Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Battle to receive new contract

MNPS Director Dr. Adrienne Battle (Photo from MNPS) 

The Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to present MNPS Director Dr. Adrienne Battle with a new four-year contract and salary increase.

According to board documents, the new deal would run through June 2028 and raise Battle’s salary to $385,000. Battle’s current contract expires in 2026 with the Middle Tennessee school district.

While the deal still needs to be finalized, board members said the district has made significant progress in terms of student performance since Battle took the helm in 2020. They noted that the district’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) test scores from 2021-2024 for grades 3-8 shown an 11 percent improvement in English language arts, 16.9 percent improvement in math, 11.8 percent improvement in science, and a 13.2 percent improvement in social studies.

In addition to TCAP progress under Battle’s leadership, MNPS has been named a Level 5 district in the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System in both 2022 and 2023. The district also received national recognition in the Education Recovery Scorecard by researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities for its work on post-pandemic academic recovery.  

Board member Dr. Berthena Nabaa-McKinney said the board wanted to show their support and appreciation for Battle’s leadership, with such accomplishments in mind.  

“I’ve led the evaluation process, and over the last three years, we have seen significant and record improvements in our academic work within this district, and that is a testament to Dr. Battle and her leadership, those she has selected in her cabinet, teachers and staff, and everyone across the board,” she said. “So it takes a really focused leader and very strategic leader to be able to narrow in and do the work that we are seeing, and we are seeing it year over year.”

Board Chair Freda Player congratulated Battle for her work and leadership thus far following the vote.  

“We are proud to have you as an employee. We’ve been very proud of your accomplishments and what you and your team have done, and we look forward [to another] four years of working with you and continuing to do great things with you,” she told Battle.

According to the district’s website, Battle has spearheaded several initiatives in her time as director, such as Metro Schools’ ReimaginED initiative, which continues to review academic achievement data, current and projected enrollment, building use, programs, and staffing with the goal of improving student outcomes.

Battle also initiated Better Together, described by the district as “a joint venture with Nashville State Community College to create more and stronger pathways to college and career success for MNPS graduates,” and University MNPS, which has created scholarship opportunities for MNPS graduates at several Nashville colleges and universities.

Battle thanked the board for its continued support and promised to build upon such work moving forward.

“We’ll continue our work to ensure that every MNPS student is known, supported, cared for, and on a path to success,” she said.