Budget chair backs MNPS performance audit as data-driven oversight, rejects notion of takeover

Council Member Toombs said the substitute budget includes $800,000 for a performance audit of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools to examine spending, performance and the return on investment. "[A] performance audit of MNPS... just gives us the data to back up why we are investing so much in schools," Toombs said, framing the audit as a tool for transparency rather than an attempt to seize authority.

Several council members expressed concern that an audit could be seen as the council encroaching on an elected body’s responsibilities. Toombs rejected that characterization. "This is not the council trying to take over or the council thinking that MNPS is not doing good," she said, adding that audits are "necessary to track what you're doing and to evaluate your work."

Toombs noted MNPS represents a significant share of Metro’s budget (she cited roughly 37%) and said the council has received public pressure to better understand school spending. She acknowledged that many audits already occur (state and controller audits) but said a targeted performance audit would allow the council to present clear data to constituents about how funds are used.

The chair also said the audit will use an education expert alongside the Metro internal audit team and that the goal is to identify both strengths and areas for improvement, not to issue a political judgment. "If there is a suggestion here and there of how things can be better, I don't see that as a bad thing," she said.

The substitute including the audit still requires a formal Council vote; the chair encouraged continued conversation between the Council and MNPS while the audit proceeds.