Chalkbeat

What do Memphis schools need to improve? Here’s what local experts say.

2026-09-01T19:30:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools is under state and local pressure to boost student achievement as the battle over district control continues to play out in federal court.

People advocating to establish a state-appointed oversight board for MSCS cite years of academic underperformance. But concrete ideas for policy and resources that could improve Memphis student outcomes are often missing from debates about the state takeover.

During a Chalkbeat virtual panel Monday, local education experts said improving MSCS won’t be an easy or short-term task. Joshua Glazer, an education policy professor at George Washington University who studies the Achievement School District and iZone, said the district needs a long-term, public plan that outlives any single superintendent or board iteration, especially in a district that has seen four superintendents in the last five years.

“That way, when you have that inevitable turnover, there is community-wide buy-in and commitment,” Glazer said. “And that can sort of buffer a bit when a new superintendent comes because he can’t come in and say, ‘OK, I’m going to start all over again.’”

A state-run forensic audit of MSCS said high leadership turnover degraded internal policies and processes. While most panelists agreed that the district needs a common goal and vision, they disagreed on what that should look like.

Glazer said the plan needs to include a common curriculum and classroom structure across the district. Liz Marable, president of the United Education Association of Shelby County, said MSCS needs universal pre-kindergarten and smaller class sizes.

Cardell Orrin, executive director of local education advocacy group Stand for Children, said there needs to be increased investment in small-group literacy tutoring. But Mark Sturgis, who founded local nonprofit Seeding Success, said one-off programs like high dosage tutoring aren’t the solution.

Instead, he said, there needs to be systemic change, including closing more schools to better concentrate district resources.

“You look at our things like our district footprint, which hasn’t changed in, you know, 30, 40 years,” he said. “People have had lists of schools that needed to be either consolidated or closed or rebuilt for decades.”

Sturgis said change won’t happen with a locally elected school board because of political tension. Seeding Success has been a vocal supporter of state takeover pushes in the past year, partnering with organizations like Memphis Lift and Together4Students to lobby local leaders to drop the lawsuit that temporarily blocked the oversight board in late June.

But Orrin argued that local school boards aren’t to blame for school closure decisions. MSCS’ school board voted to close five schools at the end of last school year, and Superintendent Roderick Richmond plans to close up to 10 more in the next two years.

“That’s the final stage of a process that has been surrounded by disinvestment, by non-focus on our communities,” Orrin said. “And so, really, we should be looking at our city, our county, our state, and asking, ‘How have you supported communities, or how are you not supporting communities?’”

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Most Memphis schools will reopen Tuesday after weekend storm

2026-08-25T00:41:29+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Most Memphis-Shelby County students will return to classes Tuesday, but 18 campuses will remain closed as the district recovers from a weekend storm that caused widespread power outages.

MSCS officials closed schools Monday, with 40 buildings still without power at the end of the weekend, according to a statement on the district’s website. Conditions could change overnight, the statement said, and families will be updated in real time by the district or the school itself.

These are the schools that will remain closed Tuesday:

A. B. Hill Elementary School
A. Maceo Walker Middle School
Alcy Elementary School
Balmoral Elementary School
Colonial Middle School
Fox Meadows Elementary School
Germanshire Elementary School
Hollis F. Price
Ida B. Wells Academy
Kirby High School
Norris Achievement Academy
Oakhaven Elementary School
Oakhaven High School
Oakhaven Middle School
Sherwood Elementary School
Sherwood Middle School
Willow Oaks Elementary School
Wooddale High School

The district has already used one of its limited weather cancellation days for the school year, less than a month after classes began. In February, MSCS had to apply for an emergency waiver after closing school for 10 days in a row due to a winter storm.

It’s unclear how Tuesday’s cancellations will affect the yearly weather days for the 18 affected schools.

All after-school activities in the district remain canceled for Tuesday.

Local utilities company Memphis Light, Gas, and Water wrote in an emailed statement that Saturday’s storm brought winds above 70 mph to the region, cutting power to nearly 140,000 households. The company said full service might not be restored until Thursday.

MSCS leaders said restoring power is only the first step toward reopening schools.

“Our teams must also ensure HVAC and other critical building systems are operating properly, traffic routes are accessible, and schools are safe and ready for students and staff to return,” the district said in its statement.

A January winter storm shut down city and county streets for nearly two weeks, keeping Memphis students out of classrooms as the region slowly recovered. Without the emergency waiver granted by the state Education Department, MSCS would have been forced to extend the school year or shorten scheduled breaks to make up for lost time.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

What do Memphis schools need to succeed? Join our virtual event to find out.

2026-08-12T18:46:04+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

With a state takeover looming, Memphis-Shelby County Schools is facing increased pressure to boost student outcomes.

Tennessee Republicans say establishing a nine-member oversight board to seize control of key district decisions will solve years of academic underperformance and district management issues. A federal judge temporarily blocked that takeover in June, with a final court decision still pending.

Regardless of that legal outcome, most Memphians agree that something needs to change in a district where over two-thirds of students don’t pass state reading tests, and only 15% pass in math. Agreeing on the district’s most pressing issues and how to address them is more difficult.

RSVP to join our live virtual event on Aug. 31, where I’ll talk with local education experts about what Memphis schools need to succeed.

This year, MSCS leaders say they’re focused on improving math scores by creating a standardized curriculum and increasing teacher training. They’re also working to reduce chronic absenteeism, another metric that triggered the pending state takeover, by assigning dedicated staff to struggling schools.

The state-appointed oversight board could overhaul the structure of day-to-day learning and teaching in Memphis classrooms. But it’s unclear which approaches the board would take to reform the local school system.

Join Chalkbeat for a robust conversation Aug. 31 at 4 p.m. CT featuring four local education experts and MSCS representatives. We’ll discuss resources the district needs and policies that could improve student outcomes.

How can the new state board help Memphis schools succeed? How can local leaders step up to the plate? Find out at our virtual event.

Sign up here to join the conversation and submit your questions for our panelists.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis schools budget earns approval after more than a month of delay

2026-08-11T20:38:14+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The Shelby County Commission voted 7-4 Monday to approve Memphis schools’ budget for the 2026-27 year, over a month after the usual decision deadline.

During the meeting, Commissioner Michael Whaley said the delay came from “redundancies” in the budget approval process that he plans to change. He said Memphis-Shelby County board members first sent their proposal to commission leadership rather than individual commissioners, causing a delay.

The commission then sent the budget back to MSCS with an amendment that moved $11.9 million into the district’s deferred maintenance budget instead of setting the money aside for a new Treadwell K-8 School, as Mayor Lee Harris initially proposed. The local board approved that version in its meeting last month.

MSCS board members first approved the $1.7 billion budget at the end of May, on the brink of a state takeover that would strip them of the independent power to approve budgets for the next four years. The budget includes bonuses for teachers who fill high-need positions and around $200 million for building repairs.

A federal judge temporarily blocked MSCS’ state-appointed oversight board from taking control of district operations at the end of June. But Memphis students have been back in the classroom for over a week, and the budget was meant to be finalized by July 1.

Some commissioners criticized MSCS officials for not sending a representative to answer questions at Monday’s meeting, though Whaley said MSCS was not responsible for the budget delays.

“I just simply can’t support it if there’s no one here to advocate it,” said Commissioner Mick Wright. “It’s really a shame.”

Wright voted against MSCS’ budget, alongside Commissioners Britney Thornton, Amber Mills, and Brandon Morrison.

But Commissioner Henri Brooks, who voted to pass the budget, said her colleagues’ criticism of MSCS officials was becoming personal and urged them to stop “browbeating” district leaders.

“We have a constitutional responsibility to fund education,” she said.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

A new Memphis group is pushing for school reform via state takeover. Who are they?

2026-07-22T14:37:51+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

A new Memphis group has joined a network of local organizations supporting the state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Together4Students launched in May, around the same time that Nashville Republicans passed a law establishing a state-appointed oversight board to take control of MSCS. The group’s website advocates for using the state intervention to pursue ambitious achievement goals for MSCS, including doubling the number of students in high-performing schools by 2035.

The group was founded by Henry Jones, former director of organizing for Memphis nonprofit Leadership for Educational Equity, and Mark Sturgis, who leads longtime education advocacy organization Seeding Success.

Together4Students is the latest group jockeying for influence in Memphis’ education advocacy space, which was once flush with federal investment and local heavy hitters but has since dwindled in dollars and voices. The group is backing the state takeover and partnering with the decade-old parents’ rights organization Memphis Lift.

Not all education advocacy groups are backing the takeover. Some have been fighting state intervention for years, including by partnering with MSCS leaders last fall to rally parent support.

Jones said Together4Students is still gathering local organizations to partner with and recruiting fellows ages 16 to 25 to create a “pipeline of organizing” through leadership training. The group is also seeking 2,500 signatures for a petition calling on MSCS to drop its lawsuit challenging the state takeover, with over 300 collected as of Tuesday.

In early July, a federal judge granted MSCS an early win in the case by temporarily blocking the state oversight board from beginning its operations.

Jones said fellows are receiving a stipend for their work through his independent project, the Change the Game Fellowship, which launched in 2022. He pays fellows using money he’s earned from consulting work, but declined to say the exact amount.

Together4Students is not an official nonprofit organization, Jones said, and isn’t currently receiving any local or national funding.

But Jones said the group has a “strategy team” of local organization leaders who meet each month. He declined to name which organizations are involved.

