behaviors in already highly risk takingaking behaviors for adolescence in general is already higher than the norm. And so you're taking that already increase and increasing it even more. um emotional dysregulation,

149decreased positive affect, impaired interpretation of social and emotional cues in their self and in others, decreased motivation, increased vulnerability to stress. for your academics. Chronic sleep deprivation means that there are cognitive deficits, especially with more complex tasks, which we're asking our high schoolers to be doing. Impairments in executive functioning, which is your working memory, your organization, time management, sustained effort, all those areas. um impairments in your attention and your memory, deficits in abstract thinking and in your verbal creativity, decreased performance, efficiency and output, lower academic achievement, poor school attendance, and increased dropout rates. And I know that that list was really long, but it's really important to note that those are all the impact of chronic sleep loss just for adolescence. And if 90% of our high schoolaged adolescents are getting insufficient sleep, then that's

150what they're dealing with. And so why are we doing this? My thought was to increase their health and increase their I mean obviously we want to increase their academic performance but even more than that we want to increase just their base level of health and cognitive function and social and emotional mental well-being. And so the lack of sleep has negative correlations to all those. Additional sleep gives you better functioning. Um, they've shown that teens who start school later are more well-rested. They are less likely to be involved in motor vehicle crashes and they report a better quality of life. These are all direct quotes from different studies. There's one in 2016, one in 2022, there's a meta study of all of them. So, these are from various studies, but they are easily findable. Um, later

151start times generally correspond to improved attendance, which is one of our key things that we've been looking at. um less tardiness, less falling asleep in class. So, not just getting you in the class, but getting you to pay attention and stay awake to learn the things that the class is supposed to intended to teach you. Um later start times generally correspond to better grades and fewer fewer motor vehicle crashes. And then um again one other thing I did I just wanted to kind of hammer on again is that that insufficient sleep or a poor quality of sleep in adolescence specifically has been linked directly to an increased prevailance of anxiety and mood disorders and we've already seen that since co and and so anything that we can do to help mitigate that mental state of

152our students I think it behooves us to follow that as far down the path as we can um just to shore up their mental health as well as their cognitive performance and their academic outputs and and ability to look for more in and what what's going on in their lives. So, that's a lot to say. I didn't want to talk for that long, but I wanted to talk specifically about why did I think this was important. And to me, it is because this is addressing the whole child. It's not just increasing academic performance, but it is. It's not just increasing mental health, but it will. It's not just helping your social behaviors. It helps you understand and and deal with cues and others as well as yourself. So, to me, this is is a real

153no-brainer for how do I improve all of the things that I can for our adolescence and um allowing them to have better and more sustained sleep is just the easiest, best way to do that in one fell swoop. with and it doesn't cost us a whole lot more. It doesn't cost us anything more and it requires minimal changes. I mean again as other people have said and as I also said earlier I don't think that this is the end goal that this start time is we did it. This is not my ideal but it moves me closer to the ideal. It moves us all closer to the ideal. So that's what I will be voting for and why I will be voting for it. >> Um just sorry >> you're calling question. No, you're call

154>> and then I go. Okay. Sorry, I just thought we were still going in order around the table. >> Um, >> uh, we'll have Vice Chair Nibal and Kimmy and then we'll have Aaron Block. Um, oh, I'm sorry. We'll go to Vice Chair N Kenny. We'll go to member Maize and then we'll end with member block. Get it together. >> I called on you. I recognized you. Um, so I do want to I I do want to bring up one correction that I said earlier today about the percentage of people who um were in support of moving uh uh moving start times. Yes, thank you. Um, and the response that I have received in my district, uh, people, uh, everyone is in favor of moving start times for high schools, but they don't want to

155move end times. And [snorts] so that's that has been a common consensus. And so I want to make sure that I correct that. Like, yes, I would love a 7:30 or 8:00 start, but can I still get out at 2 o'clock? Um, has been a common consensus. And I I just want to make sure that I I cleared that up. Um the other thing is um and and uh board member Tyler um just talked about it a minute ago about the why why are we doing this? Um I think um for me um ju just as a person who gets up in the morning, how many times and and think about how many times we hit our alarm clock to get that extra minute in of sleep time, right? So that we can be better

