Nashville school board race: District 1 candidates listen as community members voice ideas

Parents and community members from District 1 in the Metro Nashville Public Schools district urged school board candidates to consider issues of equity, funding, school vouchers and more last week.

All four candidates running for the District 1 seat on the MNPS Board of Education gathered for a community listening session Thursday at Jere Baxter Middle School over a spaghetti dinner. The district covers the northwestern portion of Davidson County and part of East Nashville.

While the candidates — Dominique McCord-Cotton, Demytris Savage-Short, Robert Taylor and LaTonya Winfrey — were allotted time for brief opening and closing statements, they spent the rest of the session listening to community members. Around 30 gathered in the cafeteria of the school for the event, hosted by Opportunity Nashville. The local nonprofit is focused on advocacy and educational equity.

"We believe if you do not get education right, nothing else matters in this city," Tanaka Vercher, who leads Opportunity Nashville, told the crowd.

Several members of the crowd took to the microphone to voice concerns over the course of an hour.

A few spoke about the push by Gov. Bill Lee to expand publicly funded school vouchers for families to use toward private school costs, along with concerns over underfunding at their own schools. A retired teacher also shared how, in her nearly 30 years of teaching in District 1, she was often heartbroken over how few resources her students and colleagues had.

Others called for candidates to speak openly about the "why" behind their decisions to run and to not be afraid to tackle difficult issues, including ongoing conversations about charter schools and school funding.

Candidates respond

Candidates took notes as they listened and were encouraged to use brief closing statements to address the comments that stood out to them.

McCord-Cotton, who teaches at a public charter school, said she supports parents' right to choose what's best for their children but also fully supports public schools. If elected, she said she hopes to advocate for high quality education and resources for children, and focus on teacher recruitment and retention.

Savage-Short, a nurse, said she would host regular town hall meetings focused on creating solutions together if elected. She said she feels called to run for school board after pulling her daughter out of an MNPS school to home-school over concerns about a lack of basic education and "indoctrination" by the district.

Taylor, an instructor at Meharry Medical College, said he was inspired to run again after losing in 2020 to then-incumbent District 1 board member Sharon Gentry. Gentry is not running for re-election. He said he wants to partner with families, if elected. He also talked about his time helping lead a charter school, and his experience raising seven children — including two who are enrolled in MNPS.

Winfrey, a school counselor, said she strongly opposes school vouchers and that the discussion around them is a distraction from what public schools really need. While she supports charter schools, she does not approve of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission overriding the district's decisions to deny them.

What's next, how to vote in the Nashville school board race

This year's race is made up of three Democrats (McCord Cotton, Taylor and Winfrey) and one Republican (Savage-Short). After a 2022 state law permitted school board races to be partisan, Davidson County adopted the rule, meaning Democratic and Republican candidates must undergo a primary election.

Early voting runs from Feb. 14-27, with primary elections falling on March 5, which coincides with Super Tuesday.

Since independents are not required to undergo primary elections, there is a chance that additional candidates may join the race later and appear on the county's general election ballot on Aug. 1.

More information, including how to register to vote and polling place information, can be found at nashville.gov/vote.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville schools: Board candidates join community listening session