001been called to order Elena will you please do our Pledge of Allegiance on the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you okay for us to get started I would like to see a motion to either adopt or amend the agenda as listed it's been first and seconded all those in favor please raise your hand seeing no objections and has been adopted that takes us on to our Awards and recognitions and to do that I will turn it over to Dr Adrian battle we have a couple of great groups of team mmps staff members to celebrate tonight so I'm going to Jump Right In so when the distressed calls from the Covenant School started coming in on the morning
002of March 27th our team quickly jumped into action to do anything we could to support our neighbors and help them in a time of Crisis our people moved with speed and skill and great care and compassion to try to make an unspeakably difficult situation just the slightest bit easier to manage they drove buses to your students and staff to the reunification site so they could be with their families again they provided security support on the ground and took calls from concerned parents and community members here at the support Hub and they offer counseling services to anyone who needed help at the site these acts of kindness and service can go a long way in a moment of tragedy and I'm very grateful to and extremely proud of these mnps staff members for going the extra
003mile that day so I have a few groups I want to thank as I call your names please come to the front and then we'll take a group photo at the end we have our bus drivers Who provided a sense of safety and calm for hundreds of Covenant School students and staff members those drivers are Steve Bowman Kelly Bell come on up to the front if y'all don't mind Sandra Cobble Dwayne Farrell Tracy garton Dede Helms Alberta Houston Nicole Ross Maurice South Hall Martha Suarez George Thomas Christina Wade Tania Williams Tracy Williams and Gary Woodard let's give them all [Applause] and don't you all go anywhere yet I have a few more of your teammates I would like to recognize as well so from our safe and security we have dispatcher Latonya yarlett who calmly
004efficiently and helpfully answer phone calls throughout the day from concerned parents and other community members along with three Security leaders who went to the reunification site to help so Latonya make sure you come on up also we like to recognize Reginald young our executive director of Safety and Security Reuben Dobson manager of school security and Jonathan Hathaway supervisor of school security let's give them a round of applause as well thank you [Applause] and everyone stay put from our counseling and Social Work departments we have two leaders who also went to the reunification site to offer support and services to anyone who needed help processing the terrible events of the morning so we'd like to recognize Dr Joe Gordon coordinator of School counseling South and Dr Monica culverson director of Social Work and trauma-informed schools [Applause]
005stay put because although we could not honor all of them individually tonight we had more than 50 school counselors social workers School psychologists trauma-informed Specialists and others who fan outdoor schools in the Green Hills area for the rest of that week to provide support to the students and staff in those buildings and we appreciate them so much let's have another big round of applause for all team mnps members who helped out immediately after and we're so very proud of the work that you do and um just the tremendous effort that you put in on that day and every day on behalf of mnps in Nashville so everyone come on up we'd love to get a group photo with you all to celebrate you live and in action so come on up our heroes [Music] um
006Smile everybody who wants to be in there all right one two three awesome [Applause] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] all right thank you again and just thank you for representing mnp is so well so again thank you to all of our First Responders I'm also excited this evening to celebrate a group of teachers who have proven they're at the top of their game so national board certification is a professional endorsement of accomplished teaching practice the endorsement is awarded by the national board for professional Teaching Standards this certification is not easy to earn the process can last up to five years candidates must pass a comprehensive discipline specific assessment while also submitting portfolios of student Work video of their teaching practices and extensive commentary about instructional decisions and impact then if they want to maintain
007their certification teachers must demonstrate further growth every five years through additional portfolio submissions and commentary now if I can just brag a little extra on our teachers I want everyone to know that 18 teachers in the entire state of Tennessee are national board certification this school year and eight are in which would be this one [Applause] so I'm about to call up those eight teachers please come up front as I call your names then we'll take a photo and then we'll recognize another eight teachers who have maintained their national board certification so our new national board certified teachers are please give it up for them Michael bino from the MEPS office of English learners [Applause] Dr Teresa bogama from mnps Virtual School [Applause] Christina Butler from John Overton High School Mackenzie company from John Overton
008High School [Applause] Zach Fox from Martin Luther King Jr academic Magnet High School see that smile Ebenezer that's his Navigator [Laughter] Lacy golf from John Overton High School [Applause] Tyler celebrate from Martin Luther King Jr academic Magnet High School [Applause] and Hannah Yonker from Glenview Elementary School [Applause] so congratulations teachers we're also proud of you we're going to take can we take a quick photo real quick before we move to the next all right come on up so we can get a picture together and board members if you have a school representative please join us [Music] [Laughter] I'm trying to get some bites in I know right without being rude listening [Music] yeah [Music] sorry people from your school privilege on charger yes [Applause] [Music] come get you later and I would like to also
009recognize eight veteran teachers who have maintained their national board certification again please come up as I call your names and then we'll also get a photo together Dr Tina Atkinson from Percy Priest Elementary School [Applause] with Campbell from Martin Luther King Jr academic Magnet High School [Applause] Julie durmberger from Neely's van Elementary School [Applause] Deborah Higdon from Granbury Elementary School [Applause] through the mnps support hub [Applause] Lori Likens from Neelys Bend Elementary School [Applause] Heather Penrod from East Nashville Magnet High School and Lawrence Stecker from Creve Hall Elementary School congratulations to each of you as well we are so proud of our nationally board certified teachers and our team mnps members who responded to the Covenant call but can we have this group of leaders please join us up front for a quick photo congratulations
010again [Music] thank you [Music] oh my God oh my gosh yeah the salad is full of nuts and cranberries [Music] okay thank you um it has been very nice today to be able to say that if Nashville is needing good news that we have plenty of it at mnps and I think the community can pretty much always count on that so we really appreciate everyone being here so that we can honor them that is a tremendous amount of work not only for [Music] um the new teachers but also the renewals of their certification for national board certified that brings us to our public participation we have a list that will be up on the board foreign there you go public participation as this is the group of people that have signed up to speak I
011do need to make sure that if you're here to speak about the certification of dismissal charges that you are speaking about what's on the agenda for Mr Waite and it's not for the previous student because that was a closed meeting so I want to make sure that we have that conversation before anyone potentially comes up here and uses that Student's name otherwise everybody has three minutes please keep in mind that your names are going to be in order we will call them in order and again you have three minutes and at the end of it do we have the buzzer back hey we found the buzzer um because it was like a weird noise last meeting but that's not weird we know that's out all right so you have three minutes and we're going to
012start first with Kelly Gibbs no okay then we're going to speak to Risha Brown here from Richard Brown I should say excuse me for taking the shoes off oh goodness um my name is Risa but I go back Brown yes I first want to tell you how much I appreciate being able to address the board today I've been looking forward to it um a little bit about me I have been teaching for 30 years mainly Science Biology I've coached for probably 17 mainly basketball if you can tell hi there you probably guess that basketball but sprinkle in some volleyball and tracking cross country then you've got 17 years there um so 30 years total this year I started on my Master's in my EDS early in my teaching career but with all that said I
