Dean, board work to take steps forward together

Email | Print By Amy Griffith Graydon

01-27-2009 5:11 PM — Board of Education members have commented publicly that they would like to see communication with the office of Mayor Karl Dean improve. But that issue was not discussed at a meeting between Dean and the board this afternoon.

A wide range of other matters — including a possible consolidation of Metro and school libraries, changes to the board’s governance strategy, and community college credit for more Metro students — were on the agenda.

School board Chair David Fox said Dean and the board have worked to get “more serious” about making their meetings more productive, which Fox said is a means of improving open communication.

“I think we’ll increasingly see these meetings be more relevant,” Fox said.

Board members updated Dean on the Metro Nashville Public Schools budget cuts and revisions to charter school policy, and brought Dean into the loop on changes being made to improve the board’s monitoring of school district progress. New Director of Schools Jesse Register told Dean about his visits to Metro schools.

Dean, for his part, had the members of his growing education staff provide updates on various mayor’s office initiatives. Dean referred to confusion caused earlier this winter, following a letter he penned to former Interim Director of Schools Chris Henson about the possible library consolidation. At this point, Dean said, discussions about procurement and other logistics are still taking place, and the project may have to begin with a pilot program.

“It’s really a very positive thing,” Dean said. “I just encourage everybody to keep working on it together.”