001Thank you so much. Uh, District 2, we have our back to school bash next Sunday at the zoo. Look forward to seeing everybody there within the Overton cluster. And there's many other back to school bashes across the district. And I encourage you to look at MNS's socials to find out when your uh, cluster is celebrating the back to school time. Thanks. >> Thank you. Uh, District 3. Oh, district five. >> Oh, that's me. >> Following in the spirit of board member Lrod, there is a back to school bash that will be hosted um with Nashville Black Market first Friday um at the farmers market. Also, there will be one for North Nashville um that I am helping host at Lubie Community Center on Sunday, August 3rd from 3 to 7. And I think that's it
002for now. Thank you. District 6. Thank you. Uh the Southeast Community Day will be this Saturday at uh Mill Ridge Park across the street from Cane Ridge High School starting at 9:00 a.m. and it is doubling as our back to school bash. So uh I will be there bright and early with my coffee in hand and um encourage everyone who is interested in participating to come on out. Again, it'll be at Mill Ridge Park, right across the street from Canidge High School, starting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. >> Thank you. District 8, the Hillsboro Cluster back to school bash is this Thursday at 4 o'clock at Hillsboro. Um, and very excited for that. And then on Friday, the Hillsboro Players at 7 PM and then again on at 2 PM on uh Saturday, we'll
003be putting on Susicle the Musical. Um and so anyone who is looking for something fun indoors to do in the heat, please come join us at Hillsboro. Um and then lastly, I wanted to take a moment to offer um condolences to the family at Stars Nashville. Um Aaron Donic, who was the chief development officer there for a number of years, passed away late last night, early this morning. Um and so to Roger Denwitty and the team at Stars Nashville, our condolences. Aaron was a friend of mine, a wonderful person, um an MNS parent, um and an allaround, uh great partner to MMPS. >> Thank you, District 9. [Music] Yes, our back to school bashes are um for the virtual school and Big Picture High School. They will have theirs jointly on Friday, August 1st from
0042:30 to 5:00 at Richland Park. And James Lawson High School will be hosting the back to school bash for the entire Lawson. So, you don't have to be a Lawson student. If you are zoned to eventually get there and you're an elementary school or middle school, come. Um it'll be at Lawson High School. If you haven't seen the campus, get on out on Friday, August 8th from 5 to 7:30. >> Rolling back to District 1. >> Thank you so much. I have a couple of back to school bashes as well. Uh we have East Magnet High School will take place from 2 to 4 PM on Saturday uh the 26th. So this weekend and I believe that's taxfree weekend, too. Is that correct? Yes. Mhm. >> All right. >> Double for your trouble. There we
005go. Then I also have uh next week we have the back to school bash at IT Creswell Middle School and that will be taking place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at it Creswell. and the Whites Creek High School Bash as well as the Maplewood High School Bash. Both of those events are taking place on the 31st of this month and they will be taking place from 5 to 7. So, I'll be doing double duty there as well. And then I hope to see you guys on Saturday, um, August the 2nd. Uh we will be at the old Brick Church Middle School which is now uh named Richard H. Dinkens Middle School. Uh we will be having the official naming ceremony and unveiling of the new uh sign there. And so I look forward to seeing
006you all there to celebrate with us. And then we're going to head over um to Allen Arena for the MNS Friends and Allstar Celebration event. I don't know if we're playing basketball again or what we're doing, but Oh, okay. All right. I didn't get the invite. So, but that's the announcement. Maybe maybe I'll be on the court. Maybe I won't. I don't know. See y'all there. Uh, district six or seven, I'm sorry. District 7. No, six. Six. Oh, seven. Sorry. Sorry. District 7. Um on August 1st from 4:30 to 6 PM there will be a Bless Fest um back to school event at Wright Middle School. Um and so please come out at Wright Middle School August 1st from 4:30 to 6 for the back to school bash. All right. And in district four oh
007nope we have district nine again. Go ahead. >> Yes. I'm so sorry. Um, I just wanted to take a moment and, uh, first apologize for not reaching back out to Ally Glenn. Um, and recognize that we have some guests in the house from our scouting troops, Scouting America Troop 624 and Scouting America Troop 78. We appreciate you guys being part of the civic process and we're so glad that you're here. And um, Scout Leader Glenn, I'll reach back out to apologize for not reaching out to you sooner, but thank you for being here. [Music] >> Welcome. And um for district 4, uh council member uh Jeff Eastick is hosting a back to school uh giveaway this Saturday from 10 to 12 at Temple Baptist Church in Old Hickory. Um and then uh MNPS is hosting
008a back to school bash on August the 2nd um at 10:00 a.m. at McGavoc High School. If there is no other announcements, we will go ahead and end going once. All right. And we will close with announcements. Thank you. very multiple Fore speech. He said people. We have a quorum with nine school board members present. We will now move on to pledge of allegiance with Miss Emma West come and lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Yeah. >> Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I 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. Thank you. Thank you Miss West and Miss Scout troop for being here. Uh we will now go adoption
009of agenda. I will go to member Lrod. Thank you. I have some changes that need to be made on governance issues A1C. I need to add policy 3.206 206 which is the community use of school facilities. Additionally, I need to make the change where it says policy 5.119 employment of retirees. That number is actually 5.204. And then lastly, I need to pull from our consideration today policy 1.600, 1.601, 601 602 603 604 605 606 I also need to pull policies and 6304 and then lastly policy 6312. So again, it's the charter school policies as listed um in the 600s. It's 6304. And then lastly, policy 6312. These will be brought up and then governance meeting at August 12th at 4:00. >> Thank you very much. Um is there a motion to um approve the to
010adopt the agenda? move. >> Okay, it's moved by uh member O'Hara Block. >> Second by member Maize. Um all in favor say I. >> Any oppose? >> All right, we will move on to awards and recognitions. We'll move on to Dr. Battle. >> Thank you so much, Chair Player, and good evening to all of our board members. Um tonight, we're celebrating a national award we just received um last week. So at a conference um here um we received this award um from a national education organization um at the ACT summit. The ACT summit brought in hundreds of educators from across the country to our city. MNS was honored as a 2025 ACT policy exemplar. This award highlights our commitment to engaging students, families, and other stakeholders in advancing education and career pathways for all students.
