Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) did something different this year when school board members voted to deny three applications to open new public charter schools.The district presented an estimated cost each proposed school would create for MNPS if approved, with public dollars following students leaving traditional public schools for a new public charter school.

A new dashboard launched by the Tennessee Comptroller this week will help parents navigate through misinformation about public charter schools.  The dashboard allows users to research the racial demographics and enrollment numbers of districts that offer public charter schools, and the specific info for each school.

Goodlettsville’s Old Center Elementary students will once again need to attend classes in another school Wednesday.Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) initially relocated those students to Goodlettsville Elementary Tuesday on the advice of the Nashville Fire Department to ensure the safety of our students, staff, and faculty.

Fisk University’s Board of Trustees announced Girl Scout Leader Dr. Agenia Walker Clark as the university’s new president.Clark will be the 18th president and the third female head in Fisk’s history.

Multiple parents of students who attend Stanford Montessori Elementary school in Nashville’s Donelson community made the trip downtown Monday morning to speak out against a proposed public charter school that would also provide a Montessori based education in the area.They may have inadvertently made the case for the proposed school’s approval.

Nashville parents and education leaders provided a wide variety of concerns for the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) to consider as it creates a new system to provide an A through F letter grade to public schools.TDOE plans to roll out the School Letter Grades to the public in November and the department has spent the last few weeks hosting town hall events across the state to gather input.Wednesday night’s meeting in Nashville brought concerns from Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) about the timing of implementation.

For the second year in a row, Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) is excluding its schools that serve some of the highest percentages of economically disadvantaged and students of color from the district’s annual celebration event.The September 9 Celebration of Schools Parade and Fair at Nissan Stadium is designed to showcase district schools and educational options to parents, but MNPS leadership opted to exclude public charter schools from taking part.

Members of the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education have seen four of their decisions against proposed public charter schools overturned by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Next week two new proposed schools will make the case to be added to that list.The commission has public hearings scheduled for charter appeals from Invictus Nashville Charter School and Nashville Collegiate Prep High School (NCPHS) on Monday. MNPS board members denied applications from both in July.Under state law, denied applications can appeal to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Its members have the option of overturning local district denials.

When Subira Gordon took over as the CEO of the Nashville Charter Collaborative last July there was no question what challenge she wanted to work on first.Public charter schools are leading Nashville’s educational improvement journey in many ways, but the public isn’t always getting that part of the story.

For the second time members of the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education are taking the unusual position of stepping into the Nashville mayoral election.Board members put out a joint statement Thursday to officially endorse Metro Councilman Freddie O’Connell in the upcoming mayoral runoff against former Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Assistant Commissioner Alice Rolli.

Three of Tennessee’s largest school districts are touting their academic growth on the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS).Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) and Hamilton County Schools (HCS) all put out press releases to celebrate their status as TVAAS Level 5 school districts, the highest distinction available.

The House Civil Justice Committee proved to be nearly as eventful on Wednesday as its subcommittee the day before.Representative Jason Powell, D-Nashville, began the meeting by calling for subcommittee chair Representative Lowell Russell, R-Venore, to apologize for removing the spectators who were holding signs and clapping during Tuesday’s meeting. That included family members of Covenant School Shooting survivors.“I think the member and the chair of this Civil Justice Subcommittee owes the public and the people of Tennessee an apology for the way they were treated yesterday. That has no place in this building and to turn a school shooting tragedy into a travesty of democracy and the First Amendment is shameful. And I would ask that member to share with many of these people who are in our audience today, who couldn’t be here, and who are watching to express that apology and make sure that never happens again,” said Representative Powell.

Formerly expelled Representatives Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, will serve on multiple House committees during the special session on public safety this week.Tuesday morning House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, reappointed both to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and Subcommittee. Jones will additionally serve on the Education Administration and Transportation Committees and Pearson will serve on the Education Instruction and Local Government Committees and the Elections and Campaign Subcommittee.Jones himself questioned whether he’d serve on any committees before the appointment and that led to a heated discussion when Sexton ruled the Nashville lawmaker out of order, without answering the question.

Nashville mayoral candidates Freddie O’Connell and Alice Rolli provided differing views for how to support school choice at the first education-focused debate.During Thursday’s forum hosted by Opportunity Nashville, Rolli said students who attend underperforming schools should have the option of switching to their desired school with district-provided transportation resources.

Fifth-graders walking into Intrepid College Prep’s Opportunity Academy Middle School this month will immediately notice something different.Unlike traditional public schools in Davidson County, their home room is named after a college or university. Director of Organizational Advancement Abby Barton says it’s all part of putting students on the path to higher education.

Tennessee State University (TSU) President Glenda Glover announced her retirement from the position after a decade of service Monday.“Serving as president of TSU has been an honor of a lifetime. Words cannot express the emotions I have as I stand before you this morning. TSU prepared me for every accomplishment I have achieved throughout my career. This is indeed more than a full circle moment for me,” said Glover.Glover was born in South Memphis and later moved to Nashville to attend college at TSU where she would graduate in 1974.

Nashville mayoral candidates Freddie O’Connell and Alice Rolli have taken part in numerous debates in the last few months but education hasn’t always played a large role in the discussion.In the forums leading up to their advancement to a runoff, mayoral candidates have largely only fielded one question at most on their educational positions.  That changes this Thursday.

Marguerite Powell felt her prayers had been answered when she first met Nashville Classical West principal Alexandria Lambert.Lambert was passing out flyers for the then soon-to-open public charter school on Davidson Drive and Powell immediately thought of her grandson who’s starting school this year.Nashville Classical West is opening with an all-kindergarten founding class.“When she said that, I knew it was God. I knew it. Cause I had been praying about it. My children are everything,” said Powell. “It’s a spirit of excellence with even Principal Lambert.”

Metro Council member Freddie O’Connell and former Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Assistant Commissioner Alice Rolli beat out a crowded field of candidates to advance to the runoff in the Nashville mayor’s race Thursday evening.

The Metro Nashville School Board approved new changes to the district safety policy Tuesday night in response to school safety legislation signed into law by Governor Bill Lee last May.The biggest change is the formal establishment of district “existence of threat” assessment teams to develop intervention-based approaches to prevent violence and manage reporting of potential threats.“This is a new policy for MNPS, even though we do have threat assessment teams,” said Director of Board of Education Relations and Management David Sevier. “It just codifies having threat assessment teams at a district level. We also have other threat assessment teams that assemble, when necessary, at school levels.”The director of schools will appoint each member of the team. Those members will also document behaviors and incidents that pose a risk to school safety or resulted in intervention.