MNPS asks for even more money
🏫 Director Battle defends her budget proposal · MNPD asks for more money too · CMs scrutinize mayor's budget · O'Connell in the big leagues · Week in streaming · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
US Rep. Andy Ogles took to the Capitol yesterday to announce that the DHS will launch an investigation into Mayor O’Connell’s response to the ICE operations in Nashville.
The probe will purportedly examine all internal communications and discussions about the and external communications with NGOs like the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition.
Protestors greeted the presser, banging on the windows of the Capitol and chanting things like “Deport Andy Ogles.”
Onward.
MNPS Defends Significant Funding Increase
The Council Budget Committee concluded their department hearings last week with the Board of Education. It was a fitting grand finale, given that Metro Nashville Public Schools takes the biggest piece of the pie when it comes to budget spending.
Mayor O’Connell’s proposal includes about $1.4 billion for education, which is around 37 percent of the budget—a 13 percent increase compared to last year. During the Q&A, Councilmember Burkley Allen pointed out that from 2019 to 2026, Metro’s budget has increased 70 percent and MNPS has tracked along with a 60 percent increase.
Councilmember Courtney Johnston questioned the ballooning budget, pointing out that MNPS has hinged long-term investments on Covid-era ESSER funds. “Those funds were never intended, even from the federal government, to create new programming that then, at the end when those funds sunsetted, the local taxpayer would have to pick up the tab and sustain those funds—which is exactly what's happening here,” said Johnston. “We did a pretty good job in Metro of not creating a funding cliff, but it looks like MNPS has created quite a funding cliff.”
Johnston also dug into some of the performance numbers MNPS has been celebrating. While MNPS Director Adrienne Battle hailed MNPS graduation rates (85.7 percent) as a huge success, Johnston called the ready graduate numbers terrible.
“You've got high schools that 4.2 percent of their graduates are ready to graduate,” she said. “....And yet we're celebrating this huge graduation rate? And what's happening with these kids when they get out of school and they're not ready for post-secondary education and they're not ready for the workforce?”
In reply, Battle defended the notion that the half-billion increase in funding over the last five years has been well spent. “We are extremely proud of our students here in Nashville Public Schools because they're making significant progress and they're achieving a higher level than they ever had before,” said the director before explaining that the ready graduate metric is fairly new in Tennessee. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
🚨 MNPD Asks For More Last week, Chief John Drake made a pitch for additional Metro Nashville Police Department funding. While Mayor O’Connell has already included a $25 million increase for MNPD in his proposed budget, Metro Finance Director Jenneen Reed clarified that $21.5 million of that is for the General Fund budget and $3.5 million is related to the Choose How You Move program during Wednesday’s department budget hearing.
That said, MNPD hopes to land a bit more money to make up for some of the gaps in their operation. The ask includes $330,000 to retain old police vehicles. (Though MNPD has replaced them, the department continues to use the old models to ensure there are enough work vehicles to accommodate the increase in officers and shift details.)
The department has also been robbing Peter to pay Paul to cover its new D-shift, which overlaps day and evening details to enhance police visibility during peak hours and reduce response time for non-emergency calls. In addition to requesting the funds needed to continue D-shift, Drake asked the council to consider allocating another $4.2 million for MNPD’s entertainment district unit. The Chief explained that the struggle to retain officers willing to be assigned downtown is a large factor in why the department is requesting more funding to incentivize participation in the unit.
🏛️ Council Continues To Scrutinize O’Connell’s Budget You can add Councilmember Erin Evans to the growing list of members who aren’t happy with the mayor’s $3.8 billion FY 2026 Recommended Operating budget. “This week I also met with Mayor Freddie O'Connell and his team on my reaction to the budget proposal including my feedback on departments adding more positions and on the GSD/USD rate difference,” she wrote in yesterday’s District 12 Dispatch. “I am not a fan of either. If the council doesn't agree on a substitute budget, the Mayor's budget goes into effect as a default.”
The second reading of the budget and the tax rate will take place next Tuesday. Groups who’ve been organizing against the property tax increase are already coordinating a presence during the public hearing. At 4 p.m. today, the budget committee will hear from the Finance Department about the GSD/USD tax rate study On Wednesday, they will hear from the Department of Human Relations about the Metro employee pay plan.
🚍 Transit King, But Make It National This morning, Politico named Mayor Freddie O’Connell as one of its “21 Unexpected Heavy Hitters for a Democratic Shadow Cabinet.” Alongside the likes of Letitia James, Jon Stewart, Nikki Glaser, and Mark Cuban, O’Connell was dubbed the Shadow Secretary of Transportation.
The article touted O’Connell as a “red state Democrat flying under the media radar,” and applauded him as a transit visionary who achieved an overwhelming victory with his Choose How You Move plan: “As the Trump administration pushes to slash transportation grants to states and cities, O’Connell would be the ideal representative to explain how that would hurt not just coastal cities, but the heartland as well.”
DEVELOPMENT
- White’s Mercantile moving to former MAFIAoZAs space in 12South (NC5)
- 3rd & Lindsley secures new lease (NBJ)
- Raising Cane's planned for Midtown (Post)
- Ex-brewery space in Ashland City prepped for distillery (Post)
✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (May 27th)
Novocaine (Paramount+) Jack Quaid stars as a mild-mannered bank branch assistant manager who goes after the gang that took his crush hostage after a botched robbery. Thing is, he has a disability that prevents him from feeling pain. A hilarious well-written jolt of action comedy about getting past the beta life.
Motorheads (Prime) Former 90s teen movie staple Ryan Phillippe is the father figure and former NASCAR flame-out who gives some Trump County high schoolers the drag racing bug in the type of soapy teen drama the kids need at the moment.
Smokey and the Bandit (Netflix) No movie kicks off a Southern summer better than Burt Reynolds’s iconic turn as a Trans-Am driving roadman who bets he can bootleg some Coors across state lines from Texas to Georgia in 28 hours. I bet no one on Metro Council has ever seen this movie.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Sunflower Bean @ The Blue Room, 7p, $26, Info
🎻 Mystic Worlds: Classic Video Game Music for String Quartet @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, Choose What You Pay, Info
🎸 Josh Hedley Happy Hour @ Dee's Lounge, 4p, Free, Info
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Jerod Hollyfield (Crowd Corner), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).