011ACT, which is best known for the college entrance exam of the same name, praised our K12 ACT strategic plan as a national model for a datadriven approach to prepare all students for the rigor of post-secary studies and the workforce and commended the district for our unwavering dedication to providing students with the resources they need to succeed. I am very proud of this rec recognition because it shows that others are seeing what we already knew to be true. That we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure each student success not only while they're with us but also after they earn their high school diploma. And we've seen our students getting it done with a record- setting graduation rate in 2024, the most recent year for which we have complete data and now with historic
012achievements on the TCAP this past spring. Also, our district ACT scores in TBOS, the Tennessee value added assessment system, have consistently been level fours or level fives across all content areas for the past couple of years. And a percentage of students earning a 21 or higher ACT composite score has increased by 1.3 percentage points over the past three graduating classes. Additionally, as a result of our ACT strategic plan, we have instituted a K12 ACT educator academy that provides professional learning opportunities for a cohort of MNS personnel from a variety of roles across the district in both instructional and non-instructional roles from school and district level offices. We've also created a K12 crosswalk between Tennessee's academic standards and ACT's college and career readiness standards. So teachers of students at all grade levels, even kindergarten, can see
013what they teach, ha, how what they teach has a direct connection to what the ACT assesses. The number of schools administering the preac has grown from two schools in 2021 to all middle and high schools for the coming school year. In addition to administering the test, professional development is offered to assist schools with intentional use of the results to inform school instruction and supporting student score improvement. Additionally, resources for families that align to the preac have been created and translated into seven different languages. And we've created world of work maps that corresponds to themies of Nashville pathways at our zone high schools and they align to the same maps that eighth graders receive on their preac student score report. These tools can be used for transition planning to high school and course selection. I appreciate
014everyone here at the support hub and in our schools throughout the district who dedicates their time, effort, energy, and heart to this work. and I thank all of our board members for supporting the work with such enthusiasm. So, I am thrilled to ask um a few of our key leaders to join us up front to be recognized for their amazing um work and leadership. Um I'd like to recognize our chief of academics and schools, um Chief Rene Perry, if you can come on up. Um also, Deputy Chief of Academics, Dr. David Williams, our executive director of college and career readiness, Dr. Matt Nelson and our wonderful ACT coordinator, Mary Cook, to come up and to be celebrated and to join us for a photo. And as they're as they're coming, um again, I want to
015say congratulations. Um we know everyone plays um a part. We appreciate their leadership. Um, and again, we're extremely proud of receiving the 2025 ACT Policy Exemplar Award. Congratulations, y'all. Thank you. Um, board chair and board members, now I want to call everyone's attention to a recognition ceremony we held a couple of hours ago. Um, there are simply too many students involved to bring them all here in for a board meeting, which is exciting. Um, but I do want to make sure everyone knows about them and their great talents. So the walls of the hallways here in the support hub are lined with art by students from across the district. It is amazing. It's colorful. It's moving. It's a moving display of the talent, the skill, and the inspiration that so many of our students possess.
016From elementary schools to high schools, more than 175 students have created pieces that are currently on the walls. And we invited them and their families in for a gallery tour with our MNPS Vision Performing Arts leaders and our board members this afternoon. They got to see how their own art has been framed and displayed and got to see what their peers have created, too. So, I want to pause for just a moment and recognize um if there are any students or families who had an opportunity to stick around um since the gallery walk, would you please stand if you're in the audience, spend a couple hours? All right. So, so yes. Yes. Casey's son artwork was displayed. um Lucas uh work is on display out in the art gallery. Um again, we want to say
017congratulations to our students and thank you um for just allowing us to put your work um on display. We're so proud of you. So, they're not here, but I think it's important that we give it up for all of our brilliant visual arts um students and educators across the entire district. I must also give a shout out to our director of visual performing arts, Mr. Franklin Willis, who is with us and any team members who um are here with um Mr. Mr. Willis. We greatly appreciate your leadership and the good news is is that we'll put up more art by more students during the 2526 school year. So again, congratulations to each of our students and thank you for representing MNPS so well with your artistic talents and ideas. Um, board chair, thank you so
018much for allowing an opportunity for these recognitions and I'll turn it back over to you. >> And if you do get a chance, please go see the artwork. I was talking to Mr. Willis like, "We need to sell some of those as a fundraiser so I can decorate my house um with it." And I was personally envious, but in a good way. Um, the kids actually got to meet with the geese guilt quilt makers and actually made quilts. So, I'm just like, I want a geese been built, but my budget of public service would not allow for that. But the fact I get to just meet with the quilters and learn how to make art from that historic community is actually phenomenal and I wish I was a student now. But um but that's a
019great opportunity more important for our kids. So thank you Mr. Willis for having opportunity for that historic moment for our children. Um now we'll go on to director's report. We'll go back to Dr. Battle and give your report. >> All right. Thank you again chair player and board members. Um so time has flown um by because summer is almost over. Uh we are just two weeks out from welcoming students back to school and a week away from teachers and staff returning. In celebration of this, I wanted to provide some key highlights from the past school year, including some tremendous achievement data showing continued progress and growth for the district while also highlighting some new initiatives and key events coming up that will continue our commitment to excellence. That is um typically the question of what
020is new for the upcoming school year and we have lots of exciting um updates to share. Um but before we go there um I want to ground us in some historic um achievements and celebrations on behalf um of the schools um school district. I'm incredibly proud to share that Metro National Public Schools has achieved the highest academic performance in district history across all testic subjects since the adoption of new state standards. So this is not just a win for our students. It's a testament to the unwavering dedication of our teachers, our staff, our families, and community partners who have worked re relentlessly to support student learning and growth. We were able to outpace state growth in key areas like math, English language arts, science, and social studies, including high school subjects such as biology, US