013have absolutely loved my journey I am a teacher first coach second um I just love the classroom and even though I went on I was thinking about Administration I just never did jump through that hoop because I've always enjoyed teaching so much I would not trade that experience for anything as an educator I had longer that I teach the more devoted I have become to help navigate student paths and recently I have entertained the idea of retiring and pursuing other careers because I've been at the top of my pay scale for the last few years so with this being said I am definitely advocating for Teacher longevity pay I have taught in several school districts across the state of Tennessee and Metro Nashville is one of the most challenging districts in the state rewarded for
014their years of service we have highly skilled teachers that have a wealth of knowledge and expertise that bring a sense of value and stability to the classroom I personally feel that it is discouraging to our profession when Master Teachers are not treated worthy of such an accomplishment after so many years of service and as we all know experience is priceless but in our profession it's very underappreciated in the end our students are paying the price when our veteran teachers leave our system to retire early or to work in another district with all the chaos around the educational system I feel that it is imperative that we refocus our efforts and give credit to those teachers we can count on thank you next is Mary Jo cram [Music] hi my name is Mary Jo cram I'm
015secretary treasurer of mnea I teach Spanish and U.S history at the academital Cockrell and I also have two children at Dan Mills Elementary I'm especially the improved salaries for our longest serving teachers since I personally do not yet qualify for longevity pay I have Ash was not able to be here tonight so I came to read her words Miss Nash is a 39-year educator and this is what she has to say quote teaching in 1984. I've consistently had at least one part-time job and many times two part-time jobs to make ends meet I've watched myself and others struggle to live in the middle class on one occasion a local attorney confided to me that most of the individuals he represents in bankruptcy court are educators he felt comfortable telling me that because his mother was
016one of them daily we were reminded of the challenges and even dangers of teaching why do individuals choose to teach it's not because they cannot pursue other careers those who do teach know that it's something we are called to do the monetary rewards are not the driving force changing lives and spending the day where learning comes to life is what keeps us going longevity is a goal in any career if public education is to continue to exist as we know it realistic and fair compensation is needed to support those who dedicate their lives to education longevity paying incentives are what allow Educators to meet the demands of extended careers with the necessary Focus I would not change a day of my 39 years but I think I could have been better at my job without
017worrying about financial survival that was Miss Nash from my school thanks for listening thank you next we have Angel Sims we have Lindsay leak thank you I was like I before E ve all right hello almost exactly two years ago I addressed the board asking for support for our lgbtq plus students staff and families as budget including money for instructional materials and SEL supports please consider my words today on March 20th 2023 the m e a representative assembly passed this resolution which I will read parts of because in the mnps Board of Education to once again pass a resolution asserting its support for all mnps students staff and families regardless of gender identity gender expression or sexual orientation whereas bills targeting lgbtq plus tennesseans violate the human rights of students teachers and community members as
018Educators it is our job to protect our school communities and stand against these bills as both our moral and professional responsibility whereas an inclusive curriculum and access to text with diverse perspectives is vital to the well-being of all students for creating representation and developing empathy lgbtq plus students deserve to see themselves mirrored in books they can access at school and all students deserve access to text with diverse perspectives whereas the age-appropriate materials Act of 2022 requires schools to catalog all texts in school libraries and enables individual parents to have text removed for all students this this bill has been used to Target and remove materials that address lgbtq plus identities racism and Broad acceptance of diversity whereas Senate bill with 1117 and House Bill 1411 will require students to obtain parent permission to participate in
019gender sexuality Alliance or GSA clubs in the school this would put these students without home safe home environments at risk restricting the organization of any student affinity group limits the freedom of expression of students and staff in school as well as violates our District's autonomy to create safe spaces for students whereas House Bill 1269 and Senate Bill 466 encourages teachers stops to misgender students directly contradicting mnps's policy that quote shall allow students and staff to use requested names and pronouns without requiring a legal name change or medical diagnosis and quote and the widely recognized negative mental health impacts during whereas these bills would allow State control over everyday decisions that Educators make to support our students and welcome them in our schools and classrooms we are standing up for our teachers and students rights to
020have an honest and inclusive curriculum and learning environments allowing the state to banish these materials and conversations or allowing parents to opt out of these conversations will perpetrate homophobia further alienate lgbtq plus students and fail to prepare our students to exist in a multicultural World whereas refusing to stand by and watch these bills pass and refusing to follow these homophobic and transphobic guidelines from our state if they come to pass we will literally save lives resolve that mnea calls on the mnps board of education to update its April 27 2021 resolution in support of lgbtq plus students and staff thank you thank you next is Charlene Culberson hi good evening my name is Charlie Culbertson I am an mnps graduate and currently my fifth year of teaching at Schwab Elementary where I've been grade level
021chair the entire time proposed plan of having a single permanent substitute at each School site and phasing out day-to-day substitutes Schwab we serve Pre-K to fifth grade students we have over 40 positions in the school that on any given day could need a sub as I stated I am the grade level chair for pre-k at Schwab there are eight adults in my grade level alone three teachers and five EAS that is one grade level how well do you think student needs will be met with one step how will the mental health be for those teachers splitting classes I just this through you'll see you'll need more than just substitutes you'll need to hire new teachers that being said I do have a request we need to see the numbers on what the cost would be
022to increase that pay to a competitive rate it information this evening I ask Ed a further vote on the budget until it is available thank you thank you next we have Diana flegel hi my name is Diana flegel and I am the Blended Pre-K teacher and team lead at fall Hamilton Elementary School learned about the new substitute changes teachers have not been consulted about these changes to my knowledge I try to stay abreast and pay attention and we've not heard any of this until quite recently at my school the subs this year have been very hard to find or get when this happens we have to take on extra students in our rooms this is very stressful and hard to do we know that students work better at set small ratios and when we combine
023classes not only are we stressing out our students who cannot then learn we are stressing out our teachers and adding to their extra workload which we know is very full this affects student learning and is also it is very uncommon to get reimbursed for this extra work that teachers are doing building Subs in my experience those subs are often pulled into long-term absences like FMLA when this happens teachers go back to having to cover other classes and combine again common for more than one teacher to be absent at a time so one sub will not cut it personally I have been absent this year and I feel guilty every time giving to my other teachers at school I was not physically able to go because I had coveted classes are not getting covered by Subs
