NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A high-powered Nashville lobbying firm now admits, while it was getting paid to advise Metro Nashville Public Schools, it was also secretly working for a longtime MNPS vendor that was vying for a multimillion-dollar contract.
MNPS says the Ingram Group should have revealed the relationship, but the firm insists there was nothing to disclose since the person working on both contracts, former MNPS official Hank Clay, kept the clients separate.
Yet a former employee for the vendor — Education Networks of America, later called Zayo — told NewsChannel 5 Investigates the cozy relationship was the final straw that made her decide to leave the company that supplies Internet services to Tennessee schools.
"It's been very sad to watch my career go away and the careers of so many of my friends who have worked so hard for schools for so long," Moore said in an exclusive interview.
For more than 20 years, Moore was proud of her work with Education Networks of America.
At the company, she says the motto was: "delight the customer."
That was before ENA was acquired in 2022 by another company called Zayo.
"And by the time Zayo bought us, their mantra was, 'Hit the effing number,'” Moore said, explaining that the motto referred to a challenge to company leaders to “get your profits, make money, make their board of directors happy."
The motto – #HTFN – was even inscribed on company bracelets.
Zayo says the bracelets were "part of a standalone sale kick-off more than three years ago and do not represent Zayo's culture, values or priorities today."
Moore has a different perspective.
"It was very disheartening to go from truly being a partner in public schools to being with a vendor who's all about profit,” Moore said.
Zayo facing competition for contract
At the time, Zayo had inherited a multimillion-dollar contract that ENA had worked out with Metro Schools that was also being utilized by districts across Tennessee.
In late 2024, that contract was up for bids.
"We were pretty sure we couldn't win because the customers were all so disgruntled by everything that had happened," Moore recalled.
She said that Zayo was even thinking of ending its contract with the Ingram Group, the lobbying firm it had hired to help it grow its business in the state.
Then, Hank Clay – the longtime chief of staff to Metro Schools Director Adrienne Battle – resigned in late December of 2024 to go to work for the Ingram Group. Days later, Metro Schools awarded a no-bid contract to the Ingram Group — at a cost of $12,000 a month — paying for Clay continuing to advise district leaders.
That contract has since ballooned to $20,000 a month — almost a quarter of a million dollars a year.
Clay's calendar shows part of what Clay has done is "contract reviews" with district leaders in advance of school board meetings.
"Zayo decides to keep Ingram Group,” Moore said.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked, "Why was that?"
"Specifically, because Hank Clay went there."
Moore had an email in which Zayo senior vice president Michael McKerley informed her of his decision: “Yes, we're continuing with Ingram for at least another year, especially now that they have Hank."
Her interpretation was that Zayo wanted “someone from Metro Public Schools who was intimately familiar with the goings on there and the people involved in the process."
Shortly after Zayo submitted a bid for the new Metro Schools contracts, an email documented a meeting between the Ingram Group and Zayo.
"We will continue to think about how we might be able to support your efforts to grow in Tennessee,” an Ingram Group official wrote.
'Conflict of interest'
NewsChannel 5 Investigates said to Moore, "Just to put a fine point on it. Hank Clay is getting paid by taxpayers to advise Metro Schools and then Zayo is paying him to advise them on how to work with Metro Schools?"
"Exactly," she answered.
"And that in your mind was a clear conflict of interest?"
"Yes."
What really concerned her, Moore added, was the fact that she had seen so-called federal E-rate funding for school technology services frozen over situations that, in her mind, were far less concerning.
"They cut off like 75 school districts for 30 months for tens of millions of dollars over a rumor — and turns out it was a rumor, everything was fine, they ended up getting all their E-rate funds,” she recalled. “But it was a disaster for about 30 months for those districts."
When the bidding process for the new contract was complete, just as Moore had suspected, another company — UDT — beat out Zayo for the contract.
Zayo filed an appeal alleging the process was flawed, and Metro Schools decided to scrap the deal, leaving Zayo with the school district's business for another year.
In a series of email exchanges, a Metro Schools official admitted that Clay never told them he was advising Zayo.
“While we have no indication of any improper activity, we do believe advance notice of any potential or perceived conflict of interest is appropriate, and we have communicated that expectation to the Ingram Group moving forward,” spokesperson Sean Braisted wrote.
An Ingram Group spokesperson, however, denied that there was anything to disclose.
“Our MNPS engagement — as reflected in the public-record contract — does not touch procurement or vendor selection and had no connection to Zayo,” Brandon Gee said in an email.
“The Ingram Group was not involved in MNPS’s network services procurement. With no overlap, there was no conflict of interest to disclose. We kept these client matters separate, and we stand by how we handled it.”
Braisted agreed that, since there is no evidence of Ingram Group involving itself in the procurement process, “as a result, prior disclosure would not have affected the outcome.”
"It wasn't what I signed up for 20 years earlier,” Dana Moore said.
Moore said the arrangement was the final straw in her decision to resign from Zayo.
While she admits she has no evidence that the process was corrupted, she argues the cozy relationship between Metro Schools, the Ingram Group and Zayo presents an appearance of a conflict that should have been avoided.
Who does she blame?
"People trying to make a profit,” she answered. “There's so many other ways they could have handled this. But they wanted to win.”
Still, when the contract recently went out for bids again, UDT beat out Zayo for a second time — which Ingram Group officials argue is proof that nothing improper happened.
Zayo provide the following statement to NewsChannel 5:
"Zayo (formerly ENA) has worked with The Ingram Group for 13 years and with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) for 30 years. The Ingram Group’s relationship with MNPS began in December 2024. Zayo is not aware of any conflict of interest between these parties. Each organization operates in accordance with established professional and ethical standards.
"The bracelets are completely unrelated to the topic of inquiry and the work Zayo does with The Ingram Group.
"The bracelets are being raised by former employees who Zayo is currently in active litigation with as a result of their alleged violations of their employment agreements and theft of Zayo's confidential trade secrets. The bracelets were part of a standalone sales kick-off more than three years ago and do not represent Zayo's culture, values, or priorities today."