021history, and integrated maths one, two, and three. Students in grades three through eight made significant gains with 19 out of 21 grade level subject areas improving over last year and since 2021. We've seen doubledigit increases in TCAP proficiency. These are more than just numbers. They represent real progress for our students and momentum for our future. Our district is rising and this is just the beginning. Excuse me. Together we are proving what is possible for every student and every school every day. So again um we've had many conversations of comparison to preandemic. Um we can stop doing that now. We have exceeded pre- pandemic um achievement um scores and success rates um for our students and now it's about how we continue to work together and improve um moving forward. So we're also seeing encouraging signs
022of progress um across the board. The percentage of students scoring at the lowest performance level has declined consistently yearover-year. Not just since last year, but going back to 2019. That means more of our students are moving into higher levels of achievement in every major subject area, including English, math, science, and social studies. Even more importantly, nearly all student groups made gains from 2024 to 2025. Students in grades three through eight saw improvement across all four tested subjects. And in our high school and of course exams, all student groups improved and integrated math 1, two, and three and US history with nearly all making gains in English and biology. This is what excellence in action looks like. And it's a direct reflection of the strategic focus, the dedication, and the belief from our educators and our
023families in this community that every student can achieve at high levels. Now, at this time, I'd like to welcome up our um director, executive officer. Thank you. Um research assessment and evaluation, Dr. Tina Stinson. um she's going to walk us through an even deeper dive into our most recent TECAP achievement results and just the impact it's making um on our community here in MNS. Dr. Stinson, >> thank you, Dr. Battle. Thank you, Madam Chair. Board members, I'm here to briefly expand on the key points Dr. Battle just made. It's been fun to look through these data and to color all this stuff in green and MNPS blue. Um, I think some things should be jumping out at you right now, which are, um, first of all, the 21 to 2025 doubledigit gains in each of
024these grade three through eight subjects over the last four years. Um, and also every single year is green, including this most recent year. So in ELA, we went from 29.6% 6% meeting or exceeding to 31.2%. Math 29.3% to 31.9%. Science um 32.3% to 33.7%. And 33.7% in social studies to 38%. Um, I want to reiterate uh that we did outpace the state in almost all of these topic um topic areas and uh in each of the years except for one year, one topic, right? So that's all of the green you're seeing except for one, we outpaced the state in percentage point gains. That is pretty impressive and sustained progress. So, uh, moving on to end of course tests. You're going to notice a similar pattern. Um, yearover-year gains in almost all of the subjects on
025this particular slide. Uh, and positive four-year gains for every single one of them. doubledigit gains in English 2 and US history. Uh and we did outpace the state for the period shown uh in a couple of these areas, US history and biology and then look at integrated math one and two and three. Again, doubledigit gains um for all of these topics. green every single year. Uh and that is true. I do want to remind you uh for those of you who don't live in this that we did have a standards change recently and typically so last year when I reported it, you know, it it's almost a surprise when it goes up because typically when there's a standards change, districts and schools go down. We maintained and exceeded the expectations uh set for us um
026for these despite that standards change and have continued to grow. Um you can even see integrated math 2 6.7 percentage points increase um to meet 15.1% um overall change from 2021. Uh we also want to point out again these these are higher than before the pandemic. They are higher than before the standards change. Um I know Dr. Battle said that but it bears repeating. So um because it is exciting. And then to move on um this chart might be a little hard to read. um on the on the board. Um but there's a lot of data and I don't want to give you 17 slides when we've got a lot of good stuff to get to after me, but hopefully you're seeing something on these slides. Um and that is a lot of green. Um
027almost every single student group for every single subject listed here. These are again the three through eight TCAP achievement subjects. Just a few key notes. I'm not going to read all of these data to you and you can thank me later. Um, but a few key notes are that for example, our limited English proficient uh student group gained 2 percentage points and uh in ELA and 3.3 percentage points for for math. And that is a student group that is defined by English learners and those in the first years after transitioning. Every single student group did gain in social studies. Looking at um some of our end of course topics again you'll see a lot of green. um biology um one student group for example did not meet uh meet gains uh but some of these
028gains are pretty significant. Um for example our economically disadvantaged student grew in all four of the subjects on this slide. You know that is not easy to to do either. These are uh students who are experiencing some some pretty major challenges. And to round to round us out, here's a nice slide with all green. Um continuing from integrated math one, you'll see two and three are fully green. And look at some of the student group data. Um look at the huge gains. you can see everything compared to all students, but you can also see that in particular our black or African-American, our Hispanic, Latino, and our Asian student groups just gained a ton of ground um over uh over the last year, even with um the new standards, as I mentioned, um uh in integrated
029math. Uh before I turn it back over to Dr. Battle, I did want to mention that um these data are available on the state website, but in addition, our parents as of the 17th have had the data in the parent dashboard. And for any parents who are listening, um you can go to the top of our website to the portal and click in to see your students scores. And um we are very proud of all of the students that we serve. And with that, I'm going to turn it back over to Dr. Battle. Thank you so much um Dr. Stinson. And a few other notes um that I just want to make sure we're aware of before we move forward and then we'll come back um for questions. Um is that school level data is
030still embargoed um at this time. So we'll be back at a later date. Um we do have some initial grade level data which is all exciting as well. um we'll be sharing that and then we anticipate um our TAS data coming at a later um date as well. But we wanted to go ahead and share um this update with you with information we did have given the state release and the embargo being lifted. Um mainly because we're so excited, so proud of the progress that um our students and our educators and families again, this whole community has made. Um it is a strong um really strong foundation and momentum as we're moving into the upcoming um school year and the higher we grow the more challenging it is to continue to um improve at the