024have we tried increasing our sub pay to see if we get more interest in people coming Nashville is a gig economy let's work the system in an effort to transparency and explore all of our solutions for our current sub issues we would love to see the numbers on what the cost would be to increase sub pay to a competitive rate if you all do not have these numbers to present tonight at today's budget meeting I request that you defer this vote until we can see the budget ahead of time thank you [Music] next is Laura Leonard [Music] Holly trogger okay Susan Norwood I'll say I see her all right gotta take off my glasses so I can see my name is Susan Norwood I live in District 8 in Davidson County I have taught in
025Metro for 15 years and this is my 12th year as an English teacher at McGavock High School I recently learned that the district plans to replace day-to-day Subs with building Subs now called classroom Associates we did this 12 years ago when I started at McGavock my school had five permanent subs and what we learned from this is that five was never enough we always needed more subs What do teachers know about this plan well nothing really we have no specific information such as how many classroom Associates each building would have we have had days when over 25 even 30 students are out at McGavock so it'd take more than five classroom Associates to fill our vacancies what would the cost be to increase sub pay if we don't know what it would cost I ask
026you to defer the vote on the budget until we get that number every day when I go to school I open up my email to read the please from Academy principals and secretaries for teachers to cover classes multiple classes without a sub so teachers chip in and go without their planning periods over time this erodes the quality of instruction we are able to deliver we need time to plan lessons we have a desperate need for Subs because we don't have enough teachers this year at McGavock we have been without English math history chemistry physical science and Spanish teachers these classes are taught by subs and teachers who don't necessarily have training in that content area such as a social studies teacher teaching English or an art teacher teaching Spanish so what is a better solution
027to this problem of not enough Subs I have three suggestions one pay subs better A lot better one sub recently told me that after deductions he only makes about 13 an hour my students make more money working at fast food restaurants or grocery stores two get to the root of the problem which is the teacher shortage we wouldn't need as many Subs if we had a decent supply of teachers we are leaving the profession in droves because our salaries aren't enough to live on three improved discipline this is the issue that no one wants to talk about student behavior is another main reason that Subs quit or avoid going to some schools hiring building Subs in lieu of day-to-day Subs is not going to solve the problem it didn't work 12 years ago and it
028won't work now the teacher Exodus and need for Subs will only get worse we both need a substantial pay raise in order to attract people to these positions thank you thank you Garba no and I've heard that Holly trugger has entered all right about that I got caught up with my robotics team um good evening my name is Hallie trucker and I am a resident of the sixth district and an engineering and biostem teacher at Antioch High School I'm here to urge you to raise pay for all mnps substitute teachers and especially day-to-day Subs to a living wage I ask that you defer voting on the budget until Clarity is provided about the dollar amount necessary to achieve this adjustment substitute teachers play a critical role in our schools every day they cover unfortunately vacant
029classes they ensure there is adequate supervision to keep schools safe and they make it possible for teachers to leave the building to accompany students on special opportunities for example at this time of year all of our high school ctsos are traveling for State conferences last week I was in Chattanooga for the technology Student Association State leadership conference and as a side note I'm proud that mnps students from both Antioch and MLK meddled and qualified for the national level and see substitute teachers absolutely make this ctso travel and all other field trips possible without adequate adequate coverage we're left to worry that such special opportunities for some students come at the expense of other students learning in my own case my a day students were able to continue learning computer-aided design in my classroom on the
030specialized computers that they need my b-day students got split and so they weren't with the computers they missed the opportunity to work on CAD that day and this same scenario plays out on a daily basis whenever students are whether teachers are out for field trips for sick days or for bereavement days unfortunately currently not paid at a rate that reflects and respects the critical role they play in our schools this is not only deeply unfair to them as education professionals but also creates day-to-day challenges in our schools that ultimately harm students teachers administrators and support staff are pulled from our post to cover classes we need lose the time we need to prepare engaging lessons for lab experiments and in some cases because of the academy model we have the same prep at the same
031time so my Academy gets all pulled to cover 1A and that leaves our whole part of the building really under supervised hovering classes is exhausting extensive work we attributes to teacher burnout that in turn drives greater vacancies and greater need for sub coverage in a vicious cycle my school benefits from some truly excellent school-based Subs who are assigned to our building daily and provide a consistent presence for students I absolutely would love to have more of this type of stuff however our coverage needs both vary greatly and greatly exceed the coverage these individuals can provide generally by a factor of five to ten we routinely have double digit numbers of uncovered absences those that teachers need to give up planning time to cover or in which students are split to other classes we need both
032building subs and day-to-day subs and we most urgently need to raise day-to-day substitute teacher pay to a rate that would support full coverage in our buildings urge you to defer voting on the budget until the full cost of raising subpay to a living wage is clarified and to ensure that the 2023-2024 budget includes all the funds necessary to pay substitute teachers at a rate that respects them as professionals enables them to live in our city and ensures that day-to-day absences are filled in all schools every day thank you so much and thanks for the accommodation thank you [Applause] okay that ends public participation and brings us to governance issues which is first our consent agenda we have adopted the agenda as listed may I have a motion to approve the agenda all those in favor
033seeing no objections the consent agenda has been approved that brings us to number two which is a certification of charges conversation Justin do you need to have anything to say on that nope okay that's fine do we have any motion for proving or not approving the certification of charges hearing so moved second second is it moved to approve oh um yeah certification charges hold them to set the better phrasing motion to motion to uphold the text motion to uphold the decision okay motion to approve the motion to uphold the decision as drafted second [Music] all those in favor please raise your hand no objections next up brings us to number three which is a level three student discipline appeal of course that is different from this afternoon's do I have a motion to approve for
034it to come in front of us to I moved to approve uh the appeal process to bring the motion so here at the whole the hearing okay second all right so we have a motion to have the hearing all those in favor please raise your hand unanimous as well that brings us lastly to the fiscal year do I have a motion for the budget um [Music] and the federal funding budget the nutritional budget do we have a second request will you please repeat your motion okay you will take one minute time or do you want to take them all together [Music] put them all together okay motion to approve the 20 fiscal year 20 to 23 24 aspirational budget also motion to also to include the federal grants budget and the fiscal the nutritional service
035budget seconded do we have any discussion [Music] have a good [Music] thank you um one thing that's kind of been in my head about this that I just wanted to to make a comment on um I like the kind of aspirational budget the way that we're doing it I think that's a good thing to do and I appreciate that Dr battle has moved in that direction um only hesitation is sometimes I hear from council members who um treat it as if that means that they get to pick everything that mnps will do and and I want to make sure that we understand that at the end of the day making process for how money gets spent and mnps ends up on our shoulders and we're the ones who have that fiduciary responsibility for that and
