Lawyers have agreed to a settlement in a long-simmering multi-plaintiff case brought by five former Metro Nashville Public Schools administrators against the district and Superintendent Adrienne Battle.
The plaintiffs allege that Battle retaliated against them, pushing them out of top district jobs after she took over the central office. One of the plaintiffs had complained about a Black History Month lesson that her elementary school student child participated in, which made national news. Others alleged they had recommended the dismissal of Battle’s brother, a basketball coach in the system, after a physical fight with a parent. Another said she was targeted because her cousin was suing the school system. At the same time, one administrator alleged his job was targeted because he had investigated a claim of grade falsification at a district school. The plaintiffs stated that they had been removed from their high-level positions in retaliation, not, as the system indicated, as part of a budgetary move and leadership reorganization.
“When the pandemic initially hit, there was lots of unknowns for all of us,” Battle said in a 2022 deposition. “And we were making the most informed decisions for our organization at the time to make sure that we could carry forward and continue to educate our students.”…