031rates um that we have. Um and so I don't want that to go unstated as well. just incredible um work um the effective planning and instructional delivery that's happening in across all of our schools because this data really does represent progress um across all of our Nashville public schools. So um thank you all for walking through that with us. We're going to come back in just a minute for questions. So Tina, don't go too far just in case um they're more appropriate for you than me. All right. So, given all of that and just thinking about um the excitement that's building um for the 2526 school year, um I want to walk us through some um additional great celebrations and upcoming plans as we look forward um again to the first day of school, which
032I'll say multiple times. Um this evening is August 5th, Tuesday, August 5th. So, I'll start with um one celebration that just happened last week. Um, it was my pleasure to join board member O'Hara Block, Mayor O' Connell, Principal Russell Young, and so many other community leaders and Percy Priest families for the ribbon cutting on this worldclass new facility. It is the first of three grand openings that we'll be celebrating this year. Um they'll be followed by Paragon Mills and Lake View Elementary Schools which are the result of a lot of hard work and dedication by our facilities team who helped to lead these projects to completion as well as our board members um our mayor metro council who have all prioritized investments in our public schools and our learning and teaching spaces. I'd be remiss
033if I didn't also give a special shout out to Shannon Martin and Katie Agnu um who came alongside us and um raised over $5 million in 67 days um to further enhance um these projects. Um, again, another incredible community effort um to make sure not only Percy Priest and not only Paragon Mills in Lake View, but all of our elementary schools u moving forward um receiving um um or experiencing these highquality state-of-the-art um learning facilities. So, again, kudos and and thank you to everyone um our chief of operations, Morris Sullivan, your entire team. Thank you all um for your incredible work. As I mentioned, we're also looking forward to celebrating the newly built or renovated Lake View and Paragon Mills elementaryaries in addition to adding four more turf fields at the start of the football
034season. Um, this is a collaboration with the Tennessee Titans and with the support of investments by Metro and our board of education. I'm extremely excited about that. If you've driven past um any one of these sites, they are a sight to see. Um, so really excited. Um all of the turf fields will be revealed before the first home game for each um of the schools which are Hunter Lane, Cain, Glen Cliff, and High School, excuse me, Antioch High School. We will also be expanding the footprint at Alex Green Elementary to include more learning spaces for this great school community um that just continues to grow and grow and grow. Um, Alex Green Elementary is a part of the Weiss Creek High School um, cluster and we're extremely proud of the enrollment growth and the achievement
035that's happening across that entire cluster um, from the elementary to the middle to the high school. So, really excited about um, this progress. So, a quick update um, we just wrapped up Promising Scholars just a couple weeks ago. Um, as a reminder, our promise and scholars summer learning program has become a model for the state in providing enriching academic experiences beyond the normal school year for all students who want to participate. Um, this year, this is another historic moment. Um, it's interesting because I mean, we'll call this a pandemic keeper. Um, we started our promising scholars program. Um we actually envisioned this before the pandemic which was um pretty um timely for us but um enrollment continues to grow in a promise and scholars um program. Um we welcomed and and served more than 19,000
036students. Um again we had 19,000 students who registered to attend this summer learning camp and participate in credit recovery programs along with English language learners summer classes um in a way that makes learning in the summer fun and accessible to all. That includes more than 16,400 elementary students, 1,700 middle school students, and 1,150 high school students. Um, again, another huge um thank you and celebration um to the board. Thank you for your investments again to the mayor, to Metro Council. uh we'll continue to be able to offer this program at no cost to families um in the coming year because we're also celebrating a pretty historic budget investment um from our city that has allowed us to move our key um programs and investments um for for the foreseeable future. So really excited about our
037opportunity to um continue to provide um our scholar portfolio in the years to come. Now, on Monday, teachers and school staff will be returning to school for a week of learning, planning, and preparation to welcome students back on August 5th. Monday night, we'll be celebrating our annual tradition of the Together for Teachers Pep Rally with a with our partnership um with Pencil um at Giotus Park. We're extremely um thankful to Pencil and their CEO, Christian Bugs, um and her team for their um work. um they plan all year to make sure that um this experience um is enjoyable for all of our educators. This is always a fun and joyful experience to not only welcome them back to school, but also to show our appreciation for their hard work in achieving incredible results for the
0382425 school year. So again, thank you to all of the sponsors who made this event possible and a huge success over the years. In addition, in recognition of our 3,000 plus school-based support employees, including our pair of professionals, our classroom associates, our office staff, and safety team members, will be hosting a standing strong for support staff celebration this year. We're going to be hosting that in early September. This will be our first annual um celebration for our support staff. Um this event will also be held with fun. Um, it's about appreciation and giveaways to thank those who help our schools run smoothly every day and we look forward to sharing more details with everyone very soon. All right. So, Judge Richard H. Dinkens was an instrumental lead leader in the effort of desegregating public schools
039here in Nashville, and we are all beneficiaries of his hard work and dedication to the cause of justice and equality. The board of education saw fit thankfully. Thank you all so much for your leadership to rename Brick Church Middle School after Judge Dinkens. And it's happening, y'all. On August 2nd, we'll be holding a naming ceremony as we dedicate the school in his honor. So, in advance, I want to thank the Judge Dinkens um early college middle school um for their preparation, the entire community, um the board, um board member Taylor, um thank you for your leadership in District 1 for making this um happen. and we look forward to the ribbon cutting um again on August 2nd. It is a busy day um but this will also be a part of our back to school
040celebrations. Now the return to school is celebratory is a celebratory time for all of us as we reconnect with friends and co-workers and start the year off right. This year, with the help of our family and community engagement team, along with community partners, we will have cluster bashes and some spec school specific events as ways for students and families to get school supplies, reconnect after summer break, and showcase the incredible work that our teams have been doing to build out our guaranteed personalized and applied experiences throughout every tier. Um, for more information about our back tochool bashes, it is available at mns.org/backtoschool. org/backtoschool. Um again, this um back to school experience um comes after lots of experiences and feedback um over the years about the consistency of back to school bashes um across the city.