036I want to make sure that as we are looking at it and we're looking at what the choices are that we're making sure that that we maybe choose something specific to advocate for so that as individual members if we are choosing to advocate for something in that aspirational budget that we're giving direction to our council members instead of just laying it in front of them and and letting them dictate what happens but that we kind of help drive that by doing direct appeals for things that we think are are you know top priority aspirational budget and I think that that's something we have done in the past I think I would like to see us continue to do is something that I would like to continue to engage the public to do as well that
037if there is a specific item on the aspirational budget that you have very strong beliefs about that we need to focus on that that is something that you advocate for specifically instead of just kind of sitting back and letting somebody else make the choice for you I think it's really important that that we see it more as a less of a somebody's telling you how to spend the money and more of a discussion between the two groups to say you know for them to ask you've given us a lot of choices we're not going to be able to fund them all so what's your priorities that way we can respond and it can be a partnership between us and the city council as opposed to somebody being feeling dictated towards um and I so yeah
038so that's just that's kind of just a general statement about see the board member specifically pick a few things to really advocate for on our own with the aspirational budget as opposed to we want to get funded we'll get funded but that we actually have a voice in that and we move it forward and we advocate for that loudly so yeah that's the birthday I talk I've talked a lot yeah okay that's fine all right you know in light of the um some of the speakers tonight I'd like um an explanation of how how the single permanent sub thing will work how we'll determine how many permanent Subs per school or is it really just one per school and then sort of the process for phasing out daily subs as it's my understanding that that's
039not something that's just going to go away immediately so um yeah I just would love a deeper explanation of all that um so this is a extra presentation that we've gone over um with mnea through our community budget meeting and all four of our communities I apologize I was doing a panel the night of my community budget meeting and I'm fully aware I missed the budget committee meeting because of a work commitment and so I'm playing catch up right now on everyone else just for clarity just for clarity when we have talked about pretty loudly and frequently about our classroom Associates approach including with our principal leaders as well so lots of Engagement that has taken place I'm going to ask Lisa do you mind coming up and again talking through what our classroom Associates
040model looks like including the fact that there is not a current plan to plan to completely phase out the traditional model that has not yet reaped the benefits that we once intended in that model thank you ma'am so with General School Assistant two years ago with a few we let people we let principals have a general School assistant that they could use for whatever they needed to in their building as a floater that pilot went well the first year we added a few more positions this last year we currently have close to 200 in the in the district and principals have been using those positions to work in in classrooms work in the office work in the cafeteria wherever they needed it so we started listening to principles and hearing the feedback about how valuable
041it was to have extra people in the building we started also looking at the research there's a lot of research from 2018 forward about the what we call the permanent sub model really being a best practice and we want to be out in front of that and so we we talked to some principals we revised the job description we increased the pay grade from a pay grade three to a pay grade five what we what we're looking for is now people who are going to be in the schools to really be a part of the school community to participate in collaborative planning with teachers to work with to go to PD to work with you know teachers in their classrooms to push in if there's not a need for a substitute that day to to
042be in classrooms as those extra helpers we're also you know this is a full-time job benefits job everything that a regular employee gets but what we're also looking for is sort of that pipeline because a lot of our general School assistants have said I really like this can I become a teacher is there a way for me to do that and so helping fill a pipeline for people who want to get into an ed prep program or a grow your own program or an apprenticeship program of some kind to add to the teaching ranks is also a really a big part of this it's a big piece of this our day-to-day subs don't necessarily want to do that that's they choose the day-to-day sub route because they don't necessarily want to become the full-time teachers
043we can't we can't do away with created a sub model at the same time right we that's a phase out kind of thing and I don't know I don't know how long we would need necessarily to keep or not keep that day-to-day sub model but what we're really looking for is that cohort of people in our schools that is a part of the school Community because if that person is in the school and they know the teachers and the teachers know them they know the resources in the school if there's a problem while they're substituting in a classroom they know who to call it's not just an office referral they might call the Advocacy Center coach or they might call the counselor or they might call you know somebody that they know can help they're
044also going to be there when that teacher comes back the next day to be able to say this is what went well this is where we struggled you know this is what I got to all the all the things that a teacher might not get from that day-to-day sub who isn't there the next day [Music] but that isn't actually I understand why it's a good idea to have G gsas I just what I really wanted to know um is the questions I asked about um about how we determine how many per building and what is the exact process for phasing out the daily subs so the determination of the number per building I think we're still we're still working with we've we've got some principles that have been helping us kind of think this through
045in terms of the ratios we're still working on that um definitely more how did we know how much to put in the budget if we're still working on the ratios I think we estimated a number what number did we estimate it's about two and a half times it's about two and a half times the number that we have a number that we have now so it's based upon the enrollment of the school which would um almost triple the number of current General School assistants that are serving the schools right now so a school who currently has three would have eight as an example okay and then are we planning to completely phase out day-to-day subs or will we hang on to that currently in a pilot right now we've started piloting this about two years
046ago and each year we've kind of increased the number the ratio of leaders in the role we've also increased the pay and tried to look at the job description to make sure that the job description meets the needs of the schools and so as we're looking at a national best practice now with regards to moving to this model we'll continue to look at our own local data we'll continue to follow the research to make the determination as to when it's most appropriate but this is a pretty new Innovative way of how we're transitioning substitute the substitute model into the classroom Associates so a final determination has not been made on exactly when that phase that will occur but we are currently in year two of our pilot as we look to fully make the transition
047and maintaining a portion of the traditional substitute model [Music] so we are looking single for next year I mean not next year but I mean like eventually it eventually it works if the model Works eventually we will be looking at a phase out but we're not looking at a phase out for this current year of transition into the classroom Associates however the bottom line is that classroom Associates provide more stability more continuity of instructional practices and supports for students and so it's about us leveling up the amount of support both in the SEO and the academic space that needs to be true not only for our students but also for our teachers okay so so as we're doing this hiring process say you have three permanent Subs in your building but you need eight Subs
048that day there will still be the ability to call for daily subs absolutely have we considered raising the pay for those daily subs along the way I mean I know we haven't done that in our aspirational budget our process our process has been to find a more efficient and effective way to provide the coverage we need in our buildings and at some point we've got to stop investing in the things that are not working and find out figure out new ways to make sure that we're closing the loop and getting better outcomes for what we're trying to make sure is true for every student in every building okay I have another question but I'm happy to like do it on a second round if other people have because it veers to a different area to
