Metro Nashville Public Schools is re-organizing its leadership structure with a plan to streamline operations and save $1 million in next year’s budget. The reorganization has resulted in the consolidation or elimination of multiple positions and the creation of two new positions to better serve the students and staff of MNPS.
Michelle Springer, associate superintendent for middle schools, will serve as chief of student support services. In this position, which has been vacant since 2019, Springer will oversee departments and divisions related to school counseling, Community Achieves, social services, social-emotional learning and school discipline, among others.
Springer has 20 years of experience in education and has served MNPS in many capacities, including as a teacher, special education coach, instructional facilitator, assistant principal, principal and principal supervisor. Before being appointed associate superintendent, she served as an executive director of school support and improvement in the Antioch and Cane Ridge cluster and as the interim community superintendent for the southeast quadrant.
Ashford R. Hughes Sr., will serve as the executive officer for diversity, equity & inclusion. In this role, Hughes will design and implement initiatives and policies that address the academic, social and emotional needs of the many diverse populations served by the district.
Hughes will work to strengthen the district’s partnerships with a broad array of organizations and individuals who serve the diverse student groups in our schools and across Davidson County. He also will oversee the strategy, design and implementation of the school choice process through a lens of equity and inclusion and will serve as a liaison to local and state stakeholders focused on issues of diversity and equity.
A graduate of Tennessee State University, Hughes is co-founder of the Nashville division of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, an initiative launched by President Barack Obama in 2004 to address persistent opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color to ensure all youth can reach their full potential.
As the executive officer of strategic federal, state and philanthropic investments, Keri Randolph will lead a unified plan to secure more resources in support of the strategic plan to increase student achievement. Randolph previously served as assistant superintendent of innovation at the Hamilton County Department of Education and as vice president of learning at the public education foundation in Chattanooga. Most recently, she earned a doctor of educational leadership degree from Harvard University.
A high school science teacher for 10 years in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Randolph served in many science and technology roles in various educational sectors before attending Harvard.
Also, as part of the re-organization process, the following individuals have been named to fill executive director positions for the 2020-21 school year:
• Steve Ball, executive director, early learning centers and elementary support
• Carl Carter, executive director, high schools, south
• Celia Conley, executive director, middle schools, north
• Lendozia Edwards, executive director, schools of innovation, middle
• Felicia Everson-Tuggle, executive director, middle school support and principal development
• Karen Gallman, executive director, Montessori, elementary support, principal development
• Natalyn Gibbs, executive director, elementary schools, northwest
• Craig Hammond, executive director, middle schools, south
• Chad High, executive director, elementary schools, southwest
• David Kovach, executive director, elementary schools, northeast
• Shawn Lawrence, executive director, elementary schools, southeast
• Renita Forbes Perry, executive director, schools of innovation, elementary
• Chaerea “Chae” Snorten, executive director, schools of innovation, high schools and support
• Schunn Turner, executive director, high schools, north
• James Witty, executive director, nontraditional schools, high school support
AHR adds director, 7 board members
Affordable Housing Resources has hired a director of housing development and announced its 2020-21 board of directors.
Dan Eaton brings more than 20 years of nonprofit leadership and housing industry experience to his new role overseeing construction of AHR’s one- and three-bedroom homes and condos in Middle Tennessee.
The 2020-2021 AHR board of directors includes:
• Ben Jordan (chairman), Good Hope Development
• John A. Beam, III (secretary), Equitus Law Alliance
• W. Perry Blandford (treasurer), Ernst & Young
• Kathy Floyd-Buggs (housing chair), Congressman Jim Cooper
• Kent Cleaver, Pinnacle Financial Partners
• David Crane, Crane Builders
• Kaitlin Dastugue, Rebuild Nashville Together
• Alfred Degrafinreid, Vanderbilt University
• Amy Delk, Landmark Community Bank
• Jerome Moore, Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH)
• Dewayne Olive, F&M Bank
• Jaqueline Paul Sims, Community Organizer
• Jim Rieniets, InsBank
Martin & Company hires Boudreau
Martin & Company, a full service marketing solutions firm, has hired Dani Boudreau as traffic and communications manager.
Boudreau previously served in numerous communication management roles in the wedding industry, logistics and the Tennessee state park system. She holds a degree in public relations from Austin Peay University.
As traffic and communications manager, she will be responsible for ensuring all projects are completed according to budget and the client’s timetable and will assist in internal and external communications.