041The back to school bash and the Overton cluster last year was a hit. Um McGavit cluster had their first one last year and we just have some standing um back to school bashes. Um I know uh Representative Harold Love typically hosts one at um Hatley Park. park. I mean, they're just having East Park usually um host one. So, now we have created a structure and a system to ensure every cluster um will host a cluster back to school and we are guaranteeing certain experiences, certain departments being at each one um to help and support um students and families as they transition into the school year. So, again, here up on the screen are all the cluster bashes. Um you can't read it, but I want you to be familiar that when you see it, that's
042what that is. Um, and then you'll also see some school specific bashes throughout the district. Again, more details can be found um on our website. All right. So, learning doesn't start in kindergarten or even pre kindergarten. We know that learning development starts as soon as children are born. So in order to support parents in the birth to three space, we have our grow together with MNPS initiative to connect future MNS families with resources and supports they need to support their children at the earliest age. We had a great community baby shower event at the Hispanic Family Foundation this June and we'll be attending and hosting more events later this year to provide families with our Grow Together backpacks with essential supplies. So really excited about um the progress our grow together with MFPS initiative um
043is making as families um start their families and as they prepare to enroll in Nashville public schools. Another exciting exciting update um is that as a part of our continued commitment to excellent in athletics, we have been working really really hard. Um our athletic directors and I have to give them a shout out Mark North and Penny Howard. Um y'all they are getting it done. Um, we are adding girls flag football to our middle school athletics program this year to complement our incredible high school girls flag football program. So, I encourage everyone uh to stay tuned for more details. Um, this is exciting. We've got some great partners who are coming alongside us to provide this opportunity. There's lots of excitement at the middle school level right now um about this development. So, more to
044come. Another exciting update as we prepare for the 2526 school year. Um again, this is part of our commitment to ensuring a strong start for our youngest learners. We're excited to share two key supports for incoming kindergarten students. First, we're excited to announce a new initiative designed to ensure every kindergarten student has the tools they need for a joyful and successful start to the school year. With the support of our family community partnership teams and through a partnership with Pencil and the support of dedicated volunteers, all MNS kindergarteners will receive a Kinder Box. [Music] So, a Kinder Box is a box of essential school supplies delivered directly to their classrooms ahead of the first day of school. In addition, MNS and Pencil are offering a special shopping event exclusively for kindergarten teachers, providing access to
045highnee classroom items in a relaxed and supportive environment. So, inside this Kinder box um are the supplies that kindergarten students need um for this school year and we'll be replenishing um these. So, um you have pencils and color pencils and pencil sharpeners and erasers and um um scissors, blunt scissors, um glue sticks, um crayons, um all the essential supplies that our kindergarten um students and families need. We want for our kindergarten families to just focus on preparing um for kindergarten, loving on their little ones um and the transition that will happen. and less on um the supplies that are typically um requested from our family. So, the supply boxes will go to students and all of our kindergarten teachers will receive access through pencil through our DG pencil box um to shop and receive all
046of their teacher supplies. So, um we're calling this a pilot. We want to expand um this partnership um as we move forward. But again, a huge shout out to um Christian Bug, CEO of Pencil, for just step stepping in and doing whatever is necessary um to support Nashville public schools. We greatly appreciate you and your team. All right, she deserves. So, second, our early learning team is hosting kindergarten preview days at several schools to help students and families ease into the transition. These events are these events offer a first look at the classroom experience and help build comfort and confidence before the school year um begins. So, we encourage families if you'd like to um go in, your school may be offering something, but also our early learning team will be providing these experiences um
047across the district. So, we want to make sure you are able to get in um often and early um as you again prepare for the first day of school on August 5th. I want to go back to the Kinder boxes. One thing I want to clarify, you know, we've had this conversation. Um, so school supply lists are not needed for kindergarten. These kindergarten boxes and the shopping days will take care of all the supplies needed for kindergarten students. So again, families, no need if you're a kindergarten family to shop for school supplies. We will make sure our all of our kindergarteners have what they need and before the first day of school. We're working, moving as fast as we can. Um, so again, we had a very strong positive schools conference for the entire district
048in collaboration with alignment Nashville at James Austin High School last week. Um, this year's theme was good to great, which reflects our collective commitment to ensuring every student and staff member thrives. Elevating our schools through positive school supports underscores our commitment to continuous improvement across every level of our school communities. All in all, there were over 330 participants who attended or led workshops that range in topics from elevating student voice to creating welcoming and affirming environments for all students. Each year, this conference grows and grows, and we're looking forward to what next year holds. I was asked by several um folks external to the district, could they could we start allowing um others from across the state to attend because they see it as a great um and valuable experience. Shout out to um Chief
049Alisa Norris and the entire student support services team for putting on such a wonderful conference and learning experience for our educators. Let's give it up for them. All right, summer graduations are always a great opportunity to showcase the continued hard work and dedication of our students. While for various reasons, some students may not have the credits necessary to graduate at the end of the school year, our commitment does not stop there. Through summer learning and credit recovery programs, we were able to give 98 summer graduates and their families the opportunity to walk across the stage and celebrate their academic journey towards college, career, and life and beyond in MNS. Um, and again, this is um a ceremony experience we should not take lightly. We are maybe the only, if anything, one of just a few
050um school districts that offer a summer experience for students who technically are counted um as on-time graduates. So, they get the four years and the summer experience. And it's always an exciting time um to celebrate with them. Our commitment is that if they get to and through the finish line, we will be there to celebrate with them and to ensure they have what they need as they move into their bright future. So, congratulations to all of our summer graduates. Thank you to Dr. um Borththe McKenna um who conferred um the diplomas um at the ceremony and to all board members for continue to encourage school teams and families um to get across the finish line. Another exciting um update I want to share with you next. So, as you all know, over the last few
051years, as part of our better together partnership with Nashville State Community College, we have been looking to expand opportunities for our students to participate in advanced academic courses with a goal towards earning college credits. This started many years ago with our award-winning MNS Early College High School on the Nashville State campus. And we expanded that to the Whites Creek Early College Program, which this past year graduated its first cohort of students through the program. And spoiler alert, they are graduating even more students this school year. So, um, excited for them as they move forward towards completing their associates degree before they receive their high school diploma. So, starting in the 2024 school year, both Glen Cliff High School and Cane Ridge High School started their first cohorts of the newly expanded early college program with