049the pay grades may ask it directly to you or Lisa the question would be what does pay grade what do those pay grade numbers mean I know we've heard it in community meetings but will you please provide that can you start with the first iteration and what we're proposing for next school year Lisa so in the the current iteration the beginning wage for somebody who doesn't have a bachelor's degree would be 18.36 an hour in the new iteration it would be 18.80 cents an hour on today's pay scale that would not include any Cola that might be attached to next year's pay scale and where did their rate start in the initial pilot phase in the initial pilot phase it was roughly the same daily rate as the 13 dollars per hour for the sub
050so when the the support pay scale moved to the 18 minimum this grade went with it and so my point of get asking for that Clarity is that over time we've continued to invest in our substitute model pay which in a way that best serves our students and our schools so that grade has moved from 13 an hour up to what we're proposing in nearly 19 an hour next school year and that's before any adjustments to our pay scale move into the next budget cycle any additional questions [Music] uh this is more of a comment more than more than a question um and to respond to budget Vice chairs Tyler's Point um this budget process has is um has been interesting one that has developed over the years and the tough part has been how
051do you strike that balance of advocating and also having accurate numbers to work with and so we that's how we always try to transform this budget process first by setting our budget priorities saying these are the top three four things that we will truly want to focus on directing our financial resources National budget and that the between us and the board the council and the community will develop between now and when we pass the real budget in June part of it is we are you're bound unfortunately we're Bound by the charter we have the mayor has to submit a budget by April 30th to filed by May for April 1st we are considered under that budget so we have to present something to him with that and so um we have done in the past
052and has caused a lot of contention a lot of frustration about what is needed what are the priorities um with with that and so as we this is process develops my goal is to Hope as we move on through the process we as a board be able to refine that discussion and those priorities as we did remember last year when we after we passed our budget and made our file we had a 20 million dollar deficit that we did not foresee and so I want us to be cautious of saying we're going to present and advocate for this and then have to renege on it because by circumstances that are beyond our control we have to fill a deficit in ways and work with the mayor's office or the Council Office to fulfill that I
053think we can articulate what we want how we want and how to when we do that I think we have done a great job in the past of talking to our own council members especially within our districts to try to articulate what our individual goals what our goals as a board how we speak and I know as employees as Community leaders we all have our own priorities our own desires to improve it but we have a finite amount of funds as we're going through transformation particularly from BEP he's a teaser we're trying to really figure out what is that process going to do unfortunately we're in a transition time and that and to be so explicit it's difficult I think it's an ongoing conversation we hope it's an ongoing conversation we hope to have a
054retreat later on and we were talking about that to really kind of get into the meat of this after the um after the May 1st so um I agree with you Vice chair Tyler um but also understanding to the community it's a difficult process that we're going through because our timing the state's timing do not align if they did it would be a different conversation and a much easier and smoother process but there's a lot of um there's a lot of moving parts that's consistent between now and June 30th um I hope in the states listening that they will speed up their timeline and their processes in a more efficient way I think myself and the other was a 114 school districts wishful thinking would actually appreciate appreciate it's not just us but every school
055district in the state would actually do this but it's one of the things we really want people to communicate that with us and the council and because they don't have a collective communication of the collective a collective conversation um with that because one of the things we heard um before Dr battle's tenure is this tension between fully funding schools and not funding and what we really need and what and that's where it's like we're going to be transparent and lay everything on table but the true cost as it's a continual conversation year after year and as we refine that time within Pacific budget years but have a longer goal so this is a conversation not for us but also for the mayor's office the mayoral candidates the new Council that are coming in if we
056as a city are are committed to do this we need more resources not just for specific one-off items in the aspirational budget as individual but as a collective allocation to the metro schools particularly what we are required to do by the state and so I hope as we have these conversations particularly during this political season that we really double down on saying these costs these have real costs and we need real substantial investment with investment that mayor Cooper has done over the past uh for three and a half years four years of his tenure we have seen the growth of being level five School having the record number of reward schools having least amount of party schools the Investments work but it has to be a collective conversation so we can have the detailed conversation
057of advocating for what you want specifically or us as a board not your particular but you individually collectively [Music] a full sort of discussion with that for the community to understand why we evolved into this process and really tried to have a more collaborative conversation with us and with Council and understanding that um our process is different and it's not as succinct and clean as it is on the Metro Government side because there are much more streamlined and they have their own Pacific Revenue sources and they're not as dealing with the state as much as we do we wish we could but that's a whole different conversation a whole different political financial and budget Revenue process I would like to add that we also had our community meetings in each quadrant during those we had
058lots of discussion with individual staff groups of staff and of course different stakeholders and parents some of those conversations will help inform what those priorities are that we will discuss as a board and work with Council and the mayor to prioritize apparent and what all the different costs are and the the ongoing costs that are a part of education and how it is important and how each one of those dollars directly impacts whatever the action is or the work that we need to do so we want to be transparent with that information but we can't understand that the menu of options can appear overwhelming that's because a lot of work that's done inside of our schools and that work is extremely important and valuable and it's a huge menu of options so we've had a
059lot of input we will continue to receive that input and we'll work on refining it as we go along and have better discussions with Council all right we'll do our second round of questions so Dr berthena Ashton I do have a comment um I just want to uplift Miss Frida player and and Miss Elrod on what they said right now we are in so much unknown with this transition from BEP to Tisa around funding and what were expected currently the where where we stand being the second largest school district in our state right now we are expected to receive the lowest if not one of the lowest allocations of the 147 districts across our state and and so we're looking at how that's going to impact us and we have to be very conservative and
060how we budget and what we budget because we just haven't gotten the answers that we need currently and so please excuse us for our conservativism when it comes to our budget really having those robust intense conversations about what we're going to prioritize and how we're going to prioritize things we are dealing with a finite amount of funding and some of that funding we have to give away to and so we have to look at all the all of the areas that we're looking at related to that that funding mechanism and making sure that one we can sustain the operations that we have going on now and we can continue to build on top of some of those aspirational things that we want to be able to bring into our district and build on top of
