Dear PPE Family,

We have TERRIFIC news – we learned yesterday that after over a decade on the Metro’s Capital Improvement Budget (CIB), a new building for PPE is a priority on the Mayor’s Capital Spending Plan (CSP).This is a tremendous step on the path to getting a new building for our school and on the path to moving 5th grade back to elementary school in our cluster.

We have heard from several of our representatives, and they have all emphasized that your advocacy was a critical step to getting PPE on the Mayor’s CSP. Councilwoman Henderson told us that she “simply couldn’t keep up with the flood of emails in her inbox.” Moreover, she was very impressed that each one was personalized and thoughtful. THANK YOU for writing your representatives – – YOU did this for our school and our children and (if all goes well) our cluster will benefit from it for years to come.

What’s Next?

Next, the Mayor’s CSP will go to the city council for a vote. From what we understand, this will be on the agenda for the November 2nd meeting. However, there is a mandatory deferral by rule of the CSP resolution which means that it won’t be up for a vote until the second meeting of the month, which will take place on November 16th. Councilwoman Henderson and our school board representative Gini Pupo-Walker will be watching the resolution closely. In a phone call we had today with Councilwoman Henderson she communicated that she is confident in the resolution’s passage at Council on November 16th.

The plan is for a new building for PPE (not a renovation). This happens through two funding cycles. Please note that this year’s CSP (Capital Spending Plan) includes funds for design fees, construction documents, as well as costs for items such as surveys, subsurface investigation, LEED services, commissioning, and so on – this will total in a 3 to 4 million dollar investment in PPE this year. In January or February of 2022, the MNPS CIB (a planning document on which all capital projects must first be listed before moving to the CSP) should include PPE construction, which will then need to be added to the Mayor’s 2022 CSP and passed by Council in the fall of 2022.

Both Councilwoman Henderson and School Board Representative Gini Pupo-Walker are optimistic that all will proceed as needed considering that the Mayor/Council/School Board/MNPS are making a significant upfront investment in the design of a new PPE and will want to keep that on track, coupled with the fact that the City is in a solid place financially this and next year.

What do we Need You to do Now?

First, please write the mayor at mayor@nashville.gov and express your thanks. This is an important part of our advocacy work. (His staff will likely compile a summary for him with sample emails and the total number received.)

Please thank him for prioritizing Nashville’s elementary schools and let him know that Percy Priest families look forward to an efficient design process and being ready for construction funding in the Mayor’s 2022 Capital Spending Plan.

Second, hold tight. We will continue to monitor progress and will alert you as soon as we can to any additional advocacy needed to get this thing to the finish line.

Onward, PPE!

With gratitude,
Nahed A. Zehr (PTO President, 2021-2022) and Katie Agnew (PTO Vice President, 2021-2022)

Please email us at nartoul@gmail.com and katieragnew@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.