052Nashville State Community College at their schools. We look forward to celebrating those graduates in a few years, but we're not stopping there. Uh we're looking forward to working with Nashville State to add this incredible program to even more high schools very soon. So stay tuned. More to come um in the next few weeks. Okay, they're out of order here. Hang on. One second. I'm order. All right, that was on me. So, coming off the heels of our Emmy award-winning Every Suit known song in the Spanish language version, Katiante Bado, we're excited to announce I Believe I Belong, a new MN album created by students and educators. Recorded during the songwriting summit, each track celebrates voice, identity, and community, highlighting our belief that every student should feel affirmed and inspired, showcasing the heart, talent, and values
053of our schools. Please, please, please, y'all don't want to miss this. Be on the lookout for release coming soon to add to your playlist of studentcreated songs that help to celebrate our district and school communities. If the first one was a tearjerker, you're just brace yourself. It's going to be good. Um, and again, shout out to uh Franklin Willis and his team, y'all. They have been in the classroom, in the studio. Um, they have been showing up for students um all summer. They're really excited um about this and we've had some incredible partners who've leaned in um and continue to lift the talents of our students. So, that is coming very soon. um tentatively mark your calendars for August 14th um because we'll be um celebrating loud and proud. So on the heels of that
054um and as music city, we're proud to partner with local industry leaders and our own talented educators to be launching a bold new initiative we're calling Vision the Arts. This exciting project will bring first rate arts programming to students across Nashville public schools, creating new opportunities for creativity, expression, and excellence in music, visual arts, dance, and theater. I look forward to talking with the board and the community more about this very soon. Y'all getting a lot of teasers because we're going to be busy in August and September. All right. So, our schools are more than just classrooms. their communities built on connection, care, and a shared commitment to student success. Thanks to the incredible work of our human resources team and our school leaders, we're entering the school year in a strong position when it
055comes to hiring and retaining high-quality educators and support staff. We're proud to report even a couple weeks before the first day of school, a 97% classroom teacher fill rate so far this year. That is ahead of where we've been in all years in the past. And in addition to licensed teachers, more than 500 classroom associates are returning or newly hired this year. An invaluable resource that ensures continuity of learning when staff are absent and provides added instructional support to our students and teachers. We're also seeing positive momentum in support staff hiring. All bookkeeper positions have been filled this year. Nutrition service vacancies have dropped to 43, down from 100 last July. Paraprofession paraprofessional openings are at 61 compared to 78 last year. Transportation staffing including bus drivers remain stable after a strong start last year.
056We continue to prioritize compensation for all of our employees. This year we've included step increases for all eligible staff and a 3% cost of living adjustment or COLA. For our licensed educators, a $2,000 bonus offered by the state will be paid on August 4th to 5,446 teachers. And finally, mark your calendars because pay increases will be reflected in checks on Friday, August 15th with Retro Pay arriving on August 29th for those who qualify. Again, that is ahead of our timeline in years past. Um so again, kudos to um Chief Lisa Spencer who leads our human resource department as well as Chief Morris Sullivan um for our construction processes and facilities um but also for the operation side. Um together we're building a school year filled with promise and a team that stands ready to support
057every student every day. Thank you all and thank you to your entire teams. All right, I'm wrapping up here y'all. As a reminder, we'll be starting off the first week of school with a PD day um to help teachers and staff prepare to welcome students back on the 5th. Um so we could take us back a few years. We've added a couple more uh prep days at the beginning of the year. That was feedback we received um from our educators um and from our support staff. So we've done that. Um we're starting this week um first week of school with a stockpile PD day on Monday and then on August 5th and 6th we'll be will be a full day for grades 1 through 12 and a half day for prek and kindergarten. Starting on
058August 7th we'll have a full day for all students as well on um Friday August 8th. All right. So, PD day on Monday, full day for everyone through 12 on Tuesday, half day for preK and kindergarten. Um, also, I don't have a slide for this, but it was mentioned earlier. Um, mark your calendars for Saturday, August 2nd. Remember I said that day was busy. U, we'll be hosting our MNS and Friends Allstar Celebration Game at Lipcom University at 6 PM. There will be lots of fun. There will be lots of laughs um Saturday, August 2nd. Please come out and join us. It is another celebratory moment um for us to celebrate our educators and our students for their incredible work um but also connecting with um alum of Nashville public schools. So, I know that
059was a lot of information and celebrations. I wanted to give a shout out to all the teams throughout Nashville public schools who've been working hard to make this past year and upcoming school year a huge success. We all look forward to welcoming students and teachers back to school over the next couple of weeks. And with that, Chair Player, I will end and turn it over to you. Thanks, everyone. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Ballas. Some exciting news, especially regarding our test scores. Um, and I just remind we're moving thousands of students into achievement each and every year, and that's something that's not done easily. Um, and more importantly, thank to the staff and employees who really make that happen on a day-to-day basis. um to make that growth happen year-over-year for us to make
060record gains um than we have uh since these protocols have been started. All right, we'll move now to public participation. Um I believe we have three members. >> Oh, sorry. Oh, I was moving fast. Sorry. Any questions or comments on the director's report? >> Going once. I was going to wait. I was going to let it go, but I just I've um Dr. Stinson sort of alluded to this. It is funny for a data person to get excited. Um uh and I just I have known, you know, I've seen as all of us have Dr. Stinson do these kind of reports over many years. And to be able to come up and be excited about every single slide that you're presenting is pretty great. Um, and that is uh it it is not I I
061never want to let these things go without recognizing how much it does take to get these kinds of consistent results year-over-year. Um, and so basically that's it. I just want to say congratulations to to the teams to Dr. Battle to our educators to our students to get consistent gains year-over-year is at a district of this size is unusual. Um it is certainly a thing that has been unusual here in Nashville. This is we are building a dynasty I believe I have heard rumor um and and and everything is set up for us to continue to get these kind of consistent gains. The other part that I don't want to have lost on anyone is everything else that came after that was just ways of saying hey every single process and uh and procedure that we
062have that we run through we are improving on year overyear which is the thing that's going to set us up to do this same thing again and it's hard to do it's going to be hard it's it's hard to have that kind of consistency but even these you know sometimes you look at it you think oh that's a huge gain in IM that's a smaller gain in this subject it's a smaller gain in that subject, but it's the consistency of the gains over time that lead to those double-digit gains. So, um I as a person who has worked in data before am excited about those numbers um as Dr. Stinson and that is the most excited Dr. Stinson gets. So, uh so she looked pretty excited. So, uh thank you and thank you to Dr.