156functioners in the morning. Some people do, some people don't. I am I am one of the persons that that ride my alarm clock. Um the other thing that I want us to um think about is, you know, Dr. Battle alluded that even the 10 minutes in the shift between um one high school and the other high school improved academic outcomes um for that later start time high school. And um and it is the it was the only school high school in the district that was an a reward school. And so when I think of it in in those terms, if we are if we are adding Yeah. zone high school, zone high school, let's clear that up. Um and so if we are if those um additional minutes while they're not where we want to

157be but it is moving the lead needle that will improve academic outcomes for students even more so than what we are continuing to do right now. I think it is worth um the transition to kind of move there um basically from the do now build build towards where we want to be um when it comes to start times. Um and so um for me um while we have made as a district amazing stride year-over-year strides, we still have more to do. And if there are things that we can continue to improve upon and think about to continue to make those strides, I think it's well worth it for all of us to consider um what we want to do and the impact of what 20 minutes will bring, what 30 minutes will bring and and

158all of those considerations. And so for me, I am in support of of moving that that needle um if it is going to, you know, move us in the direction of continuing to improve upon um academic outcomes for students and looking at the holistic research base of where we want to where we want students to be. Um and then I had one other question real quick when we thought uh just just one quick question about um as we move towards later start times and I think it was brought up aroundus related to when teachers come in versus when teachers leave. We will still be within that consideration versus when schools have to open. Is that correct? I'm assuming I'm assuming that as a yes and just be redundant. Yeah. Okay. Thank you, >> member MS.

159>> Thank you. So, uh we have had a lot going on since January and I feel like we're in the 10th month of the year already. >> So, true. Uh so tonight it's been been very clear to me that we've all spent a lot of time inside and we just needed to get out and express ourselves and so I say thank you to my colleagues for being very very wordy this evening and I won't be much longer. Um, [snorts] I just wanted to share something uh just a couple of comments that I got from um one person in particular when we were discussing the uh start time changes. And I was going on and on about, well, here are the options here, here are the options there, here are the options there, and maybe you

160should think about this and maybe you should think about that. And this person looked me square in the eye and said, with all due respect, Miss Maize, I do this for a living. you don't and I had to step myself way back and say thank you very much for that and I stopped talking and I started listening and um I respect that person for sharing that with me and I absolutely uh do appreciate that perspective and I want to say thank you to our student board member uh Miss Wyn for uh sharing her perspective as well because I have to consider that when we think about making start time changes that I sit behind this desk as a policy maker. I don't do this thing for a living and I respect y'all with Oh my

161gosh, y'all are my heroes. I absolutely adore what I do in education, but truth of the matter is I don't have to get up. Well, I do get up at 4:00 in the morning, so we'll talk about that. But, um, I don't have to get up and be attentive and be engaging at the crack of dawn every single morning. So, I want to make sure that any decision that I make is in the best interest of every educator, every student, every family, not just in my district, but in the entire Metro Nashville public schools district. So, that's why when I ask questions, it's they're pointed questions so that I can get a better understanding for the thought processes that have happened around this subject. And Mr. Braden or Chief Braden Bradstead uh embraced it. >>

162One of the first >> I know um [laughter] >> yes I remember when these conversations started years ago. Thank you very much. >> Uh so this is um this has been going on for quite some time and I would absolutely love to see it come to a point where we have made a decision and can move forward and start to um collect some data that supports any decisions that are being made. most especially that our children are always been considered at the forefront of any decisions that we make. Um, and so thank you to all of you for your very informative feedback. Um, and I appreciate your different perspectives and again, you know, we've been uh we've been in the house for a minute, so this is post-pandemic conversation again, I think. So, I'll stop