061what we're currently doing and so those are some of those discussions that we really really really have to have they're going to be some difficult discussions may not make everyone happy but we have our eye on the prize and continuing to make mnps the best District across our state thank you Aaron um I just I I wanted to follow up a little bit um Miss player on what you're saying it I know uh last night's session at Hillsboro High School there are parents and community members Etc who are eager to help us Advocate with the council in particular do we have an have anything yet that we are sort of the ask that we might have of folks and can we what would you recommend at this point sharing with folks about what we want
062to do in terms of an asking for the budget I mean I think at rape we don't have anything specific at the moment because we're still in processes of talking what we're presenting at the continuity of budget and also discussing with the mayor's office with that I think after that discussion we can come up with some very detailed talking points but I think the main things like we need more additional funding I think we start there and then we'll refine it to something very specific to Advocate and have parents help advocate for that but as we continue to do that as because right now the mayor's office they're in the middle finalizing their budget they're trying to figure their their revenue projections the current Revenue projections Shoring up so they're still in the last couple
063weeks are really trying to figure out what they can provide um and as they work with the Director of Finance to determine that once they have a good sense of that then they'll start actually finalizing their budget and then we will have a better idea so I know people want something right now and right away to do it they're sort of saying wait like two weeks and we'll have a specific ask for you perfect thank you well awesome yes one thing is so we kind of had a three-year plan on pay raises and we did our teachers and and then we looked at our support staff last year and then so this year is the year that we're supposed to be looking at our administrative pay plan and I'm just like we fought for each
064other a group I do want to say that um if we are going to complete our promises I would think that that would be something that would be at the top of our list to request to ensure that we can make sure that we're meeting the promises we've made to our administrators like we did for our teachers and like we did for our support staff absolutely that is absolutely a bad part of conversations not only this year but last year of this is not just a now ask but a future ask as well Masters you had a question do you still have to do I got I got some stuff here um first of all yes I've been asking about these principal raises for a while glad that's made it to the top of the
065list [Music] that 1 million 550 for longevity pay that in the aspirational budget that is for teachers correct the one million 550 slide 16 on our in the line in the aspirational budget for longevity pay is that for teachers it is for certificated employees which teachers psychologists you know all of our certificated staff who have 25 years or more and support staff who are at step 25 or higher right I just want to make sure that wasn't you know lumped in with the admin pay raise um definitely assigned mou with mnea and have we given them the opportunity to fully weigh in on this process we do have a signed mou with the mnea we have an amendment to that mou that is going through the review process and they are a part of we
066have a compensation committee with them okay yes okay I want to reiterate the request I've made the past couple years for a board member to sit in on the mou process in the future I think that would be really helpful to have an advocate from the board just a thought I also want to just say as a professional fundraiser which is what I am it is a lot more effective to fundraise around something specific just saying we need more money we need more money is not an effective strategy so we've got to hone in on a a collective ask for of counsel what do we want what is the top thing that we want short little story two teachers I know both with master's degrees one has been in school for 21 years the other
067for 31 years any guesses as to what the difference is between their two paychecks 21-year teacher versus 31-year teacher same level of Education seven hundred dollars I don't mean per paycheck I mean per year so I do think while I'm very so there's one of my talking points talking to council I have seen the pay stubs it's two very specific teachers that have shared this information with me so that's a good talking point for Council for anyone who needs something immediately to start talking about [Music] we have a motion to observe foreign we have a motion on the floor that's been first and seconded to approve the uh 23-24 fiscal year budget which includes of course our operational budget our grants budget federal budget and our nutritional budget has been first and seconded all those
068in favor of approving these budgets please raise your hand it is unanimous thank you that brings us to board committee reports we had a number of meetings today but they did not have committees however we did have berthena Dr bertina Nava McKinney who uh recently attended a conference and said will you please provide your report on that I attended the Council of Greater City Schools which is the Council of large Urban school districts Across the Nation they're legislative and policy conference in Washington D.C it was a a really great conference learned a lot of information moreover what I learned as a new board member coming in is kind of where we sit and where we lead in the nation and a lot of the Innovative things that we are doing within our district I when
069I say leading the way our College and Career Readiness programs through the academies of Nashville really is a national motto we have Urban school districts who have not implemented anything similar or anything like that within their school districts and are coming to mnps to learn more about the academies of Nashville and how to implement those types of programs to increase graduation rates and to to provide programming for students post-graduation so it is a great partnership that we are doing here and we are leading the effort we had a lot of recognition around our SEL programming and the peace centers and advocacy centers that we have implemented Within mnps that a lot of school districts and I'm and when I say Urban school districts that are your largest school districts Across the Nation have are still
070trying to figure out how to support students around social emotional learning and mental health and so we are leading the way in doing some of that work and they are looking at mnps as a model to implement that and also the work that we are doing around ell support and how we are supporting students in that ell space and so I would say while we we as a district have areas that we need to grow and continue to develop and continue to improve on it's reassuring that we are moving in the right direction and we are doing some amazing things within mnps that others are looking at us to be able to implement within their own districts and so I think that that is great things and there and and I think this is an
071opportunity for us to continue to build upon and improve the practices that we are doing here to continue to Excel and grow our students and support our students and our staff in multiple ways thank you that brings us to our announcements um sure [Music] but how what is this report about no I don't have any okay um yes go ahead and give your advocacy I'll just I'll ask I mean I consider advocacy even when we don't actually have a meeting it is ongoing work is is the board interested in hearing a legislative update go ahead okay all right we need to figure out that email thing that's not good okay um grade retention um the amendment to delay it one year did not pass um so that's still happening in Senate Finance approved it so
072that's moving on um I I sent everyone a calendar invite for May 19th that is when tcat raw scores and cut scores are due to lease based on the timeline that was used to pass the bill so let's all keep an eye out for that date um in let's see esas now also include Hamilton County um there's an amendment to add knocks to that so the um the school Voucher Program George is on um the bill to allow teachers to go armed in some situations has been approved by house but is off notice in the Senate um the bill to eliminate maximum class sizes past Senate died in K-12 education subcommittee [Music] offer more property to Charter Schools taking off notice open enrollment bills remember we talked about that like getting go to different districts
073all um there are different amendments around that that also relates to the one that remember in Senate there was the exemption for classroom libraries from the age-appropriate bill passed in Senate um our wonderful representative Jernigan championed it in the house it did not pass in the house so volunteer opportunity for parents there start cataloging every single book in the school raising the minimum teacher salary to 50K has been approved by Senate with a caveat but with a provision to prohibit Lea's dorm withholding dues for professional associations that has been taken out by house finance committee so there's that did you have another caveat to add is that the one you were talking about okay Theory law AKA prohibit made it more prohibitive failed in Senate education committee um the bills that have been taken off