063battle on the team. >> Uh, member Elrod. >> Thank you. I was going to say um in response to Dr. Sinson's call out of particularly with integrated math one two um how when there's a new standards that come out from the state, we usually see a dip and not just us across the board you see a dip in those um scores. And so I wanted to give like a brief shout out to the integrated math and just the entire math curriculum team. when those new standards and the new curriculum were being rolled out, they were really intentional with how they were going to roll that out. And that meant that they were trying not to think within a silo of how would we do this, but also try to learn some best practices from our
064reading and ELA uh rollouts and other things. So, I appreciate that this was done um consistently and thoughtfully so that we could um continue to have these gains. Um I know that we're looking at the 2024 2025 student group data on slide seven um the it it has to be noticed that the students with disabilities um are the ones that are not in green for both ELA or all three ELA math and science. I have to say that that is still an improvement from what we've had in the past but it is they're still not in the green. So I have the question of you know this is obviously an improvement but have we identified why there are these consistent reasons of why they are still not in the green here and is there something
065else that we should be doing or that we just need to continue to plug away at? Yeah. Um I think in because there are slight changes right that can be accounted for one just in the u difference in the number of students tested but we also have to remember that the last few years they've had significant improvements um as well. And so part of it is just the continuity of continuing to um achieve at those high levels. And one thing that you've made me think of to surface is that each cohort is different, right? And so we're asking each cohort to then match and or see exceed the success rate of the cohort before them. Um and so I when I see these slight dips that's really consistent. Um when you're talking about just a
066small portion of um numbers of u percentage increase >> I would I would add to that for sure that there is >> this used to be like a double digit issue. So it being 3.2.8 eight is definitely an improvement and it's again to the comments of all the other um data that we're looking at, it's a consistent improvement over several years of data. So my instinct is that it's just a continuation of practice and procedure um and making sure that we just keep finiting it. But because it's there, I need to make sure that I highlight it. >> Yeah. And I think because of how consistent the green is, we know a lot about what is working. >> Yes. And now it's just about matching the individual student needs um you know more frequently sooner
067and at a certain level of depth to make sure that they're represented in the overall success rate. >> Great. Thank you. >> Member Heroblock. >> I I appreciate the questions because I think one of the things I didn't say is the thing that Dr. Battle says all the time which maybe was the one thing that wasn't in this presentation which is know where you are but don't stay there. I I I think we like to celebrate when we have success as we see it, but we also know that we have so many more kids in our district who are capable of achieving at higher levels. And that one of the greatest things about these results that we've seen recently is the movement from students at the lowest level to the next level up, at that
068level to the level above that, at that level to the level above that. That's truly the know where you are and don't stay there. Um, and so, you know, for folks who in the community who who wonder about the celebration of of gains, consistent gains, even if they're small gains, small gains adding up over time, we do know where we are, and we are not going to stay there. And we have been proving that year over year and year over year and year over year. Um, and so I didn't want to let a moment go by without saying know where you are, but don't stay there. >> Yes. And I I will add um one the category you're seeing the most consistent rate and it's not in accountability um space, but we also have what
069we call DM data that has not been factored in yet. Um and so you'll see some improvement there because of the lag and to in the spirit of know where you are but don't stay there. Um we did not share this data today um but we'll be back at the next uh board member uh board meeting to discuss it is grade level specific and we've talked specifically about two grade levels um in particular one that's been a little more chronic u which was fifth grade and I think you're going to like what you see um based upon the intentionality the focus um of um of the team and I've given Chief Perry a shout out but I've got to give um Dr. Williams and Dr. Lawrence a shout out from our teaching and learning team
070and our school team. um they've really interrogated the data around like why I was being so stubborn and it reflecting the talents of our students and um you're going to see that uh fifth grade um I don't want to spoil it. Fifth grade is going to you're going to like what you see in fifth grade. I'll stop there. Um and that's been an area we've been focusing on. >> Uh Vice Chair Nibbon Kenny. So, it's funny because uh board member block just took my words. Um but I do want to reiterate the know where you are uh but don't stay there. Um I am really excited. I I know oftent times we we hear about um you know the celebrations of our data and things like that, but I I am really proud of the
071intentional and strategic work that our district is doing to continue to move the needle year over year over year. I want to say that those gains are historic. We have never done it as a district. And the fact that we are four years in a row moving the needle for thousands of students year-over-year is something to really acknowledge and celebrate while we continue to do the work to continue to move year over year over year. And so I think what we have found is a strategy and strategic work that is working um for our district and we are seeing the return on investment um in making sure that we are getting it done and we are drilling it down for every student um across our district. So I'm really really excited about um I'm really
072excited about where we are and where we continue to go um across the district. I do. Um I have one question. Oh, I missed it. Nope, you already addressed it. It was students with disabilities. So, you already addressed that question um that I had as it relates to that. Um and I just want to say congratulations about our performing arts department and all the great work that they are doing in performing arts. the fact that we got an Emmy and now an album. Man, I can't imagine um what's next. And so I'm really excited about that. And Dr. Stinson, I just want to say um Dr. Chen Changenus is probably jealous because you came in during a time where the data looks good and he served hard during a time where it just wasn't moving
073quite as fast. So, thank you for all your work and all that you do um across the district and that smile. Absolutely. We don't see it, so we appreciate it and we want to celebrate it with you. Anyone else? Any other comments? All right. Well, thank you. And I would have a favor to ask the audience to be the gospel and be evangelists of this great news according to our test tours when I usually talk to community members like why don't we know about this? Why don't we know about this? It's one of the things that help us share the word about the test scores and the improvements that we are doing that's occurring in our district each and every day and improvements that we're making. All right, we will move on to public participation.
