MNPS' Big Beautiful Budget

Council combs through MNPS' budget proposal.

From Megan Podsiedlik

During last night’s council budget hearing with the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education, MNPS brass presented its proposed $56.2 million budget increase. During discussion, officials said the increase in the ordinance itself is about $55.1 million, with another property-tax-related adjustment bringing the total to roughly $56.24 million.

Where would the money go? If adopted by the Council, MNPS said most of the mayor's proposed increase would go toward maintaining current operations:

• $38.6 million for continuity of operations
• • $15.4M for employer health insurance and pension cost increases
  • $12.3M for inflationary and contractual increases
  • $10.5M for salary step increases for educators/pay plan increases
  • About $500,000 for student-based budgeting allocation increases
• About $1.7 million for a 1.7% COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) 
• About $5.9 million in “aspirational investments," including:
• • $1.1M for additional pre-K seats at Hillwood Early Learning Center
  • $2M to extend support staff calendars
  • $2M for the expansion of before- and after-school care
  • $200,000 to establish a philanthropic fundraising office
  • Increase educator stipend amounts

Budget up, enrollment down When looking at MNPS’ budgets over the last decade, Councilmember Jason Spain pointed out that since FY17, it has increased more than 50 percent “from about 928 million to 1.57 billion.”

“Am I safe in assuming that that means that our per-pupil spending has gone up by about that same percentage over that time?” asked Spain. A logical and optimistic assumption given that in the 2016-2017 school year, 86,917 students were enrolled in MNPS compared to the 78,749 currently enrolled. 

MNPS Chief Financial Officer Jorge Robles said that the per-pupil spend has increased, but an important factor is the increase in multilingual learners and students with special learning needs. “It depends on the type of unique learning needs and the type of supports you need to deploy,” said Robles when explaining why the budget keeps going up while enrollment keeps going down.

More hot air, please. Tennessee has a “maintenance of effort” (MOE) law that generally prevents local governments from reducing school operating funding year over year. That said, there are four exceptions: districts can reduce funding if enrollment declines, offset cuts in state funding with local funds, suspend the rule for three years after a city-county school merger, or exclude one-time appropriations if both the school board and governing body agree in writing they are non-recurring.

Regardless, the funds earmarked in MNPS’ budget are more or less suggestions. “We can wish for things in this budget, and we can give you all the money, but ultimately y’all will decide how to use it,” said Councilmember Burkley Allen, highlighting how the Metro Nashville Board of Education has the flexibility to move money around as long as they operate within the total funding amount approved by the Council. 

✹ METRO COUNCIL WATCH

New Council Watch Features We've added additional features to Council Watch. In addition to who's funding your council member, you can now see how they vote and who they vote with most frequently. (Take a Look)

✹ The Murdering Exterminator

From Rachel Gladstone

A few years back, the exterminator who lived down the street asked me out. I’d said hello to him on occasion, the way one does with neighbors. But then one morning, while I was walking my enormous pair of dogs, he took a left turn from the far-right lane of our acquaintanceship and veered towards me. Pretending I hadn’t seen him, I crossed the street, but that did nothing to deter him. He was oblivious. He was also missing some teeth. And as he closed in, so too did an aroma reminiscent of ninth-grade biology class, the semester we were dissecting frogs. This is not a smell you need to encounter twice in your lifetime.

Trying to smile through my gag reflex, I corralled my dogs as he shuffled ever closer in his ill-fitting jeans and drawled his opening line in an accent so thick it should have come with subtitles. “Do you live alone?” He leaned in for punctuation. I leaned back.