074notice around charter school home school boarding school Bill rejection of federal money that that has been taken off notice so that's the update yeah you just say for everyone what off notice means it's not going to happen like right now it's but it is not going to pass this session it cannot pass right didn't fail but very like I mean you know they've been busy doing other things I think it says to announcements um in honor of how we did announcements the last time I was going to ask our student board members to start us off instead of ending so can we start with our senior board member to kick off announcements [Music] I first want to congratulate all the teachers that were recognized for their certification um it was really cool to see three
075people from MLK and seeing that like my a push and my calculus and and all those teachers up there I felt like I was going to like my exams again I was kind of nervous but it was very cool to see them and then outside of that I also want to bring up the fact that um over the last week there have been several positions that were assigned by mnps students and this position was basically pleading to the state to to look more onto the safety of students and I had the opportunity to go down to the Capitol Hill on Thursday when they were doing their protests and I got to meet with representative hemmer and a couple other representatives from the city and also from Memphis and I met with a lot of the
076members of the democratic caucus in the bill I mean in the in the Senate and um yeah I just wanted to say that it was kind of made me feel really proud of our district seeing that we got over 5 000 kids to participate and to sign that petition and it made me seem like you know we are a serious voice that we have to be that has to be considered um outside of that I also want to bring up that um the college application season is technically over now and I do recognize that there is a bit of disappointment that might be lingering with some seniors but I just want to reiterate that a rejection letter does not define you as a student it just it defines the school that you apply to and
077it tells you that that school just wasn't the right fit but at the end of the day you're defined by your Merit and your Merit is not something that derives from the letter thank you amen [Applause] afternoon everybody uh so last month I had a really fun opportunity to go to travel to Chattanooga for the Tennessee State Deca competition and I got to see a lot of our mnps schools so Hillsborough I mean Hillsboro we were down there and so was Antioch Glenn Cliff Hillwood and John Overton so they all did very well and it was very fun seeing everybody and for those who don't know Deca is basically a business Club business skills organization goes in hand with a lot of our business academies and CTE so it's really great opportunity I want to
078shout out a few students um these students advance to ICDC which is basically the international Deca competition which will be held in Orlando Florida this April so from Antioch high schools high school Anna Gomez montelliere Carla Castillo Bonilla both of those two they participated in hospitality and tourism business operations and then at Glencliff High School ballet Amaya Houston and Candelaria Mendoza participated in an entrepreneur entrepreneurship event and then from John Overton High School Shelby dycus participated in principles of Business Administration so those three all advanced to the international competition so congrats to them and then lastly I just want to say it is prom season so that is super duper exciting I want to remind everyone to make smart and responsible decisions on Prom Night say that again that you would do in front of
079your parents on your parents thank you both we really appreciate it all right District three I always forget that I'm going next okay meeting Thursday 6 to 7 30 p.m in the Wellness Center everyone should come there's going to be a wonderful presentation on safety it's going to answer a whole bunch of the questions that have been hitting our inboxes so many questions um just want to Echo The Pride that Ebenezer spoke of with how our students have advocated um was very proud in particular to see my friend Wyatt whom I've known since he was about six um who's now a senior at Hancock High School on CNN like a big boy it was it was good stuff um also I have one more thing I have to find wait wait [Music] I have to
080find my Sue Kessler email so I'll say the name right I want to say this is exciting do y'all know how many WNBA coaches are men kind of a 38 that's like a lot right so how many NBA coaches do you think are women 13 maybe one percent zero percent there's one there's one there's this one like I don't know I don't know what that percentage works out too but kind of relate I don't know I'm trying to be even with this the new um head coach for boys basketball at Hunters Lane High School in District three is a fantastic woman named Katrina Carter and I just think that's exciting and cool I don't think we should give her a hand [Applause] all right that's all I got District Four so first of all um
081yeah this is tough I have a daughter whose birthday is today she turned 30 years old but I'm only 25 so I can't do the math but um happy birthday to my daughter Layla she's 30 years old today and she is a 2010 graduate of Antioch high school so um a proud mnps student reiterate what Emily said we have our pack meeting that's coming up this Thursday April 13th from 6 to 7 30 at the mnps wellness center which is right across from the boardroom in the same parking lot so hope to see you all out our discussion is on Safety and Security so please spread the word and communicate with everyone that you know who has questions about that so that they can attend hope to see you there next I want to congratulate
082we were able to attend the teacher and principal principles of the Year awards ceremony last week last week yes the support and principles yes and so want to reiterate and congratulate all of those who were awarded with those recognitions and to to thank all of our teachers and support staff and principals and everyone who makes mnps be the best place that it can be so really thank thank you thank thanks to all of you and especially to those who have been recognized I also was able to attend a partnership today I'm a you're talking about my school so was able to attend a partnership today we're really excited about the partnership between Fisk University oh that is your school dang my bad I'll let I'll let her announce it nope nope nope nope nope I
083won't step on her to schools that had some amazing recognitions today so we're really excited about that and congratulations to them and I wouldn't be remissed if I didn't acknowledge what we have experienced over the last couple of weeks with the power of our students and the voices of our students and families leading the discussion around gun violence and how we have to have safer laws in place to protect children in schools in places of worship and everywhere we just have to do better as a community as a society as a state so I am really proud of all of the students who really work to lead this discussion and lead the impact we have seen the negative rollout of what has happened and then the powerful movement that has created to reinstall restore some
084of this Justice and so I am excited that as a result of just representative Justin Jones getting expelled from the Tennessee legislator he was reappointed by a unanimous vote from our Metro Council to reinstate him back to the Tennessee legislature so thank you for all of your all of the students who have participated who helped organize and Galvanize peaceful discussion and protests and really hold our leaders accountable thank you thank you thank you for this work and without further Ado you guys have a great night District Six alrighty so I just have two things first I want to put out a reminder our monthly district 6 community meeting will be next Tuesday April 18th at 6 30 p.m at the southeast Branch Library we will be in the children's story room at 6 30 p.m
085next Tuesday and also I wanted to give a big shout out to our 22 23 teacher of the year Miss Taylor Brown from the Cambridge Early Learning Center go Penn does on brand I love it District 7. um thank you thank you Miss nabana Kinney kind of stole part of my thunder but my Great Alma students to attend Fisk University which I'm very proud I have been bugging Dr battle about this ever since I've been on the board because this is an awesome University and the only reason I'm the great leaders I am is because of my leadership skills and my academic skills that I develop at fist so I'm glad that the mmps students will have that great experience of being in this Little Rock college with small classes and professors that really invest