“Like many early-stage nonprofits or grassroots efforts, [Together4Students] has relied on volunteers, in-kind support, and community relationships as we get established,” he wrote in an email to Chalkbeat, with Seeding Success and Memphis Lift being two of those community relationships.

On its website, Together4Students lists two goals for MSCS in the next decade. The group wants 80% of MSCS students to attend schools receiving A or B ratings from the state, up from 38% now. That includes a 2030 goal of having around 23,000 more students attend those highly rated schools.

Group leaders also want 80% of MSCS students “on a clear path to a rewarding career” by 2035, meaning they have a college acceptance or trade credential by the time they graduate.

Though the group backs the new oversight board, Jones said Together4Students isn’t explicitly against MSCS or the local school board. Instead, it’s rooting for district improvement regardless of who is in charge.

“We don’t really see the oversight board being any different from the school board,” he said. “If the oversight board doesn’t serve kids well, we’re going to be on them.”

Education won’t be the group’s only focus, Jones told Chalkbeat. The fellows he recruits for the team will choose its next priority, he said.

“Six months from now, we might be building a campaign around gun violence,” Jones said. “We’re hoping to build a variety of campaigns around accountability, whether it’s for the state-appointed board, whether it’s county commissioners, city council, or the local school board.”

On a call with Chalkbeat, five of Together4Students’ seven fellows said violence is the main issue they want to solve. But Unveyunce Fitch, the mother of an MSCS kindergartner and a Booker T. Washington graduate, said she joined as a group leader to push for education reform.

“As a single mom who graduated at the top of my class, I know how hard it is to get an education in Memphis,” she said. “Students shouldn’t have to fight so hard, and parents shouldn’t have to ask for accountability.”

This story has been updated to include information about the Change the Game Fellowship and clarify that Jones no longer works for Leadership for Educational Equity. He left his position in June 2026.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school board election comes as legal battle continues over state takeover

2026-07-17T10:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Early voting is underway for the Memphis-Shelby County election that will seat two new local school board members as the legal battle over district control continues.

Voters will head to the polls on Aug. 6. Two incumbents, Michelle McKissack in District 1 and Joyce Dorse Coleman in District 9, are running unopposed after winning the Democratic nomination in MSCS’ first partisan school board primary in May.

But the Democratic nominees for the District 6 and District 8 seats, T.L. Harris and Tanya Frey, will each face an independent challenger. Local pastor and former teacher Frederick Tappan is running against Harris, and MSCS librarian Leigh Ann Scarbrough will face Frey.

Harris, who led a youth violence prevention program for three years, beat four other Democratic candidates by fewer than 200 votes. He was convicted on a felony drug charge 20 years ago while employed as a Memphis police officer. Frey, a longtime Memphis lawyer, won her race against one other candidate by a wide margin.

It’s unclear what the newly elected members’ role will look like after they assume office on Sept. 1. The state takeover law passed this spring by Nashville Republicans authorizes a new oversight board to seize control of key district decisions, including approval of the budget and school closures.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the state-appointed board two weeks ago, an early win for MSCS and Shelby County leaders who are suing over the takeover law. But earlier this week, Tennessee officials filed a request to lift that block, challenging the district’s claims of unconstitutionality.

As the lawsuit plays out in court, find out which local school board district will appear on your ballot, and learn about candidates’ stances on key issues below. Early voting ends on Aug. 1.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

5 key takeaways from the final Memphis schools audit report

2026-07-09T22:27:48+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

A massive state audit of Memphis schools showed limited instances of potential spending abuse but widespread mismanagement of district documents and records under previous administrations.

The $6 million probe into Tennessee’s largest school district served as a driving force for the Republican-led state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, which was temporarily blocked by a federal judge last week.

Takeover proponents have said for months that the audit would reveal extensive fraud, waste, and abuse. The final report released Wednesday identified $54 million in spending under that category, around 1% of the district’s budget from 2021 to 2024. The vast majority of those dollars come from a 2022 custodial contract that the district canceled after one year.

MSCS leaders say they’re committed to improving internal recordkeeping and document processes. Superintendent Roderick Richmond kicked off a plan to update district operations in March, days before the state released initial audit results.

Under the district’s accountability policy, Richmond has 45 days to create a corrective action plan in response to the final audit report. In the meantime, here are five findings from the forensic audit:

$65 million violated district policies, but not criminal law

CliftonLarsonAllen, the accounting firm that conducted the forensic review, found that more than $53 million spent by MSCS in the three-year period was evidence of potential abuse.

An additional $1 million was flagged as potential fraud or waste. Altogether, that’s about 1% of the district’s multibillion-dollar budget from 2021 to 2024, predating Richmond’s tenure as superintendent.

CLA also identified $65 million in spending that didn’t rise to the level of potential abuse but did violate district policies. Most of that money went toward contracts that CLA said did not follow MSCS protocol, such as invoices without signatures or travel reimbursements that weren’t filed on time.

State takeover legislation gives the nine-member oversight board final approval over contract purchases exceeding $50,000 — a hurdle that MSCS leaders said in their plea for a now-issued temporary block would hinder early school operations.

Flagged custodian contract sparked FBI investigation

MSCS leaders were the first to investigate the 2022 contract with custodial company ServiceMaster Clean, which became the largest source of potential abuse spending identified in the audit.

In June 2022, the local school board voted to award ServiceMaster Clean a four-year contract to cover the entire district’s custodial needs. MSCS’ custodial director originally recommended using multiple vendors as was customary, but the former chief of business pushed for one.

That business director was placed on paid leave by MSCS and ultimately resigned in January 2023. MSCS cancelled ServiceMaster Clean’s contract that same year after parents and district staff complained about unclean schools.

A year later, the district launched an internal investigation into the $48 million contract after a whistleblower said it included “kickbacks” to a member of MSCS leadership. Without the proper resources to fully investigate, MSCS referred the case to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

CLA said it wasn’t able to verify the whistleblower’s allegations or find evidence from the FBI search. Auditors said they did not receive financial or procurement records related to the case.

This winter, MSCS school board members awarded a yearlong contract to ServiceMaster Clean, among multiple other custodial vendors, that took effect Jan. 1, 2026. ServiceMaster Clean’s contract passed without debate, while a different company raised ethical and performance concerns after 30 schools went uncleaned during the first month of the year.

Memphis school board may have run afoul of state Open Meetings Act

MSCS board members may have violated state public meetings laws during the 2021 to 2024 time period, according to the forensic audit.

CLA found multiple email exchanges among board members and the district’s legal counsel that may have influenced district decisions, including discussions on superintendent searches and contract negotiations.

“While the nature and extent of deliberation varied across the instances, the observed patterns reflect a risk that Board business was discussed, advanced, or shaped outside the public meeting process,” the audit report says.

That could violate the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, according to CLA.

CLA also reported one closed-session meeting that was not included in the board’s meeting minutes. Those incidents “may contribute to the appearance that decisions were being developed outside of public view,” auditors wrote.

Leadership instability weakened district processes, operations

From July 2021 to June 2024, MSCS cycled through three superintendents, which CLA said “eroded institutional knowledge” and led to inefficient operations and increased financial risks.

Auditors said they conducted more than 142 interviews because staff turnover left a “lack of consistent knowledge” across the district. The report also says that MSCS employees pointed to former Superintendent Marie Feagins’ decision to fire more than 1,000 district staff as contributing to that problem.

Now, MSCS is facing another leadership upheaval because of the impending state takeover, championed by the same legislators who pushed for the forensic audit. With less than a month until the first day of classes, it’s unclear whether the district or a state-appointed board will have ultimate authority over district decisions.

The nine-member oversight board is currently blocked by a federal court order, with no hearing date set. But that is just an early step in the ongoing lawsuit filed by MSCS and Shelby County leaders challenging the takeover.

Outdated policies, missing records found throughout MSCS departments

One of the most notable consequences of leadership instability, CLA says, was widespread disorganization across district departments and operations.

“Many critical processes operate without formally documented, current, and standardized procedures,” the final report says. And procedures that do exist are often outdated or unclear, auditors found, many unassigned to a specific MSCS employee for management.

CLA also reported that district records of contracts and employee files were maintained inconsistently and sometimes haphazardly. That led to delays and difficulties in conducting the audit, the firm said. It also leads to operational errors, such as the district paying two vendors for the same job.

The audit report notes that MSCS employees described a substantial change to the district’s contract policies under Feagins. According to CLA, Feagins replaced the fully electronic contract approval system with a manual, color-coded folder system that organized contracts by level of importance until they were approved and uploaded online.

Richmond and other MSCS leaders have acknowledged these internal issues in recent months and launched a live website to share real-time upgrades to district policies and systems. Most of those projects are in progress or haven’t been started, according to the site.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Tennessee releases final results of Memphis schools forensic audit

2026-07-08T18:27:52+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Long-awaited results from the state-ordered forensic audit of Memphis-Shelby County Schools were released Wednesday as the legal battle continues over who will lead the district for the next four years.

The 667-page report on district finances and operations, completed June 30, identified over $54 million in MSCS spending as evidence of potential fraud, waste, or abuse. State Comptroller Jason Mumpower said the audit shows not one-off mistakes but “systemic failures” in district management from 2021 to 2024.