074Um I believe we have three members who are speaking. Uh first we'll start with Councilwoman Aaron Evans. I need to see your >> Good evening. Thank you all so much for serving our city on the school board. I'm Aaron Evans. I represent Metro Council District 12 in Herage. Dr. Nimba McKenna is my representative. and I really love to celebrate our metro schools and I wish I was coming to speak tonight on something that I feel like we should be celebrating uh which is the settlement that you'll be considering um as part of your voting uh package tonight. Um one of the biggest challenges that I think that metro government in general has is kind of connecting um settlements to public policy and like how are we making improvements to policy uh when it comes to
075really high dollar settlements. So the settlement of course that you all are dealing with um is far exceeds the previous five years of settlements in aggregate and of course having come off a really difficult budget cycle um it's just disheartening that it is almost a percent of cola that you're talking about whenever that is something that unequivocally employees um said that they wanted as part of their uh their their payment package. Um because this feels like an unforced error on our part. One of the things that I would really encourage you all to think about as you come before us over the next budget next year is to really think about the root causes kind of around how do we get to this point where um these outcomes were something that were only solvable related
076to um a lawsuit and then the subsequent settlement. And then also consider, you know, what are the um the actions um that we can take improvements on as a city related to how we're handling things like challenging authority um having difficult conversations. It is a similar discussion that we're having on the council side related to departments. So you are not alone in in thinking through how that should work. And then ultimately, you know, whenever we're considering um discussions related to um policy and settlements and those kinds of things, I have to defend what you're doing. And so, if you can make sure you communicate that to the public, I would appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilwoman. Next we'll have former board member or no president chair chair sorry president CEO of pencil former
077council former council former school board member former chair and former diva Christian Bugs. Thank you so much uh chair player and esteemed board members. No, don't start my time yet. My name is Christian Bugs. I come to you yes as a parent. Yes, as a former board chair, but honestly I come to you really as a partner. I remember when we first hired Dr. battle and almost immediately a tornado hit, a pandemic hit. The state and the country were looking for for leaders and Dr. Battle stepped up. It was great to see her cast a vision for the city. It was great to see her on a shoestring budget make sure that children had everything that they needed. At the time, I was still a single mother. I was living quite literally before below the
078poverty line and I don't think my colleagues even knew that. But I was not making what I make today. and MNPS took care of my child and every child in at uh at Jones and at every other school across Nashville. So, I really come here to say thank you for that. And then, of course, as a partner, I want to tell you all something that I didn't know as a schoolboard member, as an educator, as a teacher, and certainly didn't know as a parent. There are community members that are looking to invest millions into you all because they see the vision that you're casting. They are quite literally looking to invest $5 million into new school specs. They are looking to have a philanthropic arm for MNPS because we know you can't fund raise for
079yourself. We have developers that are rallying around themselves, coming to organizations like Pencil, coming to the National Public Edition, Bookham, Alignment, every other education focused nonprofit because we are able to benefit from your hard work and we thank you for that. I don't know that others see it. I don't know that they know it, but I experience it because Pencil was created 43 years ago to be the business business connector to our public schools. We want to make sure that every Nashvilleian knows that they can offer their time, their talent, and their treasure. And people are beating down my door. So, thank you. I come to you again as a parent saying, "Thank you for all you've done for my child." I come to you as an aunt seeing all that you've done for my
080nieces and my nephew. I got to pray for Jones because my nephew is something on wheels. And I appreciate that more than you might know. But really, as a partner, as someone that leads partnerships, I continue to see people that just want to pour into schools because they see the great work. They see the gains. They see students having everything that they need to be successful. and we're just so excited to be a part of it. I'm sorry I went off script, but I just needed you all to hear that from me. We're excited to partner with you all in the Kinder Boxes also. >> Thank you, >> former chair and schoolboard member Sharon Gentry. >> What's up? >> Good evening. Decisions matter. In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is
081the right thing. The next best thing you can do is the wrong thing. And the worst thing you can do is nothing. Theodore Roosevelt said that, but it probably came from his reading of writings by Cicero. And one of his most famous quotes is more is lost by indecision than wrong decision. As several of you know, I have 9,437 pet peeves. And one of them is indecision. Like Cicero, I also believe that inaction and hesitation are worse than making a mistake because they can lead to missed opportunities, wasted time, and regret. None of which we can afford given the rapidfire decisions that are being made on high. Washington DC. You see, a wrong decision can be corrected or compensated for, but indecision can result in irreversible consequences. I'm sure this resonates with you as the
082board and CEO of the largest and most complex business unit in Metro Government where you are faced with complex and uncertain scenarios that require you to make decisions. Decisions matter. Decisions lead you to achieving the highest TECAP results across the board in history since the standards changed. Decisions made years ago about budgets and resources and priorities led to this moment and to these results and to only three people signing up for public participation. To families and students who decide every day to come into Metro Public Schools. To building level leaders and teachers who decide every day to see the best in the students, to get the results that we talked about tonight. to leaders on this front row and the rest of the support hub team that keep making decisions. I thank you Abigail, Zack,
083TK, Barthena, and Freda and Rachelan and Cheryl and Aaron and Robert. I thank you for showing up and making decisions and leaning into your role as board members. And Dr. Battle, I thank you for not being indecisive. >> Thank you. We will now move on to committee reports. Uh we will now go to uh governance chair uh member Elrod to give a governance report. Thank you. We met this afternoon at around 3:30 to discuss all of our governance. We call it the policy pulooa as it is a response to all of the policies that pass through the state house and in some cases federal policy as well. Um, again, as long as there are 200 plus bills that the state provides about education, uh, that they vote upon, we're always going to have about 40
084that we tackle right before the school year happens. So, we have several of those that we went through. You will see them again in the um, governance uh, A1C section of all of our policies. Some policies were pulled and mentioned earlier at the beginning of this meeting and those will be happening and referred back to discussed on August the 12th at 4:00 at our next meeting where we will have a governance meeting at again at 4:00 on August 12th. Thank you member Elrod. I appreciate that. All right, we will move on to governance issues. Um I'll accept a motion to pass the consent agenda. Is there a motion? Motion by member O'Hara Block. Is there a second? >> Second by Vice Chair Nimbad and Kenny. Any discussion? Seeing there's no discussion, we'll move to a
085vote. Um if you're in if you're favor and passing consent agenda, uh raise your hand. All right, that's 90. It's unanimous. Thank you very much. We will move now move on to board reports. Um there are no new board reports. Um as you know listen go back to the announcements to hear about the out after school bash and be no further business. This meeting is adjourned. This has been a service of the Metro Nashville Network. If you would like to see this presentation again or for more information on this and other programs, visit nashville.gov.