086and hone you and harass you in a good way to be a great and awesome student and for us to provide that for free it's not as cheap when I was there a great thing so be able to have students come out of debt with an awesome education with a historic College I am very proud and very excited not only for my alma mater but more proud of mnps to be able to share in that and then also school will also um have a dual role in Pullman with Nashville State which I'm very proud because of the students at Glen Cliff have very unique circumstances and this is a great path that will change generations and change their livelihood for their families so thank you to Dr battle and more importantly to Dr Jackson for
087katine investing in Pitts schools for those great efforts so it's a good day in my district um I also just want to I want to Echo the sentiments that several folks have have said around being how proud they were and are of our students and I representative hemmer texted me the picture of you all and he was just as excited to have you all there and have you there delivering that I think as you were so thank you for doing that and I had the pleasure of being able to see Elena speak at the Hillsborough event walk-in Memorial first just want to say thanks to Dr battle and her team for providing opportunities for students all over the district to be able to participate in their schools in a in a safe Memorial and and
088thinking about what sort of action students could take um it was a moving experience and also I think really empowering for the students who were who were there and who participated um also youth uh Hillsborough Youth and government participated in Youth and government day I think or something like that on the hill um and there were uh maybe 20 some students who were there had an amazing experience so I'm excited for them to be able to do that um last night at Hillsborough we had the fourth of the budget meetings and earlier in the budget conversation I didn't I don't think I actually just said thanks to Dr battle and team and staff for doing those meetings I've been getting lots of questions from parents and community members and it was a good opportunity for
089them to be able to ask those questions in per in person receive specific answers and then believe me a little more when I say the same thing so thank you for doing that and then um [Music] support organizations in the Hillsborough cluster who did a really fantastic job over the last two weeks of reaching out to their own communities to give information about how to support Covenant School how to support their communities and who were involved in giving money giving time giving resources and just holding up that Community which is really really intertwined with a lot of the schools in the Hillsborough cluster and so grateful to them for their leadership and lastly good luck to students in the next two three weeks three weeks on 10 ready The Time Is Here everybody focus and
090do a great job we know you can do it thanks District 9. first I want to do a huge shout out and first of all for all of our teachers who were at the teacher of the year program but especially to Dr Brenda Diaz who was honored to earn the designation of the Metro High School principal of the year and it is so well deserved and we are so lucky and blessed to have Dr B at Big Picture High School in District 9. so we love you and I'm very very proud of you also want to take a minute to thank our student leaders who took the time not just to think deeply about what has been happening and how they responded to the Covenant shooting but also took that emotion and was able we're
091able to channel it in a way that was meaningful for their unique communities at their schools and finding a way to take some action within there with the petitions and and making sure that your voices are still being heard so I've been really really proud of our students and I've heard nothing but good things about how the walk-ins went and I'm just so appreciative of the work and the effort and the emotion that all of you've put into it so thank you guys for that and all of our other student leaders and I want to encourage you not to end there continue to lead continue to step up you've seen that it can be really um it can be really helpful and bolstering to feel like you can do something so we want to continue
092to encourage you to move forward with that I also want to thank Dr battle for giving our students the time and space to have that and also want to thank her for being supportive of students who thought that physically going somewhere else was going to better suit what they wanted to do so I just I really appreciate your willingness to work within the policies and procedures that MMP mnps has in place to make sure that every student was known to do what they needed to do best for them their selves and their mental and emotional health and responding to this so we are extremely appreciative of that and thank you for that um and then finally I want to thank all of our students and our teachers and our staff who have been coming out
093to support making Common Sense gun reforms and for increasing mental health supports in Tennessee we have seen just now that um our governor has finally decided to call for order of protection laws which is more colloquially known as red flag loss and that is something that I think could be very helpful and I would encourage you if you've been involved in this if you've been advocating for anything to reach out to your council members reach out to your state legislators reach out to the people who make the laws to encourage them to move forward with this now that we have some momentum going we don't want to let it slide so thank you guys very much and um just I think it's really important the kind of leadership that we're seeing from our youth and
094I want to continue to encourage that and let them know how proud of every all of them we are and and how much I appreciate appreciate what they're doing so thank you thank you I have the great honor today at being at the fit I'm not going to take my momentum but being at the event where again we have 40 scholarships which is an incredible amount of scholarships to be able to provide to mmps students that is exciting for not just our students but also for our communities and investing in our students is investing in Nashville and so this is super important not just within our own budget whether that's fiscal or operational it is also inside of these ongoing opportunities that bolster the growth of our city and our students and of course our
095staff so I'm very excited for it but I had the great joy of while I was there to cons you know speak to several different people but one of them said to me you know it's been a difficult past couple of weeks and they were saying you know it's been such a difficult past couple of weeks it's so nice to be at something exciting and I said well of course it's exciting it's us at mmps and they said to me you know we can always count on y'all to have something good and that's because something good is happening in mnps every day whether it is 40 scholarships at Fisk which is extraordinary or having our third Early College school at Glencliff which is also extraordinary and an incredible opportunity for those students in those communities
096as well but there was something good good happening every day even though we don't have the chance to always recognize that inside of our Awards and recognitions though we do our best we had a lot of people up here today so I so I appreciate all of you being here I appreciate the feedback we've received about the budget we of course will continue to work on that and have better conversations about what are we advocating for to that point I will work with Dr battle on us having a retreat so we can have a better discussion of what we want to discuss with Council how we want to have that advocacy what we think are the best options within those um The Cheesecake Factory of menu options on the that's a big menu I haven't
097been to Cheesecake Factory in a while but I do remember it being a large menu I was recently at Cheesecake Factory and the menu is still this thick I'm so ordering cheesecake we are not I apologize for I apologize for getting off topic but we do have a great number of different options that are incredibly important for not just our students but also our staff the Board responsibility is of course to our students and families but it's also to our employees so again I also appreciate so many of our employees showing up to our community meetings that we had in each quadrant we really appreciate hearing your feedback and I also appreciate the support Hub and all of their work that they did and individual students in schools with the showcases that were held beforehand
098it was very good to see you Elena this week but we love seeing y'all we love the showcases they were extremely helpful in knowing more about those individual schools especially because none of the schools happen to be any of mine inside of my district so it helps me advocate for not just my own constituents but mnps as a whole so again I appreciate you giving us your time today we know it's been a long one for staff and be there no further business this meeting is adjourned chocolate cheesecake I have no cheesecake it promise 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 [Music]