Shawn Joseph’s time at the helm of Metro Nashville Public Schools is coming to an end. The only question is when.

In a dramatic turn of events on Monday, Nashville’s education leadership was placed in a political blender.

It began with school board member Will Pinkston, one of Joseph’s most ardent supporters, announcing he intends to resign from the board in April.

Joseph subsequently said he will not seek an extension to his contract, which expires June 30, 2020, and will not resign. He also said he is open to finding a mutual agreement with the school board to leave the district and transition power.

But Joseph may not get the chance to complete his contract or find a mutual agreement to leave. School board member Anna Shepherd, who has been supportive of Joseph to this point, filed a motion on Monday to fire him with cause.

The board will take up Shepherd’s proposal at its meeting on April 9, though early indications are there won’t be enough votes to fire him.

If the board fires Joseph with cause, he is not owed any compensation. If he is fired without cause, he is owed 12 months salary, which is $285,000, according to a provision in his contract.

"I am not resigning. There is no reason for me to resign. I am not doing that," Joseph said in an interview with The Tennessean. "I did share with the board president that after last Friday’s board retreat that I realized the board and I are functioning off of two different value systems."

Joseph said he doesn’t believe he can be successful in Nashville due to the board.

“I do not know if we can be successful with the current governance structure and the current minority of board members that makes it impossible to make any decisions with kids as a focus,” he said.

UPHEAVAL AT MNPS:City leaders rally in support of Shawn Joseph as he faces scrutiny

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Shepherd said she started to question Joseph’s leadership, especially in light of an audit the board commissioned on human resources issues and a separate city audit over district spending.

“We have to rightsize this humongous ship,” Shepherd said, adding that she has heard from numerous constituents who want Joseph fired. “We have to do something different.”

The heat was already on Joseph with three school board members – Amy Frogge, Jill Speering and Fran Bush – for months openly calling for his firing. With Shepherd there are now at least four votes on the nine-member board in favor of firing him.

"The director has admitted violating state law to put in place no-bid contracts with friends at inflated prices and misled the board in doing so," Frogge said. "He failed to report teacher misconduct as required by state law, and he has repeatedly and intentionally violated board policy.

"In addition, the board recently received a damning HR report indicating that employee morale is at an all-time low and the director refuses to follow the report's recommendations. Teachers, district leaders and students are leaving the district in droves. We cannot continue down this path."

Joseph implemented some of the HR audit's recommendations, but not all of them.

Gentry: Joseph was mistreated like a ‘criminal’

Board chairwoman Sharon Gentry has remained supportive of Joseph, and on Monday she blasted the director’s opponents for the way they’ve pursued firing him.

“The thing that has continued to be disappointing is the rallying around the idea that Dr. Joseph is this criminal that needs to be fired,” Gentry said. “Instead of holding him accountable to fix things, we were too cowardly to do the work.”

In his resignation letter on Monday, Pinkston said all of Nashville should be concerned by “the dishonest and unfair treatment of the first African-American superintendent” in the city’s history.

“These actions by board members have left an indelible scar on our city, two decades after the end of federal court-ordered desegregation," he said. "I care deeply about our institution, but I can no longer serve on a board that is diminished by the worst of human nature.”

Board appears to oppose firing Joseph

Gini Pupo-Walker and Rachael Anne Elrod, elected to the board last year, could serve as swing votes to decide when Joseph’s tenure ends. Both said in a joint statement that they don’t support terminating Joseph’s contract.

Pupo-Walker has been adamant the school board should follow a process for any decision on Joseph, including going through a formal evaluation. Any talks about his contract should happen from there, she said.

An initial review showed low marks for the job he’s done since he was hired in 2016 and the results need to be finalized by the board.

Elrod and Pupo-Walker said they were blindsided by Shepherd’s measure, but said they are supportive of coming to a mutual agreement with the director..

“I am surprised that the conversation is happening now as he said he is not looking at a contract extension,” Elrod said. “I want to continue to find right leadership and a smooth transition of power. I am not looking to kick him while he is on his way out the door.”

Nashville Mayor David Briley spoke with Gentry on Monday morning after Pinkston resigned and Shepherd filed her legislation. Gentry and the mayor plan to meet again later this week, Briley’s spokesman said.

“(The mayor) is deeply concerned that the students and teachers are suffering as a result of the discord at the board and district levels,” Briley spokesman Thomas Mulgrew said. “Mayor Briley will work with Dr. Gentry to create a plan that moves the District forward and establishes the stability that our children and teachers deserve.”

Board unanimously supported hiring Joseph

Joseph came to Nashville schools from Prince George’s County (Maryland) Public Schools where he served as a top-level administrator. The board voted unanimously to name him schools director.

But the board — its membership and its politics — have shifted since he arrived in Nashville.

It first came from Speering and Frogge in the last year as issues began to crop up within the district, including allegations of sexual harassment among administrators and questions about district spending.

Bush’s addition to the board brought another critical voice against Joseph’s administration.

The three board members have stayed on the offensive. They have highlighted a recent Metro Audit that found 10 issues in the district’s contracting process. A school board-commissioned audit on human resources also found widespread problems.

The audit was critical of the way the district investigated employee misconduct cases. Separately, Joseph is under review by the Tennessee State Board of Education for failing to report teacher misconduct cases, which state law requires.

Joseph’s supporters say he inherited the HR problems and needed support from the board for how to address them.

And the supporters have pointed to his focus on minority students as a key reason to keep the embattled director. Joseph said he has remained committed to the district.

“We have done great work and done what few urban districts have been able to do,” Joseph said. “We have moved the needle in reading and began increasing a focus on issues of improving access. We have put a focus on equity. There are more students taking advanced placement and industry certifications tests. There are more students with dual enrollment and ACT scores going up.”

Joseph said he wants a smooth transition and for Nashville schools to succeed.

“Whether I am here or not, the new leader has multitude of challenges and momentum started,” Joseph said.

Joseph also has seen an outpouring of support in the last week from prominent black and community leaders.

The NAACP Nashville Branch and Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship held a Thursday rally supporting Joseph and his focus on minority students.

And the Service Employees International Union Local 205 and the Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee have backed Joseph and applauded him for improving labor relations within the district.

Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales. Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and nrau@tennessean.com and on Twitter @tnnaterau.

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