163talking now, but thank you. member block. Um, with respect for member Maize, who I know um, hasn't been feeling well and needs to get a sandwich. I'm gonna be very, very quick. Um, I just, uh, member Fain, I wanted to recognize your comments um, because I I struggled with this myself. I had uh, in my own house, these conversations were split between two high school children. One who was right off the bat in favor of a change and one who was right off the bat not. Ultimately, that one came around in a way that I don't understand. I don't know what happened, but one day was like in the car on the way home was like, "You know what? Actually, I think it's a good idea." I was like, "Okay, sounds good." Um, but also

164I said, you know, to the child who did not who was not in favor of a change originally, yeah, it's going to be really hard for me if what I end up seeing in the survey data because I do believe in the public health aspects that uh, member Taylor talked about and that member Tyler talked about in terms of the research, it's going to be really hard for me if what I see ultimately is the people who this impacts every day today are like, no, thank you. Um, and so I I do take very seriously the the teacher responses, which I do think say that high school teachers would prefer that we stay with what we have. That said, I do think the students are saying, and I think Hannah said very eloquently, like a

165change is good, and I'll take any time I can get and and and so that that plus all of the research elements compel me. And I just the other thing I just wanted to I wanted to say is I've actually been involved in these kinds of conversations since my kids were in elementary. And part of the reason I think why elementary parents answer and I hear this I've heard this for a long time in it's actually since I was in the PTO when I was an elementary parents then would talk about it because they were thinking about MNPS zoned high schools versus MNPS optional schools versus private schools. And that's not a reason for anybody to vote for a change. But I I do think it is true that that when people think about our

166high schools, our comprehensive high schools as an option if they have those options and also they might be thinking about charter schools and a lot of these schools start later and this can be a factor for it. So when when elementary parents are weighing in I think that's part of the reason is that they're thinking about the future. That's at least what from a qualitative perspective I've had. So anyway, that was sort of neither here nor there and you know at the end and absolutely but and so that's all I have to say about that. Thank you >> member Feain. >> Thank you. So coming from a parent also who had a kid that was in high school, I understand and I do agree with that. Um, I guess my hindsight for all of that

167because we keep saying we're pushing the time back to give them more time, right, to get up in the morning. So, I don't know. I'm like, could they not go to sleep earlier? I I mean that's just my question and my in my you know that I can put out there like do we not have bedtimes and constraint on our kids at home you know so that they could get the total amount of rest that they need to get to get up in the morning and get cuz I had to put that in place you know what I mean like hey no more phone shut the laptop turn the game off turn the TV off time to go to bed you know let's I had to get in routine of that of course starting at

168an early age because I've always been a working parent >> and so it's important for for him to have a schedule because I had a schedule. And so I think we just put a lot of responsibility on we need to do this because this needs to be done. And I think we've said that before. I think board member Taylor and I and others have said that before. It starts at home. You know what I mean? Like a lot of structure and routine and things start at home. Um like I said, I'm prepared to vote today. I knew that this had to happen, but just coming from those teachers and the staff that I have talked to um and some of the parents and some of the kids I've talked to, it's just not supported. You

169know what I mean? And so, again, we are big representations of those people. And so, I I just had to speak on it, but thank you. I I do appreciate >> I just I um and I'm I'm now done done and turning it over to um chair player to finalize us. Um Dr. Battle, >> just um one thing I want to clarify from the conversation earlier regarding um drop off times. Um so it will be 20 minutes before um uh school start time. Just wanted to clarify um that I think we're on this >> No, that's okay. No, no, we're on the same page. I got confused. I caused this. >> Yeah. Okay. >> The typical 615 pickup time would shift 20 minutes. That was correct. I misspoke. Thank you. >> That's okay. Thank you.

