Budget process lets Metro look more closely at school district

Government entities outside Metro Nashville Public Schools — most notably the state Department of Education — are already more involved in the workings of MNPS than ever before.

As the budget process for MNPS continues, the means by which public schools are funded may allow the Mayor’s Office and Metro Council to become an even bigger part of MNPS decision-making.

Metro Finance Director Richard Riebeling said at Mayor Karl Dean’s budget presentation last week that Metro will watch school expenditures closely. In a tight fiscal year in which many departments received funding cuts, MNPS received a funding increase.

School board member David Fox said Riebeling’s comments, as well as conversations with Dean, suggest that the Mayor’s Office may be getting involved in school budgets at a more “programmatic” level. In other words, Metro may watch not only the numbers associated with public school funding, but also attempt to assess the value of city investments in certain programs.

Fox said he believes that’s a “reasonable request.” Though the district already interfaces with the Mayor’s Office on a regular basis, Metro may want even more detail in coming months.

“They want us to increase our efforts to prove the worth of how well we’re spending our money,” Fox said.

As the budget process continues, Fox said there may also be more oversight from Metro Council. In particular, Fox said, the district may be called upon to show, in significant detail, very specific spending plans for a requested $13 million in additional needs.

This budget cycle, MNPS requested an increase of $16 million to continue extending existing services. That figure represents a 2.7 percent funding increase, and MNPS officials say it includes price increases and state-mandated teacher salary increases.

On top of funds needed for continuation, the district also requested an additional $13 million for “additional needs,” much of which is slated to address district failings under federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. Dean requested that the district provide more information about where this money would go, and Fox said he expects Metro Council to do the same.

Dean’s proposed funding for Metro schools includes $6.5 million in new local tax dollars, and $19 million to be pulled from MNPS reserves. Even though Dean has made the recommendation, money taken from MNPS reserves must be approved by the school board and Metro Council.

Megan Barry, a Metro Council member who recently was elected on a platrofm of improving education, said that she as a Council member wants to be involved — but not involved to the point of micromanaging. Barry believes it makes sense to monitor outcomes on a continuing basis.

“I’m interested in seeing the outcome-based data that tells us how well our children are performing, at a high level. Those would include things like graduation rates, truancy numbers [and] reading scores,” Barry said. “That kind of data paints the picture for us of how well our schools are doing.”

MNPS’s first budget hearing with Metro Council is slated for April 7.