Metro School Board approves $6.5 million settlement, sparking concerns

By Rod Williams, July 25, 2025 - It seems that Nashville has a hard time hiring competent or honest administrators for key positions. The Arts Commission is probably the best example, but its budget is a relatively small part of the total Metro budget. The Arts Commission has been dysfunctional for years. (link)

The school budget gets the bulk of Metro tax dollars. With school directors and arts administration and some other positions, it seems we hire based on identity politics, the new person makes a mess of things, or engages in atrocious or embarrassing conduct, we do not want to be seen firing a member of a minority or angering social justice warriors, so we pay them a lot of money to just go away. Also, when those who worked for the director or a department head end up suing the city for the malfeasance of the disgraced former director or department head, we pay off the claimants rather than trying to defend against the claim.

MNPS Director
Adrienne Battle

We paid a lot of money- $6.5 million - to settle the claims of five former administrators who filed formal complaints against the Metro School District for misconduct tied directly to school Director Adrienne Battle.  The five school administrators, Dr. Jenai Hayes, Dr. Lily Moreno Leffler, Dr. James Bailey, Dr. Pippa Meriwether, and Dr. Damon Cathey, claimed MNPS retaliated against them for complaining of wrongdoing by Battle. These five exercised their First Amendment rights. One of the five alleged discrimination based on age, another retaliation based on sex and a violation of Title VI laws that protect employees from forms of hiring discrimination. One plaintiff said he was fired after calling for Battle’s brother to be removed from his position as Whites Creek High School's basketball coach after he got into a fight with a parent.

The school board voted 9-0 to pay the settlement, which far exceeds the typical $300,000 cap for cases of this nature. Dr. Battle has not gone away nor has she been disciplined and still serves as Metro Director of Schools. She has not been punished and she has not publicly addressed the allegations or the settlement. 

For more on this, see this link, this link, and this link.

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