More than $48 million of that spending comes from a single custodial contract granted to ServiceMaster Clean in 2022, despite initial recommendations to hire multiple vendors for custodial services across the district. The contract was canceled a year later after school staff and families complained about unclean schools.

An earlier internal district audit flagged the contract after a whistleblower alleged its cost was inflated to account for “kickbacks.” As the district investigated, the chief of business operations was placed on administrative leave and later resigned. An operations sourcing manager also resigned from the district after internal auditors requested contract paperwork.

According to the state audit, the district referred the matter to the FBI. Auditors from CliftonLarsonAllen, or CLA, the accounting firm that conducted the forensic review, said they could not verify the outcome of that case or verify the allegations made in the initial audit.

CLA also identified more than $65 million in spending that violated district policies but did not rise to the level of waste, fraud, or abuse. And the final report highlights fragmented recordkeeping systems and internal control deficiencies across multiple departments.

Part of that is due to consistent leadership turnover, the audit says, which “impacted the retention of staff, eroded institutional knowledge, [and] created inefficiencies in the organizational stability” of the district. That includes multiple invoices without proper approval and instances of two vendors hired to do the same job.

In a statement posted on X, MSCS emphasized that the audit covers a time period predating current leadership.

“The work to strengthen our organization did not begin with this audit,” the statement says. “Strengthening oversight, enhancing internal controls, and improving operational practices, and increasing accountability have been ongoing priorities for the District.”

CLA also said that MSCS’ local school board and legal counsel had multiple email conversations that potentially violate Tennessee’s Open Meetings Act, including discussions on superintendent searches and contract negotiations.

“The observed patterns reflect a risk that Board business was discussed, advanced, or shaped outside the public meeting process,” the final report says.

Initial findings from the audit released in April spurred the passage of MSCS’ state takeover law. But the nine-member oversight board that Tennessee Republicans say will correct district mismanagement is temporarily unable to assume control over key MSCS decisions. A federal judge issued an order blocking the board’s authority on June 30, the night before its four-year tenure was set to begin.

The ruling was an early win for MSCS and the local government leaders who filed a lawsuit challenging the takeover as unconstitutional last month. The temporary block will remain in place at least until the court holds a full hearing, which has not been scheduled.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton on Wednesday called on Memphis and Shelby County parents to ask the board to withdraw the lawsuit, saying “time is of the essence” to turn the district around.

“They need to withdraw their lawsuit. Otherwise, all they’re doing is delaying the change that is needed in their school system,” Sexton said.

The preliminary audit findings, released when the review was only 25% complete, identified more than $1 million in MSCS spending that auditors considered waste or abuse over a three-year period. That represents less than 1% of the Memphis district’s operating budget.

The findings also pointed to issues with leadership instability and staff retention that auditors said contributed to a lack of institutional knowledge and weaknesses in accountability and recordkeeping. MSCS has had four superintendents in the past five years, a trend Superintendent Roderick Richmond has said has undermined public trust and district management.

Days before the initial results were released, MSCS leaders adopted plans to strengthen internal controls and modernize document systems. Richmond pledged that more than 80% of the district’s employee files and 95% of payroll documentation would be complete by the summer.

According to the district’s live accountability website, most of those goals are in progress or haven’t been started yet. An MSCS representative told Chalkbeat Tuesday there will be an updated report following the final audit release.

Under the district’s accountability plan, Richmond has 45 days to identify the key issues outlined in the final report and present a corrective action plan to the board.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis schools takeover blocked by judge in temporary order

2026-07-01T17:30:43+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Memphis school takeover board’s authority after school officials said it could delay the start of the school year or even force building closures as the district prepares to welcome students back to class in less than five weeks.

Memphis-Shelby County school board members and local officials asked a federal judge Tuesday to temporarily halt the oversight board or, at minimum, block its power to disrupt contract payments and fire top district officials ahead of the 2026-27 school year, which begins Aug. 3.

Hours later, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. granted the temporary restraining order, ordering the state and MSCS to “maintain the STATUS QUO before” the new takeover law took effect. The temporary order is an early win for the district and Shelby County officials, who sued over the new oversight board last month.

Under the takeover law, the oversight board – which took control July 1 – must approve every purchase over $50,000. Previous district policy allowed the superintendent or a designated deputy to approve contracts under $100,000, while school board approval was needed for larger contracts.

The new oversight board control could significantly hinder MSCS’ ability to respond quickly to start-of-school emergencies, including HVAC failures, creating “immediate operational deadlock” during one of the district’s busiest times of year, the district alleged in Tuesday’s court filing.

“School cannot be conducted in buildings that do not have functioning air conditioning,” the court filing says. “A lapse of up to three weeks while these expenses are submitted to and approved by the Oversight Board will be detrimental to student instruction.”

Oversight Board Chair Billy Orgel told Chalkbeat that the board’s full meeting set for this afternoon is cancelled, delaying votes on an executive director contract and initial steps for the board’s expected assessment of MSCS operations. The takeover’s board work will now be paused indefinitely pending a full federal court hearing, which has not yet been set.

The nine-member oversight board of political appointees has sweeping authority over the state’s largest school district, but the board was formed with no existing infrastructure to support its new work just weeks before a new school year.

The board has yet to meet in Memphis. It held its first meeting in June in a Nashville conference room at the state Capitol and was in the process of hiring staff and legal counsel when the temporary restraining order was issued.

In their Tuesday court filing, MSCS leaders argued the lack of infrastructure leaves the district without a clear process for obtaining timely contract and purchase approvals needed to keep the school year on schedule. With classes beginning in about a month, they wrote, “there has not even been the suggestion of a plan for such a process.”

That leaves the district without a designated point of contact for emergency purchases, according to the court filing. District leaders argued the oversight board could backlog contracts the school board approved Monday night that are essential to district operations, including school bus transportation services and online information systems.

“Based on my experiences in prior years, the School District’s inability to respond efficiently to HVAC outages or other emergencies will likely require school closures or interrupt instruction at the start of the school year,” Tito Langston, the district’s chief academic officer, said in an affidavit filed Tuesday.

The oversight board also has the ability to veto MSCS’ proposed budget, which totals more than $1.7 billion and includes bonuses for veteran teachers and facilities costs. The budget has not yet been approved by the Shelby County Commission, so it’s unclear whether the board could stop it from being adopted.

This story has been updated to include information about a cancelled state board meeting.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

As the fight over the Memphis schools takeover looms, these parents say they’re hopeful for change

2026-06-23T21:52:10+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

On a rainy Saturday, dozens of parents wearing white T-shirts that said “Save the children” in bright orange letters met under a tent in a North Memphis auto shop lot.

Representatives of Memphis Lift, a longtime local parent advocacy group, led them in chanting “Fired up, ready to go!”

The nonprofit invited parents to come to a “citywide revival” event that included educating them about the new, unprecedented state law that gives political appointees the power to take control of Memphis-Shelby County Schools from the elected school board.

For the past two years, members of Memphis Lift have been vocal supporters of the state takeover of MSCS. The nine-member state board, which includes a former superintendent and several charter school advocates, will have power over key district decisions, including the annual budget and staffing, starting July 1.

“I think this is the opportunity to change the education landscape in this city for children, especially Black children,” said Sarah Carpenter, director of Memphis Lift.

Chalkbeat spoke with more than a dozen attendees at Saturday’s event about what actions they want the state-appointed board to take. While often unclear about the specific changes they want the political appointees to make, all supporters said they were hopeful the board could improve district literacy and increase transparency from MSCS leaders.

Attendees also said they want better teachers and a higher-quality curriculum. But most said they don’t want any more school closures, even though it’s likely the state board will take that path.

Over 75% of Memphis students did not achieve proficiency on last year’s state reading exams.

“They’ve been in this spot for years and years and years, and ain’t nothing changed since I was in elementary,” said Carlos Person, father of an MSCS kindergartener and Memphis Lift staffer.

Not all Memphis residents support the state takeover. But community pushback against a state-backed takeover was notably muted this year due to increased attention on immigration enforcement and lack of clarity on the takeover bill specifics. MSCS and Shelby County leaders filed a lawsuit late last week calling the law that ushered in the intervention unconstitutional.

Tamarques Porter, who represents District 4 on the MSCS board and is a named plaintiff in the lawsuit, spoke at Saturday’s event. Carpenter praised him for being open to accountability.

“We got to do the right things on the board, whether it’s through the board of managers or not through the board of managers,” Porter said. “Keep holding us accountable, because I’m tired of being reactionary to everything.”

Parents at the event said they’re largely distrustful of the local school board and district leaders. Many advocated for the oversight board to bring back former Superintendent Marie Feagins, who was ousted by MSCS board members in January 2025.

“We need a board that will actually care and put our kids first,” said Deneene Hughes, whose nephew is an MSCS elementary student. “It seems like everything is about money.”

Billy Orgel, a former MSCS board member who was elected to the oversight board chair last week, said it’s too early to tell what changes the state-appointed members will pursue. He said he hopes the state’s forensic audit of the district will serve as a blueprint for the board’s work.

“I don’t think the audit was trying to find some smoking gun,” he told Chalkbeat. “I think the audit was looking for an outcome of, ‘here’s how you can improve.’”

The final results of the audit are expected on June 30. Early findings showed that less than 1% of MSCS’ annual budget over the past three years was “consistent with waste or abuse.”

Memphis Lift leaders and supporters said no matter what the oversight board does, they want more transparency and a bigger platform for parent voices. That could include published plans for literacy improvement, some said, and regular surveys of MSCS families.

