Nashville school leaders are submitting an ambitious budget request to Mayor John Cooper and the Metro Council as they prepare for the new school year.
The district began holding community meetings to discuss its funding needs in March. Officials are making salary increases for all Metro Schools employees its top priority.
The push to give staff and teachers pay raises has long been a goal for administrative leaders and school board members. But they haven’t been able to provide the increases, outside of a 3% cost-of-living adjustment.
Now, the district is hoping to fund a district-wide salary boost. That’ll cost about $8 million. Other forms of compensation include paid family leave, an additional paid holiday, and more professional development opportunities.
Other budget priorities include:
- academic and social-emotional learning integration
- instructional materials and implementation support
- infrastructure and technology support
- human resources
- Schools of Innovation
- community and parent engagement
The mayor gets the first chance to assemble the entire city spending plan and present it to Metro Council, which will have the final say in June. Metro Schools has the largest budget out of all city departments.
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