HEADLINES

• 💰 Tennessee man jailed over Charlie Kirk post wins $835,000 settlement. A 61-year-old Tennessee man, Larry Bushart, was arrested and jailed for 37 days after posting Facebook memes about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, which authorities misinterpreted as a threat to a local high school, leading to felony charges and a $2 million bail. He sued the county and officials for violating his First Amendment rights; the case was later dropped, resulting in an $835,000 settlement. (WPLN)
• 🫡 Gabbard resigns as national intelligence director citing husband's cancer diagnosis. Tulsi Gabbard announced Friday that she is resigning as President Trump's director of national intelligence in order to support her husband who is battling a rare form of bone cancer. In a letter to Trump, Gabbard thanked the president for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, but that she needed to be there for her husband after he had stood by her for so long. (NPR)
• 👀 Gov. Lee grants yearlong reprieve after botched execution attempt. The scheduled execution of death row inmate Tony Carruthers was halted after the execution team repeatedly failed to properly insert IV lines, forcing them to call off the procedure. Governor Bill Lee granted a one-year reprieve, with Carruthers’ legal team criticizing the attempt as botched and continuing to push for DNA testing on evidence they believe could prove his innocence. (Tennessean)
• 🍻 Broadway bars benefit from TN law giving property tax relief. A new Tennessee law allows excess sales tax revenue from Nashville’s Tourism Development Zone to be used to offset rising property taxes for businesses located inside the zone, primarily benefiting large bars and restaurants on Lower Broadway. Critics, including Mayor Freddie O’Connell, argue the law is unfair because it helps major tourism businesses while providing no similar relief to smaller businesses and homeowners located outside the special zone. (NewsChannel 5)
• 🗺 Judge explains decision to reject motion to temporarily block new TN congressional maps. Yesterday, Judge William L. Campbell filed a memorandum explaining that though the plaintiffs, which include three Democratic congressional candidates, raised legitimate constitutional concerns, emergency intervention this close to the election could itself create major confusion. The judge also stated that the plaintiffs had not yet shown a sufficiently clear likelihood of success to justify blocking the law immediately. (Hale v. Lee)
• ⚖️ Vogel Group announces major expansion of its Nashville office. The international government affairs and consulting firm is bringing on a prominent Tennessee lobbying team led by Catie Lane Bailey, along with Annie Beckstrom, Mack Cooper, and Chase Ingle from Holland & Knight. The firm said the additions will strengthen its Tennessee and Southeast lobbying operations, with Bailey helping lead the state practice alongside Brandon Smith. Bailey and her team bring experience in legislative strategy, regulatory policy, economic development, education, sports wagering, and government relations, with several also joining the law firm Holtzman Vogel as partners. (Press Release)

DEVELOPMENT

• U.S. Smokeless Tobacco to shutter Nashville plant after more than a century (NBJ)
• The Modernest Gulch View now topped (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week 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

🎸 12 Against Nature " A Steely Dan Experience " + Make Me Smile - The Music Of Chicago @ 3rd and Lindsley, 7p, $26.81, Info

🎸 Grocery Bag @ The Basement, 9p, $12.85, Info

🎻 How To Train Your Dragon In Concert @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $70+, Info

🎸 Frail Talk & Emily Hines @ The Basement, 7p, $19.78, Info

🪕 David Peterson & 1946 @ Station Inn, 9p, $25, Info

🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

SATURDAY

🎸 Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol @ The Blue Room, 7p, $25.43, Info

🪕 Junior Sisk @ Station Inn, 9p, $25, Info

🪕 Trace Adkins @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $162, Info

🪕 Chris Stapleton @ Nissan Stadium, 7p, $85+, Info

🎻 How To Train Your Dragon In Concert @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p & 11a, $70+, Info

🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

SUNDAY

🎸 Umphrey's McGee @ The Caverns, 7p, $69.50, Info

🎸 Hayes Carll with Brit Taylor @ 3rd and Lindsley, 7p, $24.61, Info

🎻 How To Train Your Dragon In Concert @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 2p, $70+, Info

🪕 Bluegrass Jam @ Station Inn, 7p, Free, Info
+ a night for musicians and singers from all over the world to gather and enjoy making music together

🪕 Sundays Between with Easy Green @ Tennessee Brew Works, 1p, Info
+ a bluegrass celebration of the music of the Grateful Dead

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik, and Camelia Brennan.