Orgel said oversight members can provide support, but ultimately improving parent engagement largely falls on local school leaders.

“Because in the end, this is four years and we’re trying to help push our students forward,” he said. “We’re not building a big administrative staff.”

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

What’s in store for the Memphis school takeover? Houston’s timeline offers clues.

2026-06-16T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Two weeks after Texas took over the Houston school district, newly selected Superintendent Mike Miles announced his plans to overhaul 28 of the district’s lowest performing schools.

He dubbed the group the New Education System, promising to raise teacher pay for certain subjects and create a regimented new curriculum. Over 50 additional schools joined the program voluntarily before the 2023-24 school year started.

Every teacher in those schools had to reapply for their positions. Libraries became discipline centers and classrooms for advanced students. And the school hours were extended to help working parents, with teachers on the hook for before- and afterschool care.

In just the first four months after being appointed on June 1, Miles ushered in significant instructional and staffing changes to the tune of a $250 million deficit that first year.

Top Tennessee Republicans have heralded Houston’s intervention as a model they want to replicate in the Memphis-Shelby County district. In the first two years of the takeover, more Houston students achieved proficiency on state reading and math tests, and no school received an “F” rating in the state accountability system. But the Houston teachers union and some education experts say those results don’t reflect the degree of student improvement Tennessee leaders want to see.

On the eve of MSCS’ state takeover, Houston’s timeline might offer a glimpse into the possible changes that Tennessee’s nine-member appointed oversight board could make. The final member still needs to be selected by House Speaker Cameron Sexton before the board can officially meet.

MSCS leaders, and some district charter schools, have already moved to implement some of the Houston-style changes in the past couple of years, including offering teacher bonuses and standardizing curriculum.

Here are five main changes that Miles, backed by Houston’s own state-appointed board, implemented in the local district in the first four months:

All teachers forced to reapply, boosting uncertified rates

Under Miles’ direction, every teacher in the Houston schools targeted for intervention had to reapply for their position in summer 2023. Those who were hired in the New Education System, or NES schools, received a $10,000 bonus.

Nearly half of the employees at the original 28 NES schools didn’t return to their schools in fall 2023. More than two-thirds of the staff changed at some schools.

Miles said the goal of a teacher restructuring was to put the most effective teachers in the lowest performing schools. But uncertified teachers made up a large number of the new placements, an issue that MSCS already struggles with.

The Memphis district succeeded in reducing teacher vacancies this year under Superintendent Roderick Richmond, but still relies heavily on teachers with conditional licenses and online educators.

Richmond proposed a budget this year that includes $1,000 bonuses for teachers who stay in their current schools next year and bumps that stipend to $2,500 for those who stay in the district’s lowest performing schools. The county commission still has to approve the budget.

Central office position cuts fall flat

Miles promised to pay for significant boosts in teacher salaries by eliminating unnecessary central office positions.

In July 2023, he said his team had fired nearly 700 people in a reorganization of the central office, and planned to close 1,675 more vacant roles. But data showed that only 225 central office positions were eliminated by early August.

And most of those came from lower paying departments, while Miles added nearly 100 more employees who were making more than $150,000.

Former MSCS Superintendent Marie Feagins, whose sudden firing in 2025 heightened calls for a state intervention, made drastic cuts to the district’s central office during her tenure. She eliminated over 1,000 positions, a significant amount of them administrative, during her first few months.

That move garnered praise from some Memphis parents. But current leaders say it also contributed to a loss of institutional knowledge in MSCS and a breakdown of internal audit systems. Those were two key early findings in the forensic audit ordered by Tennessee lawmakers, including those leading state takeover pushes.

Strict classroom curriculum redesigned by district officials

Students at the 85 Houston NES schools returned for the 2023-2024 school year to an entirely new classroom structure and new required reading and math curriculums designed by Miles’ academics team.

Ticking timers dictated the class pace. Teachers were required to incorporate student response exercises every four minutes. And each class period ended with a short quiz.

That’s a similar classroom model reported by MSCS charter schools where student math achievement has skyrocketed post-pandemic. Tennessee education nonprofit SCORE, whose CEO will serve on the Memphis oversight board, argued in a recent report that the model is replicable district-wide.

In Houston, students who misbehaved in class were sent to libraries that had been transformed into “cool-down” spaces and also served as extra classrooms for advanced students to complete more challenging work. Those changes often bled into schools that weren’t targeted for intervention.

Houston students shared mixed reactions to the new policies, saying teachers inconsistently implemented the changes depending on who was observing the classroom. They also described stricter cellphone and tardiness policies. Some criticized the new student engagement requirements as ineffective and cited increased busywork in class.

Some teachers scheduled for significant raises

One month after taking office, Miles unveiled a Vision 2035 plan that completely rewrote the city’s teacher compensation system.

Starting in fall 2025, teachers began receiving raises based on performance instead of experience. That plan translated to roughly $65,000 salaries for unsatisfactory teachers and up to $104,000 for exemplary teachers. In years past, salaries ranged from $61,500 to around $80,000. On average, MSCS teachers earn just over $65,000 per year. The district’s starting salary is just over $50,000.

Base salaries for teachers at the designated NES schools also depend on the subject and grade level taught, with reading and math educators making thousands of dollars more than those who teach social studies or elective courses.

By fall 2026, all Houston teachers will be placed on a pay-for-performance model that determines base salaries, not just raises, by a teacher’s effectiveness level.

A different approach to school wraparound services

In his early months, Miles rolled out seven Sunrise Centers designed to serve Houston’s struggling students and families.

At the new resource hubs, community nonprofits ran food pantries and extracurricular programs like gardening and offered mental health services. The district paid some students to tutor their peers.

Miles budgeted around $12 million for the centers. But by the end of his first school year as superintendent, Houston public schools faced a $450 million budget deficit, which led to Miles cutting over 100 wraparound specialists in school buildings who focused on addressing issues like hunger and homelessness.

More than three-quarters of Houston students are economically disadvantaged compared to around 60% of MSCS students. Both districts predominantly serve families of color, with 60% of Houston’s student population being Hispanic and 74% of MSCS’ students being Black. Hispanic enrollment in Memphis schools is rising and will be 20% of the student population this year.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school board approves last budget before impending state takeover

2026-05-26T23:53:33+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County school board members unanimously approved a $1.7 billion budget on Tuesday that will likely be their last before the state takeover comes into the district.

District officials will present their plan for the 2026-2027 school year to the Shelby County Commission tomorrow for approval. This comes as top Republican leaders in Nashville have appointed eight of nine members to a state oversight board that will seize control of final budget decisions for the next four years.

It’s unclear whether the state-appointed board members will be able to change the district’s proposed budget. Under the law signed last week by Gov. Bill Lee, the oversight board will be able to block the Shelby County Commission from approving the MSCS annual budget until the oversight board gives its approval.

Local board members did not discuss the proposed budget during Tuesday’s meeting. Board Chair Natalie McKinney said the district gave a full presentation two weeks ago at the work session meeting.

“And we were able to ask questions at that time,” McKinney said. “So now we are at a point where the administration is asking us to now adopt that.”

Though most of the state board has been appointed, it has not yet met, and it’s unclear if it will before the budget gets final approval from the commission and the state education department. MSCS is considering its legal options to challenge the takeover and a companion law that effectively blocks the school board from using district funds to pay for legal action.

This year’s proposed annual budget is $200 million less than last year and includes bonuses for teachers who remain in their current positions and those who serve in priority schools, which have the lowest performance rates in the district.

It also asks for just short of $200 million for school building repairs, mostly big-ticket items like replacing roofing and HVAC systems. And the budget reflects a cutback on COVID-era support positions that were largely funded by pandemic relief dollars.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Former Memphis school board member, local lawyer tapped for new schools oversight board

2026-05-26T16:36:27+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Former Memphis-Shelby County school board member and local businessman Billy Orgel has been appointed to the nine-person oversight board that will seize control of Memphis-Shelby County Schools in a state-led takeover.

On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally appointed Orgel and Memphis attorney Dedrick Brittenum, Jr. to the board, joining five appointments Gov. Bill Lee made last week. Their official appointment letters state their terms on the board begin immediately.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton will make the two remaining appointments.

Orgel, the president and CEO of Tower Ventures, began serving on the newly merged Memphis-Shelby County school board in 2011, at one time chairing it. He held the East Memphis District 8 seat for more than a decade before deciding not to seek reelection in 2022.

Orgel’s time on the board overlapped with the tenure of then-Superintendent Dorsey Hopson. The governor appointed Hopson, who served as Memphis superintendent from 2013 to early 2019, last week to serve on the board. Hopson is a partner at the City Fund, an organization founded in 2018 to promote the portfolio model of running schools that promotes school choice and charter school expansion.

Brittenum has been a Memphis business and property lawyer for decades and opened his private practice in 2012. He served as the District 4 representative on the Memphis City Council from 2005-2007 and led the Memphis Light, Gas and Water board of commissioners in 2012. He was also the chair of Memphis’ Civil Service Commission.

The governor’s other four appointees are Shanea McKinney of Cigna, who is a member of the University of Tennessee’s board of trustees; Nisha Powers, who leads a Memphis civil engineering firm and has served on the Tennessee board of regents; Beverly Robertson, a marketing executive and former president and CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce; and Tyrone Burroughs, a Memphis CEO who sits on the Tennessee Lottery Commission and the Youth Villages board of directors.

