NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell says several programs that had been previously paid for with federal COVID money, called ESSER funds, will be continuing, even as that federal money dries up.
"The scholars portfolio that included Promising Scholars, I've heard from so many parents that their students got so much out of that," O'Connell said. "We've put a nurse in every school now, which was something we were looking for a long time to do. Public health has been part of that effort for a long time."
But how will those programs be paid for?
Metro Schools and the city have talked about building an ESSER bridge, instead of falling off a funding cliff, to keep the programs running.
At a Metro Schools budget committee meeting in March, Superintendent Adrienne Battle talked about paying for those programs and building that bridge by dipping into the school district's reserve funds.
Metro school leaders and others say they hope to incorporate those programs, like nurses for every school, as part of their recurring budgets in the years going forward.
September 11, 2001 is a day most associate with terror and tragedy. Austin Pollack shares a story from that day about hope and persistence: the effort to save a little girl’s life – with an organ donation. The problem? The young patient was in Houston, and her life-saving liver here in Nashville. With the grounding of all civilian aircraft, how could it be done? “Nobody ever said this isn’t possible.”
- Rhori Johnston
