Raises Remain In Reworked Nashville Schools Budget

NASHVILLE, TN — Despite a budget $23 million below what he requested, Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Shawn Joseph committed to keeping a promised 3 percent employee pay raise in his final proposal.

Mayor Megan Barry's proposed budget includes $879 million for MNPS; while that falls short of the $902 million Joseph requested, it still represents a 4.3 percent increase over the last budget. Despite the trimming, Joseph said the pay raise will remain at the expense of other priority items he'd hoped to fund.

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Joseph long identified increased pay as a priority, in part because of the increased cost of living in Davidson County, which he said was forcing many teachers to live farther and farther away or take jobs elsewhere.

But funding those pay raises means Joseph had to eliminate new positions at the central office, trim back his extensive plan to introduce STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) programs at 18 middle schools, and ax funding for new therapists and other personnel he sought for a social emotional support program for students.

Joseph said he hopes to fund nurses in every school in his next budget and increase the number of interpreters, social workers and school psychologists.