Those oversight board members will control key district decisions until June 2030, when their terms are set to expire. Under the state takeover bill signed into law last week by Gov. Bill Lee, the GOP-appointed board will have final say over MSCS’ budget and contracts over $50,000, as well as the hiring and firing of the superintendent.

The school board has signaled it may sue over the politically appointed takeover board. But Rep. Mark White, a Republican from Memphis who sponsored the takeover bill, said he’s confident that legal action will fail.

One of the first responsibilities of the oversight board will be to conduct a comprehensive assessment of MSCS staff, students, and buildings to make a “transformation plan.” It’s unclear whether the new board will have any control over the 2026-27 budget, which is set for a final vote from the board on Tuesday night.

The oversight board can direct or prohibit the superintendent to take any action and can fire the school leader with cause if they refuse. It can require the same of local board members and act on behalf of the MSCS board if they refuse to follow instructions.

The state-appointed board can also fire any MSCS employee with or without cause, including tenured teachers and principals, without giving them proper due process.

The oversight board appointments come as Memphis voters are in the middle of a local board election, with incumbents Michelle McKissack and Joyce Dorse-Coleman winning their seats in a May 5 primary. The Democratic nominees for Districts 6 and 8, T.L. Harris and Tanya Frey respectively, will face an independent challenger in an Aug. 6 general election. Their terms begin Sept. 1.

Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis leaders decide to keep Ida B. Wells open despite school closure vote in February

2026-05-20T21:53:14+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

District officials will delay closing one Memphis school for at least a year despite the school board voting to shut it down in February.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools officials confirmed Wednesday that students and teachers from Ida B. Wells Academy will be moved into the Norris Achievement Academy building next year, and the original location will close. Chief Academic Officer Angela Whitelaw said that decision was motivated by an outpouring of community support for the K-8 alternative school during closure meetings this winter.

“The conversation was around (Ida B. Wells) being a level five school, and working with a very small student population,” Whitelaw said during an interview Wednesday. “Hearing that feedback and listening at both meetings, we wanted to lift up the programming that the school had.”

District officials provided more details of the now-altered closure plan on Wednesday following Chalkbeat Tennessee reporting that raised questions about how the school transfer would affect students and staff.

It’s a departure from the plan for four other schools that will close this year, where students will be dispersed into nearby schools and teachers relocated throughout the district. Director of Alternative Education Melita Thomas said Wells’ class sizes won’t be changed, and students won’t mix with Norris attendees. Principal Tarcia Gilliam-Parish will also join the transition to Norris, as will some teachers.

Superintendent Roderick Richmond originally said MSCS was considering a temporary transfer in February. After months of workshopping the plan, Whitelaw said the district told Ida B. Wells leaders and teachers about the relocation in April.

MSCS leaders decided to close the Ida B. Wells building in February because it was severely underenrolled, with more than 400 open seats, and needed almost $6 million worth of facility repairs. It’s part of Richmond’s plan to close up to 10 more schools by 2028 in an effort to combat those district-wide issues.

And at a graduation ceremony Tuesday, Ida B. Wells’ parents and staff said the district hadn’t given many details about what that move would look like. Some families have already made the decision to send their children to other schools next year.

Whitelaw said they’re planning as if all current Wells students will make the move to Norris. It’s unclear how many educators will follow, she said, because positions change significantly throughout the summer.

“Some teachers may not want to go in a building where there are two schools,” she said. “And we will be sharing an art teacher, music, PE, whatever exploratory classes that they have, that’s just efficient and maximizing staff.”

Whitelaw said Ida B. Wells will stay open in Norris for at least one year, but she’s not guaranteeing any longer.

“We want to make sure that we get in there and see, to give the programming some additional time, as well as the students to transition,” she said.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis students are graduating from closing schools. But one beloved program could be revived.

2026-05-20T16:39:35+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Shouts and cheers reached around a South Memphis block Tuesday morning from families at Ida B. Wells Academy, a K-8 school that Memphis-Shelby County board members voted to close at the end of this year.

As the school days dwindle, 84 students and a small team of staff are trying to suck every last drop of joy out of the building the school has called home for decades. There was an eighth-grade student awards ceremony last week. Friday was field day. And Tuesday was graduation.

At 10 a.m., students sat in dark blue caps and gowns near the cafeteria stage waiting for their name to be called. Family members burst into applause so loud the emcee had to cover his ears as each student collected their certificate.

There was an air of sadness as the new graduates passed out yellow roses to their teary-eyed parents, and uncertainty about what’s coming next.

In February, the Memphis-Shelby County school board voted to shut down Ida B. Wells Academy in a slate of school closures aimed at reducing chronic underenrollment and high facility costs. But while Wells will no longer be in the same building, school staff and families say the district made a last-minute decision to transfer the program to Norris Achievement Academy, another alternative school four miles south.

A flyer passed out at graduation reads, “We are moving!” promising the “same dedicated teachers & students” at Norris next year. But it’s unclear whether that’s different from plans for other school closures, which will disperse students into nearby schools and relocate teachers throughout the district.

In an emailed statement Tuesday night, MSCS said leaders decided to integrate the Ida B. Wells program into Norris “following valuable feedback received during community engagement meetings,” which happened this winter.

“The district will continue to ensure compliance with all state class size requirements and remains committed to supporting students through a smooth transition process,” the statement said.

The district did not respond to questions about whether Wells and Norris students will be in classes together or how the building will be staffed.

Superintendent Roderick Richmond said the district was considering the integration in February. But some parents then expressed concern about sending their children to Norris, which only enrolls students that have been expelled from other schools.

“We know a lot of you all have chosen other [school] options because of the late change in keeping Ida B. Wells open,” Principal Tarcia Gilliam-Parish said during Tuesday’s ceremony. “But we are glad, thankful, and grateful that we are going to be here.”

School staff and family members said Tuesday that only current Ida B. Wells students would be able to transfer to the new location. Lois Eldridge, whose eighth-grade grandson graduated Tuesday, praised the school’s dedicated teachers and safe environment. She wanted her granddaughter to start there next year.

“I just hate that my other grandkids couldn’t get to go here,” Eldridge said.

Some parents have already made the decision to move their children to different schools next year. Erica Smith told Chalkbeat in March that she’s sending one child to the Soulsville Charter School and another to arts-focused magnet school Rozelle Elementary.

For months, Ida B. Wells’ parents questioned why a school with high student test scores and academic growth should be closed. But MSCS leaders said the building is severely underenrolled, with more than 400 open seats, and needs almost $6 million worth of facility repairs. It’s part of Richmond’s plan to close up to 10 more schools by 2028.

Carla James has a granddaughter in third grade at Ida B. Wells this year. She said the family is planning to send her to Norris Academy next year to be with her teachers and maintain longstanding school ties.

“I used to go here when I was younger,” James said. “We’re going to be really sad without it.”

This story has been updated to include a response from MSCS.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

4 things to know about the next Memphis schools budget proposal

2026-05-18T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools leaders are proposing a $1.7 billion dollar budget for the 2026-27 school year, as a new state-appointed board comes in to assume control of the district’s financial decisions.

The MSCS board is set to vote on the proposed budget, which is a reduction from last year’s $1.9 billion budget, at its May 26 meeting. The budget then goes to the Shelby County Commission for final approval. But the state takeover of the district, which would seize budget power from the local board, is waiting to be signed into law by Gov. Lee.

It’s unclear whether those nine GOP-selected members would be able to touch this year’s budget. Their terms are set to start on July 1.

Most of the district’s budget is taken up by mandated costs, said Chief of Business Operations Tito Langston, including staff salaries and transportation. In a presentation to the county commission last week, Langston said the district is left with around $500 million to spend on additional services.

Here are four key takeaways from MSCS’ budget proposal:

Low enrollment could take a bite out of funds

County and state funding hinges on student enrollment, which has dropped by over 9% in MSCS over the past decade — far outpacing state and national trends.

In a March budget planning meeting, Langston said projected enrollment is up by 1% next year in traditional charter schools because of the reabsorption of two former Achievement School District buildings. But the state says MSCS lost 2,400 more students than anticipated in last year’s projections.

Langston said that those numbers still need to be verified, because they could equate to millions of dollars being taken away from MSCS’ state funding. He said the district can also make up that difference by improving attendance, which factors into county funding.

Shelby County only counts the percentage of enrolled students who show up to school. Right now, MSCS has a 92% attendance rate. But for every 1% increase, Langston said, the district could receive $800,000 additional dollars.

“So what’s important is for every kid you’ve got to come to school,” he said.

In that same meeting, Superintendent Roderick Richmond said dwindling enrollment is a motivating factor for closing and merging schools to save money. In December, Richmond announced a plan to close up to 15 schools in the next three years, starting with five this June.

“We all know that we really have too many schools for us to truly be able to sustain both the student population, but also to be able to leverage our human capital,” he said.

Bonuses included for teachers who stay in high-need positions

MSCS is proposing to offer $1,000 bonuses for fully-certified teachers who stay at their current school through the next year, and $2,500 bonuses for those who do the same in priority or CSI schools.

They’re also hoping to offer $2,500 sign-on bonuses for new special education and priority school hires.

In last week’s presentation to the commission, Langston said that’s because research shows consistency in teacher relationships boosts student achievement.

