Investing in the Future of Metro Schools

Investing in the Future of Metro Schools
Posted on 05/13/2022
MNPS board of education room

On Wednesday, April 27, Mayor John Cooper announced in his State of Metro address that Metro Schools would be receiving a historic $91.2 million increase in funding in the FY22-23 budget that would allow for the full funding of the continuity of operations budget, along with significant improvements in pay for teachers and support staff through step increases on the pay scale and a 4% cost-of-living-adjustment, a new 6 week paid family leave policy for MNPS employees, and additional targeted improvements in pay for hard-to-staff essential support roles in transportation, nutrition, and for para-professionals. teacher and student high-fiving in class

  • Minimum 4% COLA for all MNPS support and certificated staff
  • Step increase of all eligible support ad certificated staff
  • Paid family leave for all eligible support and certificated staff
  • All paraprofessionals moved up two grades to grade 8 on the pay scale (in addition to the 4% COLA and step increase)
  • Nutrition services positions get a $2 per hour increase (in addition to 4% COLA and step increase)
  • All bus drivers will be on a new scale based on starting pay of $22.25 per hour to match WeGo starting wages; all other transportation department positions get at least a $2 per hour increase (in addition to the 4% COLA and step increase)

The pay plan was developed through a partnership with the Mayor’s Office, Nashville Public Education Foundation (NPEF), and MNPS with the help of a human resources consultant, Urban Schools Human Capital Academy (USHCA), that reviewed employee pay in comparison to other peer cities and districts along with attrition rates for staff. MNPS bus driver

NPEF and USCHA provided updates to the Mayor’s Office and MNPS officials throughout the budget process to receive data and refine the analysis that was used to inform the Mayor’s budget decisions and the proposals for employees. You can read the overview of the pay study analysis that has been provided by NPEF, along with the study developed by USHCA.

The resulting study and proposed pay improvements will result in the update of the general support pay scales, along with two new pay scales for transportation and nutrition services departments.

May 17 Specially Called Meeting

At their meeting on May 10, the Board of Education voted to defer consideration of the proposed MNPS budget to gather more data and information. They will have a specially called meeting on Tuesday, May 17 at 4 p.m. to consider the operating budget and the pay improvements funded by Mayor John Cooper’s historic proposed investment in Metro Schools.

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