Register’s Exit Doesn’t Change Plans For East Nashville, Low-Performing Schools

Jesse Register. Credit: Belmont University

Metro Schools Director Jesse Register says he’s got a lot of work to do before his contract with the district ends. Last night, Register essentially gave the school board nine months notice.

That announcement comes amid criticism of his proposal to transform East Nashville into a school choice zone. Register says he remains committed to bringing that plan to fruition. And he says he wants to leave office with a clear framework in place for improving all of the schools the state has marked as being among Tennessee’s lowest performing.

You can’t complete it in the course of a year, but I hope the planning and beginning implementation of a strategy, a comprehensive strategy to deal with priority schools is in place.

Register’s last day is June 30. That should leave the school board enough time to find a new director before he leaves. It also means the search will happen while outgoing Mayor Karl Dean is still in office. But when asked what role he’ll take, Dean indicated he plans to step back and let the school board focus on input from the mayoral candidates and the community at large.