Richmond said in March that he wants to start next year with less than 100 teacher vacancies, down from 226 last year. Vacancy rates are highest in positions being offered the bonuses, including in special education and priority/CSI schools.

$200 million ask for building repairs, especially former ASD schools

MSCS leaders are asking the county for just under $200 million to address long-delayed and pressing building improvements, a project they’ve been spearheading since the beginning of this year.

Last year, the district had to cut some renovation and repairs after the Shelby County Commission failed to fill the full $35 million capital ask.

According to data obtained by Chalkbeat, most of that money would go towards big-ticket fixes like replacing roofing, electrical, and HVAC systems. Melrose High School is budgeted for the most expensive investment at just over $10 million, with Kirby High School right behind at $9 million.

In March, Richmond said the district has spent $20-30 million in recent years on schools returning from the failed state-run Achievement School District, or ASD. In 2022, MSCS reabsorbed four ASD schools in Frayser and a charter school in Orange Mound in 2023.

“All the ways we’ve evolved in the past 10 years and systems we invested in, they haven’t,” said Michelle Stuart, MSCS’ facilities director. That means the district funnels money into updating cafeterias and intercom equipment.

The last two ASD schools, Kirby Middle and Hillcrest High, will return to MSCS control next school year.

Cutbacks on COVID-era school support positions

Last year, MSCS invested an additional $30 million in specialized education assistants, or SEAs, who are school-based staff that provide one-on-one tutoring to struggling students.

But this year, district leaders are eliminating almost 100 of those positions and changing the remaining 600 to 10-month employees instead of 1212-month hires. In an April budget meeting, Langston said that helps MSCS fill a $36 million budget gap in the original proposal.

Richmond said the specialized education assistant model is no longer sustainable. The positions were originally funded using pandemic-era relief money that has since expired.

Langston said district leaders hope to help more SEAs transition into full-time certified teaching roles. And since they’re no longer working summer months, those staffers can take jobs working for the summer learning academy or other jobs outside of MSCS.

SEAs will no longer be fully paid for spring and fall breaks. Their salary will stay the same, according to a district email obtained by Chalkbeat, but payments will be spread across 10 months and face higher benefits deductions.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Will Memphis schools sue over the pending state takeover legislation?

2026-04-22T01:08:02+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The Memphis-Shelby County school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire a lawyer to challenge the state takeover legislation Tennessee Republicans advanced on Monday.

Hours before the Memphis board met, Gov. Bill Lee signed into law new legislation that will block the district from using public funds to pay for the lawyer. It’s unclear what that will mean for a lawsuit from MSCS moving forward.

The Memphis board meeting came one day after state lawmakers approved bill language that would give a new state-appointed oversight board control over the district’s budget and staffing decisions. That includes hiring and firing the superintendent with or without cause.

The takeover bill still needs to pass in the House and Senate, with the first round of voting expected on Wednesday. In Monday’s conference committee meeting, some Democrats raised concerns about the legality of the bill, which they said targets MSCS in its criteria for intervention.

Board members met in executive session before voting on the resolution, which was sponsored by board chair Natalie McKinney. Keith Williams was not present for the vote.

Board member Stephanie Love, who represents the Frayser area, said Tuesday that the district is still trying to “undo the unjust harm” caused by state intervention through the failed Achievement School District.

“We have a lot of work to do, but we are up for the task,” Love said. “And this law is racist. We are the largest public school system, the Blackest public school system, in the state of Tennessee.”

The new takeover bill could target other Tennessee school districts. But only MSCS meets all six of the academic underperformance and management instability criteria that triggers state intervention. For one, Memphis is the only district in the state with an ongoing state-funded forensic audit managed by the Tennessee Comptroller.

Other criteria include school districts where:

fewer than 50% of students earn proficient scores on state standardized math tests.
fewer than 50% of students earn proficient scores on state standardized English language arts tests.
25% or more of schools in the district earn a D or F letter grade from the Tennessee Department of Education.
and a 25% or higher chronic absenteeism rate.

McKinney told Chalkbeat before Tuesday’s meeting that she supported suing the state after multiple failed attempts to collaborate with lawmakers for an alternate path forward. She also said the takeover bill doesn’t help students.

“There is nothing in that piece of legislation that talks about academics,” she said. “It talks about our buildings and our budget.”

The oversight board would work on a mandated four-year term, during which it has veto power over proposed budgets and vendor contracts. It also has broad power to fire the superintendent and can cite the district leader’s refusal to follow board directives as cause for termination.

The current MSCS board unanimously approved a three-year contract for Superintendent Roderick Richmond on March 31. But Tennessee Republicans frequently point to the 2023 state takeover of Houston public schools as a model for MSCS’ intervention, where state education leaders immediately fired and appointed a new superintendent.

This story has been updated to include details from Tuesday night’s special meeting.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school leaders say Feagins’ tenure caused some issues in state audit

2026-04-06T19:13:53+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County school leaders are attributing a number of key issues raised by last week’s state forensic audit to previous superintendents, including the controversially ousted Marie Feagins.

A new website launched Monday says MSCS has made significant progress in the past year to correct missteps made during the tenures of four superintendents in the past five years.

The district referenced Feagins as contributing to the loss of institutional knowledge and weaknesses in internal audit systems, two key findings from the state forensic report, and failing to report educator misconduct to the state board of education in a timely manner.

“The district underwent a massive layoff during the prior superintendent’s tenure — more than 1,000 positions were eliminated,” the MSCS website says. “We have aggressively worked to rebuild the internal structure and historical knowledge, including the redevelopment of structures and processes proven effective.”

Republican lawmakers are using results from the early audit to push forward more aggressive plans for a state takeover of Memphis schools. The preliminary report identified $1.1 million in MSCS spending from July 2021 to June 2024 that meets the definition for waste and abuse. That represents less than 1% of MSCS’ total budget in those years and predates Richmond’s appointment as district leader.

The district’s Monday response doesn’t explicitly name Feagins, but says the “prior superintendent” declined to sign required forms for the state board of education and hindered the internal audit team by significantly changing the department’s structure. In an emailed statement Monday, MSCS added that Feagins’ changes caused two audit department leaders to quit.

Richmond said in a social media video Monday that district leaders “were aware of the vast majority of issues outlined” in the preliminary audit and “have already implemented guardrails and processes for improvement.”

“However, the audit also exposed a few critical blind spots that we can now collaboratively work to repair,” he said.

Richmond says he will be meeting with state lawmakers in the coming weeks to discuss audit findings. The district already presented a plan to upgrade out-of-date documentation and financial systems on March 10, before the audit was released. According to a real-time tracking site, the district says 27 of 38 projects are currently in progress or completed, though leaders haven’t given a deadline for the full plan to be in effect.

The state audit also pointed to inefficiencies and discrepancies in MSCS vendor contracts, such as missing invoice signatures and payment without proper renewal authorization. Audit firm CliftonLarsonAllen said MSCS failed to find 40% of employee I-9 records due to a significantly disorganized paper system.

According to the MSCS progress website, district leaders are currently auditing all staff positions for proper documents with an expected completion date of July 31. MSCS plans to conduct a review of I-9 inventory by May 31.

In the past year, the district has also made new rules about assigning “owners” to every contract. And after the audit release, MSCS started completing a separate review of all vendors to correct contract inaccuracies, including making sure each one has a proper conflict of interest disclosure.

Memphis school board members unanimously adopted a plan to increase local accountability last Tuesday in attempts to ward off a state takeover. They also passed a resolution to fast-track corrective action plans for state audit findings from Richmond in the next two months.

But the final audit results aren’t expected until late June, the preliminary report said, due to significant delays in obtaining documents from MSCS.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

5 key takeaways from the Memphis schools forensic audit

2026-04-02T11:00:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Preliminary findings from the state audit of Memphis-Shelby County Schools show over $1 million in spending considered waste or abuse, as well as ineffective document and policy systems.

The over 300-page report released Wednesday morning only represents 25% of the full investigation, which the report says is expected to conclude by June 30. The audit firm CliftonLarsonAllen, or CLA, said in the report that it is facing significant delays due to issues obtaining documents from MSCS in a timely manner.

“The forensic audit identified significant and recurring internal control, documentation, and records‑management deficiencies that materially impaired the District’s ability to demonstrate compliance, accountability, and effective stewardship of public funds,” the audit says. “Several areas of the forensic audit remain in progress.”

Some state leaders, including vocal advocates for the state takeover of MSCS, say these preliminary results are some of the worst they’ve ever seen. Tennessee Republicans said Wednesday that they will immediately move forward with plans to establish a state-appointed MSCS board to lead district decisions, rather than wait for the results from the full audit.

MSCS leaders, including the newly-appointed permanent Superintendent Roderick Richmond, say they’re committed to addressing issues raised by the audit. And some Memphis leaders say the dollar amount identified as waste and abuse spending over three years represents a fraction of MSCS’ $2 billion annual budget. In total, the violations constitute less than 1% of the budget.

Leaders have already adopted plans to upgrade internal document systems. And the school board passed a resolution Tuesday night fast-tracking corrective action plans from Richmond in the next two months.

The forensic audit is reviewing MSCS practices from July 2021 through June 2024, when former interim superintendents Joris Ray and Toni Williams were leading the district.

