Metro Nashville Schools To Trim Free Lunch Program, Cut Jobs

NASHVILLE, TN -- Jobs will be cut and Metro Schools' free-lunch program will be scaled back as the district faces a multi-million dollar budget shortfall.

Faced with tackling a budget some $7.5 million smaller than expected due to an enrollment-prediction shortfall, Metro Schools officials are outlining plans to balance the budget.

Among the programs under the ax is a popular, four-year-old program that provides free school lunches to every student in the district under the National School Lunch Program. The NSLP is the federal government alternative to the more widely-known free and reduced lunch program. NSLP provides grants to districts to offer all students free lunch, where as the free and reduced program is targeted at underprivileged students and requires paperwork and proof of income.

MNPS is required to re-apply every four years, but a reduction in enrollment generally and a lower number of students who qualify for the free and reduced plan specifically means the feds won't cover as much of the program as in years past, district officials said.

When MNPS began the program in 2014, more than 60 percent of its students qualified for free lunches; now that number is below 50 percent.

The plan, instead, calls for 74 schools with the highest number of eligible students to continue to offer free lunches to everyone with the balance of the district's schools going to the traditional model.

Ken Stark, MNPS operations officer, said the district will fall $8 million short of being able to offer free lunches district-wide. In an interview with The Tennessean, he said an improving economy, increased difficulty tracking at-need students and reluctance of immigrant families to provide information are all reasons the number of eligible students decreased.

MNPS will continue to offer free breakfast to all students, as that is funded through a separate program.

Job cuts coming

The district will also cut 35 positions from the budget, reassigning 25 of those positions as part of a cost-saving restructuring plan.

Among the departments hit by the cuts are truancy, school counselors, family and support services and social workers. Employees in those departments were told of the looming cuts Monday.

"The district is refocusing its resources around priority areas in line with the Strategic Framework. As such, some positions are being impacted. Some employees were met with today and notified of impending changes. They were also notified they are eligible to apply for any positions within the district they qualify for, as well as any newly created positions, resulting from the restructuring of resources around key priorities," the district said in a statement to Fox 17.

Spending to be audited

The school board confirmed Tuesday that an audit of district spending is still in the works.

MNPS Director Shawn Joseph said the audit won't find any malfeasance and board chair Anna Shepherd said she believes the audit will find that the tight budget is indeed tied to the shrinking enrollment.

During Tuesday's budget meeting, many parents urged the board to come up with an alternative spending plan.

"If this city can dream about having a huge new transit system, then we should be able to afford schools that are well funded," one public commenter said, according to WKRN.

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