Metro Schools upper grades chief resigns

Jim Briggs, Nashville’s top chief for high schools, has officially stepped down from the central office to a local school, district officials have announced.

Briggs has worked as assistant superintendent for high schools, having been appointed to the position during a central office reorganization last summer orchestrated by the Tennessee Department of Education.

For former Director of Schools Pedro Garcia, Briggs worked as director of high school reform and innovation and head of the Metro Nashville Public School high school redesign.

School district spokesperson Noelle Mashburn said Monday that Briggs was not asked to step down. Briggs’s new job is adviser at Nashville’s Big Picture High School, a post he was given after he submitted a resignation letter requesting a return to classroom work.

“I appreciate Jim’s work and his commitment to this district,” said Director of Schools Jesse Register in a statement. “I know he has not made this decision lightly, and I am glad he will continue serving our students here in MNPS through his work at Big Picture. He will be an excellent addition to that school’s staff.”

Briggs has worked for MNPS for 23 years as a teacher, principal and central office administrator. He has led implementation of smaller learning communities in 12 Metro comprehensive high schools, and helped with the opening of the Big Picture High School. Metro’s high schools showed big improvements in the most recent round of No Child Left Behind data, and state officials publicly gave Briggs some of the credit for the success.

A search for a replacement for Briggs is in progress, officials say.

The change is one of several big shifts happening at Metro schools this summer. Several weeks ago, district technology chief Lance Lott resigned, asking to move to a teaching position at Cane Ridge High. And many more shifts occurred as part of Register’s reorganization of the district’s central office.

Register’s top-tier administrative reorganization included a few big changes at the highest levels of district leadership, but largely left in place the top officials — including Briggs — who were named assistant superintendents of grade-level instructional tiers by the DOE. School board members have told The City Paper that Register left those DOE-appointed officials in place in order to evaluate their performance, considering that the DOE reorganization occurred only one year ago.