MSCS leaders will be presenting a full response report on Monday, April 6. In the meantime, here are five key takeaways from the initial audit findings:

$1.1 million in MSCS contracts “classified as waste or abuse” on leadership coaching, consulting

CLA found that around $1.1 million of spending on contracts over the past three years are consistent with definitions of waste and abuse. Most of that spending comes from paying for leadership coaching and consulting services that CLA says duplicate existing programs, or lack evidence of being completed.

A $45,000 payment to the Council of the Great City Schools, for example, seems to pay for training that is already included in district membership fees. And a $674,000 contract with the YMCA of Memphis was issued and paid for without following proper renewal procedures.

The group also identified $33,000 in payroll waste, including paying one employee for four months after they left the district.

And just over $1.7 million of spending in the 2021-2024 time period didn’t rise to the level of waste or abuse, but did run afoul of district policies. The contracts and payroll violations in question include incomplete travel expense reports and missing invoice signatures.

The spending labeled “waste or abuse” is a tiny fraction of overall district spending

The total amount of early waste and abuse findings measures up to less than 1% of MSCS’ multi-billion-dollar budget over the three years reviewed by CLA.

In an emailed statement Wednesday, Board Chair Natalie McKinney said that doesn’t discount the district’s responsibility to address discrepancies.

“While no level of waste or potential violation is acceptable, it is important to provide context,” she said. The small fraction of money “underscores that the primary issue is control effectiveness, not systemic financial collapse,” she added.

CLA didn’t identify any evidence of fraud, waste, or abuse in other spending categories, including federal grants and charter school funding.

Plus, Richmond last month presented a plan to MSCS board members to strengthen internal controls and modernize document systems in anticipation of audit findings. That includes making sure over 80% of the district’s employee files are complete in the next 90 days and reducing paper-based work.

Too many leadership transitions mean no institutional knowledge and inefficiencies

CLA’s preliminary report notes “multiple leadership transitions” during the audit period that resulted in a lack of institutional knowledge and inefficiencies across accountability and document systems.

“The turnover impacted the retention of staff, eroded institutional knowledge, created inefficiencies in the organizational stability of the core functions at MSCS, and increased internal control weaknesses and financial risks,” the audit says.

Richmond has also cited district leader turnover as a major barrier to management and trust in previous interviews. CLA found that the district has no formal, documented plans for leadership transitions — which has fragmented records-keeping practices and district policies.

In one notable example of district disorganization, CLA notes that MSCS failed to locate and provide I-9 forms that verify employees’ identities and employment authorization for 40% of requested records. The report says that the district office where these forms are kept is in “disarray with significant disorganization.”

CLA did say in its report that MSCS board members “generally demonstrated adherence to key governance and ethics requirements during the forensic audit period.” Dissatisfaction with the local school board, especially after its sudden firing of former superintendent Marie Feagins, has long been tied to pushes for the forensic audit and a state takeover of the district.

MSCS lacks proper internal audit systems and policies

The preliminary audit states that MSCS “lacks any comprehensive audit methodology” to internally evaluate its own procedures and actions.

“Many critical processes operate without formally documented, current, and standardized procedures,” the audit says. Where policies do exist, CLA says they are “frequently outdated” and “lack clearly assigned ownership.”

Quality assurance reviews across multiple departments, including HR and payroll, are “either absent or inconsistently documented,” the report says. Almost half of the district’s policies listed in its online platform BoardDocs haven’t been revised in the past ten years, CLA found.

That figure includes the district’s conflict of interest policies, the preliminary report notes. None of the reviewed vendor contracts include a conflict of interest clause. And the district didn’t request disclosures from board members or key employees in the three year period studied by the audit.

MSCS had incomplete and delayed responses to audit’s requests

Throughout the preliminary report, CLA stressed that its work has been held-up by MSCS’ “delayed and incomplete production of requested records,” especially in evidence related to vendor contracts and procurement.

“Despite extensive and ongoing efforts by CLA, including repeated document requests, weekly status calls, interviews, monthly onsite visits, and multiple follow‑up communications, the District did not provide significant categories of requested procurement and contract documentation,” the audit says.

In February, Richmond said that district employees were balancing their day-to-day responsibilities with diligently turning over documents to CLA. Some of the over 450 records requests were hundreds of pages long, he added.

CLA said it was incapable of reporting any early findings about contract negotiation and selection due to continuous delays in access to records. Overall disorganization increased these issues, CLA said, with documents scattered across multiple departments instead of being centrally located.

MSCS also lagged in responding to requests for internal emails, the audit said, and district staff still haven’t submitted a list of contract documentation that CLA requested on Feb. 13.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis board awards Richmond a permanent superintendent contract on the eve of state audit results

2026-04-01T01:33:25+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis school board members voted unanimously to approve interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s permanent contract as district leader the night before the results from a state audit were expected to be released.

That reverses the board’s decision only two weeks ago to delay issuing the permanent contract to add language responding to the forensic audit, which is expected tomorrow morning. Republican lawmakers predict that those findings will push forward a more aggressive state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

By issuing the permanent contract, the district could be on the hook for a nearly half-million dollar payout if the new state board decides to fire Richmond. That was the first step in the 2023 Houston school takeover that lawmakers say they’re using as a model for MSCS.

But in Tuesday’s special call meeting, board chair Natalie McKinney said it’s more important to offer stability, especially in response to what takeover advocates say they want to see from the district.

“We need stability, and we have that,” McKinney said. “We also understand that the superintendent has done everything that we’ve asked him to do. To continue to prolong this … doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Several MSCS principals also spoke in support of Richmond before the vote, praising his focus on student achievement and district stability over the past year as interim leader. Three board members — Tamarques Porter, Towanna Murphy, and Sable Otey — abstained from a vote to stop debate about the contract before joining colleagues in approving the measure.

Porter and Murphy questioned the urgency of approving a permanent contract only weeks after the board voted to delay that decision. The MSCS board unanimously voted to tap Richmond for the permanent job in February, but members disagreed then on whether to award the official contract without seeking public input.

“You are not respecting the board’s judgement,” Murphy said in Tuesday’s meeting. “We are 18 hours away from an audit to be released. And to make this decision right before that is preposterous to me.”

Richmond’s new contract lasts through Feb. 10, 2029 and pays $325,000 annually. It also states that if he is fired without cause before June 2027, the district will have to pay him a lump sum of 18 months’ worth of salary within 90 days.

Board member Amber Huett-Garcia pointed out that Richmond’s contract is the first to include accountability language based around student achievement. The document says the board can fire the superintendent with cause if two consecutive annual evaluations show “unsatisfactory” results in student achievement and business and finance.

“This is unlike any contract we’ve had in over a decade,” she said. “And (Richmond) accepted those terms. We have to meet the moment, and the public will be able to hold us accountable because we know we have this ability to do so for him.”

Board members also unanimously approved a plan for responding to impending state forensic audit results sponsored by Michelle McKissack. Richmond will have 30 days after the preliminary findings are released tomorrow to present a summary to the MSCS board and identify up to five priority issues. He will also be tasked with presenting a corrective action plan for each issue 30 days after that, including root causes and timelines for solutions.

The plan also requires the same reportables within 45 days of the final audit results. It’s unclear when those findings will come out.

And in further efforts to stave off state takeover pushes, members unanimously adopted a local accountability plan pitched earlier this month. The board is recommending an alternative committee made up of elected officials and community members to inform district decisions.

Otey, who sponsored the resolution, told Chalkbeat that she’s had several conversations with Sen. Brent Taylor and Rep. Mark White, the two Republican state lawmakers leading takeover legislation. They’ve been amenable to talking about the local plan, she said, but have never said they would abandon their own.

“If you look at the plan, it’s mirroring what they were trying to do at the state level,” Otey said. “Obviously, we’re a huge organization and we need some type of support … Let’s work together so it’s not too far off on what you’re saying, but it’s keeping us at the local level.”

Taylor and White have been pushing to establish their state-appointed board of managers in MSCS since last year. But the clock is ticking on passing that legislation with only a few weeks left in this year’s legislative session.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Ahead of Memphis schools takeover, Republicans move to block district’s legal pushback

2026-03-26T21:26:21+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

If Tennessee Republicans move forward to impose a state-backed takeover of Memphis-Shelby County schools, the district’s hands may be tied from challenging the state intervention’s legitimacy in court.

Tennessee school districts would be blocked from using their budgets to pay for lawsuits challenging any state-imposed accountability measures under a new bill making its way through the General Assembly. Districts could still sue the state if other organizations like legal defense funds foot the legal bills.

Senate Republicans passed Sen. Brent Taylor’s SB 712 on Thursday, though the House version awaits a pivotal House Education Committee vote. Though the legislation is written broadly to block districts from funding lawsuits to challenge accountability measures, it comes just days before lawmakers are expected to unveil a renewed effort to seize major controls from the locally elected Memphis school board.

Taylor said Thursday he believes the measure would apply to state intervention efforts.

The legislation is backed by the takeover’s sponsors, Taylor and fellow Memphis Republican Rep. Mark White.

Two MSCS officials declined to comment on the passing of Taylor’s bill. But Memphis Board Chair Natalie McKinney has previously said she’s in favor of challenging state takeover legislation in court.

Taylor and White have said they’re modeling their takeover of MSCS after a 2023 state intervention in Houston public schools. Houston’s local board delayed that action for three years by filing a 2019 lawsuit against the state education department. The case went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court, where it was ultimately overruled.

As the General Assembly enters what is expected to be the final month of session, the clock is ticking on the takeover effort Taylor and White say will be coming this year.