170No, no, we're still here. And um I just wanted to say to board member Feain again, I've always said I could see both sides of this. That's all that's always been my concern on the flip is that the counter is that we stay up later and then it's counter to the whole wellness sleep um process as well. So we'll be educating and trying to help mitigate that um if that is the decision made by the board. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Yeah. And you're human. You're allowed to misspeak. Um there's a lot of information over a lot of time and a lot of data they've processed. Um I will move to a vote. Um we have a motion on the floor um by member block. Um does the motion need to be restated or is

171everyone good to vote? All right. Um all in favor of the motion raise your hand. >> Okay. It's unanimous. All oppose. Okay. Um, it's unanimous. Thank you very much. Um, she did. She vote. Um, what I say? Okay. Um, since we do not have announcements, I will ask you to have very succinct, very effective announcements. So, does anyone have announcements? Okay. We'll first go to uh member uh Taylor. >> I can go to member member Ms. Okay. >> All right. Um this weekend on uh February the 7th at 10:00 am at um 4100 Clarksville Pike Word of Life Christian Center International uh we will have a town hall meeting um with Representative Vincent Dixie, Senator Charlane Oliver, and Representative Harold Love Jr. uh to discuss um the uh legislation that they hope to put forward

172this year at the uh state capital and to get community input. >> Thank you. Um >> okay, member vice chair. >> Uh thank you. Um I want to start by apologizing for being tardy this afternoon. um our district hosted a uh where we we we served 200 meals to families across Donaldson, Hermitage, and O Hickory and started there and then rotated um over here to the board meeting. Um so I so in that light, I want to um thank um all of the organizations throughout our city who came to support um and and serve the needs of families while during this critical time, during the inclement weather time. Um and and thank everyone for for showing up and supporting families um at this time, particularly in our area. Uh the world uh world >> World

173Central Kitchen um as well as 50 Forward as well as um the Donaldson Cafe and Catering uh for all the work that they did to uh feed families um in our community. Um also thank you to uh Dr. Battle and your team for hosting um uh uh sites across the community as well and all that your team did to support families uh during this inclement weather time. Thank you. >> Member Mazize. >> Thank you. Just two quick announcements. Um just another reminder that the her prom dress giveaway is happening on March 7th in Nashville. It'll be held at the Mount Zion Baptist Church in Antioch this year. The registration is free. Reg, it's a free event. However, registration is required. Please text uh 615HPC to 55444 in order to register for this event. It is

174an amazing event where great prom dresses are given away to juniors and seniors who are going to the prom. And as a mom who paid for prom dresses, you want to take advantage of this. Also, um, our new partners at the, uh, Southeast Metro Nashville Police Department precinct are holding a spring break event. This is also a free event. It will be held on Monday, March 9th from 12:00 p.m. to 300 p.m. at 2467 Murphy'sboro Pike. They will have bounce houses, games, and they will have an opportunity to learn about online risks for children and um to keep children safe. And uh we want to encourage as many people to come out to that event as possible. I will share both of these events on my social media pages, but I encourage you to please

175join us at these events. It'll definitely be something that you want to uh participate in. And just a quick thank you. Oh, one big thing that I definitely want to say before we move on. Happy Black History Month, everybody. >> That's it. Thank you. >> Member Block, member Tyler. Um, I just wanted to take a moment to thank the cities for their response, but specifically the Lawson High School baseball team really has shown their commitment to building, showing good, strong character, and um providing and giving back to their community. They were out the morning that they could possibly get out as soon as they could get out um with chainsaws, cutting things up, shoveling ice off of people's driveways. Um they came out to HD Hill once that flooding had gotten cleaned up and many

176of them had actually been students of Miss Warren whose classroom was the one that was most affected and they cleaned her classroom and they they stayed in there with her. So I just have so much gratitude for the way this team in particular is showing its character and its commitment to community and I just want to take time to recognize the baseball team coaches and the supporters, the students and the families of that team in particular. Thank you. >> Student board member W. >> Uh, really quickly, I just want to highlight some of the resources available for students right now. Um, coming into schools today, it was very it was very nice to see that teachers cared. Um, please talk to your academic counselors, um, social workers. They're here to help you. Um, it takes

177a village. Um, please seek support. Um, and it takes bravery. And I feel like I just witnessed a great act of bravery with this vote today. So, thank you guys. >> Thank you very much. Be up for business. This meeting's ajourned. This has been a service of the Metro Nashville Network. If you would like to see this presentation again or [music] for more information on this and other programs, visit nashville.gov.