Every changed grade in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) is supposed to leave a paper trail, but the district told FOX 17 in September that it does not routinely spot-check those records.¶
The district said it can review that documentation when someone raises a specific concern.¶
Metro Nashville has set aside about $800,000 for a comprehensive performance audit of MNPS, the first since 2015. Whether that audit examines grade changes will be up to the auditors.¶
Metro Auditor Lauren Riley told the Metro Audit Committee in June that an audit’s scope is set at the end of its planning phase. The meeting’s minutes show Metro Council Member Delishia Porterfield confirmed that the consultant and Riley’s office, not a council or school board committee, must set the audit’s scope. Riley confirmed it must be set independently for the audit to count as independent.¶
How Grade Changes Work
The district’s grading procedures give two people at each school the power to request a grade change: the student’s teacher and the school’s executive principal. The teacher records the reason on a request form, which the principal or a designee then approves or denies.¶
Principals can override a teacher’s mark in two situations: when it was based on inaccurate data or when they believe the rules were ignored. Even then, they must talk with the teacher first, and the teacher can appeal to an executive director.¶
The form indicating a grade change goes into the student’s cumulative record, which MNPS keeps digitally with no end date, and the change is entered in the district’s Student Information System (SIS).¶
“MNPS personnel are responsible for verifying that the information on the grade change form is consistent with what is contained in the SIS,” the procedure reads.¶
Allegations and the District’s Response
Former educators have told the Tennessee Firefly and other outlets that they were pressured to inflate grades, but MNPS has disputed those accounts.¶
The district told FOX 17 it is “not aware of evidence indicating a broader pattern of administrators improperly changing grades or pressuring teachers to do so.”¶
In an email to the Tennessee Firefly in August, MNPS Chief of Communications and Technology Sean Braisted rejected the suggestion that district leaders inflate grades to make the district look better.¶
“We rarely, if ever, use student course grades as a measure of district success,” wrote Braisted. “When we report academic performance, we generally rely on external measures such as TCAP (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program) and EOC (end-of-course) assessments, as well as nationally normed benchmark or screener assessments.”¶
In a FOX 17 interview published November 2, Director of Schools Dr. Adrienne Battle defended the district’s academic progress, saying students are improving in class and on standardized tests. She also said MNPS regularly takes part in monitoring and audits.¶
“Whatever we need to do as a district, we’re always focused on continuous improvement,” said Battle.¶
The Tennessee Department of Education’s civil rights division began looking into allegations of academic dishonesty involving Stratford STEM Magnet School, a Metro Nashville high school, WSMV reported in September after obtaining a state letter. The inquiry spans 2022 through the 2025-26 school year at both the school and district level.¶
WSMV reported that the letter says investigators will examine whether officials maintained a “false narrative of academic success” that had a disproportionate effect on students of color. MNPS has said it is cooperating with the state and that its own review found no support for a former Stratford counselor’s claims.¶
What Happens Next
The Metro Audit Committee’s next regular meeting is December 8.¶
Separately, some state lawmakers have discussed asking the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office for a forensic audit of MNPS. Such a move would require action and funding from the General Assembly, which convenes for the upcoming legislative session on January 12.¶