The two lawmakers, backed by Republican leadership, have argued that Memphis students have been badly served by years of district drama at the board level, and that years of languishing test scores require external intervention.

White has proposed an oversight committee structure that would take control of the district’s major financial decisions, including the superintendent’s contract. The committee would be made up of Shelby County residents, which Republicans argue would amount to local intervention rather than a state takeover. But the committee would be handpicked by state Republican leaders at a time of increased tensions between state and locally elected Memphis officials.

Takeover effort details are still unclear with just weeks left in the General Assembly session. White and Taylor say they need the results of an external financial audit to inform intervention plans, though both want an oversight committee that takes significant controls away from the local board.

That audit was completed in mid-March, according to the Tennessee Comptroller’s office, and lawmakers have received private briefings on its details. But the office still has not set a date for its public release. Multiple legislators this week said they expect the audit to be released publicly next week.

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, last year favored an intervention effort with more input from local elected officials. But in recent weeks he has said the audit briefings revealed significant mismanagement and proved that oversight is necessary.

Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa atmbrown@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis board proposes ‘accountability’ plan amid looming state takeover threat

2026-03-06T19:38:07+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis school board members on Friday announced plans to develop a local accountability oversight council in an effort to stave off a looming state takeover threat that could quickly progress in the coming weeks.

Under the new proposal, a new group made up of some board members, community stakeholders, and elected officials would focus on governance, academic outcomes, long-term facilities planning, and district stability and financial transparency.

The effort was offered as an alternative to a state takeover plan currently being considered by Tennessee Republican lawmakers and spearheaded by two Memphis’ lawmakers unhappy with years of fraught board governance and academic outcomes in the district.

“Our district has faced real challenges, but over the past year, we have begun to see stability, accountability, and forward movement under local leadership,” MSCS board chair Natalie McKinney said at a Friday press conference announcing the plan. “That progress belongs to this community.”

MSCS’ full board would still have to adopt the proposed plan. McKinney and other board members were joined by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, and other elected officials.

Memphis Superintendent Roderick Richmond was not present at the Friday announcement.

Though a state takeover effort stalled last year, Sen. Brent Taylor and Rep. Mark White have repeatedly said over the last year they will move forward with the plan, which would install an oversight committee of political appointees that would wrest almost all financial controls from the locally elected school board. Supporters of the plan have argued the oversight board, whose appointees would be Shelby County residents, would not amount to a state-run takeover.

The board’s proposal on Friday comes just weeks before a preliminary report is expected in an ongoing Memphis schools financial audit. GOP lawmakers last month received an early, confidential briefing of the audit, which they said reiterated the need for takeover legislation.

After the confidential briefing, the Tennessee Comptroller’s office said auditors would release an early report sometime in March. The Comptroller’s still did not have a firm publication date when asked this week.

Neither Taylor nor White have responded to a Chalkbeat request for comment, though Taylor told the Commercial-Appeal on Friday he would not withdraw his legislation in favor of the board’s proposed accountability plan.

McKinney said she hoped the board will adopt their own accountability plan even if the state takeover moves forward.

Republicans point to Memphis’ low proficiency rates and board drama in recent years as their main concerns with the district. Last year, over 75% of Memphis students failed to achieve proficiency in reading and math.

However, the district earned the highest possible score in academic growth, or student improvement, on state tests for the fourth year in a row.

McKinney on Friday also pointed to significant progress the district has made in its Ready Graduate rate and in school test grades.

“These actions show that progress is already underway,” McKinney said. “That progress deserves full and fair consideration by policy makers and the public.”

Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.

Almost 40% of Memphis high schoolers are on track to be chronically absent this year

2026-02-25T22:01:16+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis schools are reducing chronic absenteeism rates this year but still lag far behind state averages and in some cases behind the district’s own goals.

In a presentation Tuesday, district leaders shared that close to 40% of high school students are at risk for being chronically absent this year. That means around 12,000 high schoolers would miss more than 10% or 18 school days in a year.

That’s around a one percentage point drop for Memphis-Shelby County high schoolers compared to last year. But it’s significantly higher than the state’s average high school chronic absenteeism rate of just over 23% in the 2024-2025 school year.

“This is where the work comes in,” said Stacey Davis, director of the district’s attendance team. “I’ve always said that if we address our attendance issues on the front end, that will certainly help us with truancy on the back end.”

District leaders said in the fall that they hope to have around a quarter of MSCS students hitting the chronically absent mark at the end of this year. Statewide, just over 18% of students were missing 18 or more school days last year.

By December, 27% of all MSCS students were at high risk for chronic absenteeism. That’s down from last year’s rate of 31.5% in June and just above the district’s target of 26.5% for the end of this year.

Two MSCS regions — the Northeast and Southeast — are hitting that target right now. By contrast, the two western regions also have chronic absenteeism rates higher than the district’s goal of 26.5% for 2025-2026.

And over 40% of students in the district’s CSI schools, the lowest-performing in the state, are on track to be chronically absent this year.

Less than 30% of MSCS students in elementary and middle school are at risk of being chronically absent this year, but no grade levels come close to the state average of 16% for K-8 students.

Board members did not discuss the attendance data during Tuesday’s meeting, and they didn’t define what being at “high risk” of chronic absenteeism means. MSCS leaders said in November that they were on track to reduce chronic absenteeism for the first time since 2017.

Davis said then that the district was expanding the work of attendance liaisons, who are making more daily phone calls for absent students. While some work in multiple MSCS schools, Davis said Tuesday that the district is assigning full-time and more experienced attendance specialists to each CSI school.

The district also launched a door-knocking campaign to increase attendance at the beginning of the year. Davis said Tuesday that she hopes to meet with members of the MSCS student congress to learn more about the factors preventing high school students from showing up to class.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis board votes to close five schools at the end of school year

2026-02-25T02:18:04+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Five Memphis-Shelby County schools will close at the end of this school year, forcing more than 1,200 students to attend new schools starting in August.

Memphis board members unanimously voted Tuesday to shut down Georgian Hills Elementary, Lucy Elementary, and Chickasaw Middle without discussion. Frayser-Corning Elementary and Ida B. Wells Academy will close by a split vote of 7-2 and 5-3 respectively.

Michelle McKissack, who represents Ida B. Wells, abstained from voting. Several board members recognized that the alternative school was the only recommended closure that received significant pushback, including during the Tuesday meeting.

“Your passion, we all heard it,” McKissack said to school advocates. “Not a single board member up here wants to do this, but we are charged with making difficult decisions and being fiscally responsible.”

This is the first round of recommended closures in the district’s plan to close up to 15 schools by 2028 because of chronic underenrollment and increasing building maintenance costs. Those are growing problems throughout the district, with enrollment dropping quicker than the state average and building upkeep costs totaling around $1.6 billion over the next decade.

Chickasaw Middle, for example, would need $3.4 million invested in building repairs or upgrades in the next two years, including complete replacements of the HVAC and plumbing systems. Frayser-Corning Elementary would need $2.6 million for improvements such as a new electrical system.

Superintendent Roderick Richmond, who was recently promoted from his interim role, recommended the first four schools for closure in September. Lucy Elementary will be taken over by Millington Municipal Schools, a suburban district, as part of a state mandated transfer agreement.

In a series of community hearings held throughout the winter, parents fought back against closure recommendations. Some questioned why a high-performing school would be shuttered. Others raised safety concerns about proposals to merge schools with different grade levels to absorb displaced students.

It’s unclear what will happen to affected teachers and school staff. District leaders have said they plan to keep as many employees in MSCS as possible. That was a point of contention during the vote on Frayser-Corning Elementary school.

“We have to figure out where our teachers are going to go before we close a school,” said board member Towanna Murphy, who voted against closing both Frayser-Corning and Ida B. Wells.

Board member Stephanie Love, who represents the Frayser elementary school, also voted against its closure Tuesday. Love and vice chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman joined Murphy in opposing Ida B. Wells’ closure.

During Tuesday’s meeting, a number of parents and alumni from Ida B. Wells made a last-ditch effort to convince board members to keep their school open. The speakers questioned why the school, which is exceeding state expectations for improving student test scores, is being closed.

Deja Bowen attended Ida B. Wells from fourth through eighth grade and graduated in 2019. She now attends University of Memphis and is planning to join the Air Force as a nurse.

“I never thought that I’d go to college,” Bowen said. “Like more than half of the students who completed (Ida B. Wells) with me, we all were in unusual circumstances. And without the teachers, who are more than likely the only constants in our lives, I don’t know where I would be.”

Several rows of audience members wearing the school colors of blue and yellow stood in support of Ida B. Wells during public comment.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis leaders want to close Ida B Wells. Parents say there’s no school like it.

2026-02-17T23:20:28+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis mom Erica Smith vividly remembers the day two years ago that her phone wouldn’t stop ringing while she was at work.

On the other end of the line were four different teachers from Ida B. Wells Academy. Her fourth grade daughter, they said, had fallen asleep and wouldn’t wake up.

The school’s teachers showed up then, when her daughter was diagnosed with a sleep disorder and needed assistance getting back on track academically. They showed up again when she struggled to cover her daughter’s basketball fee, and when some families in the South Memphis neighborhood needed help putting food on the table.

They showed up again just last week, when the school attendance specialist picked her daughters up and drove them to school when Smith had a transportation issue.

“It’s more than teaching with that school,” she said. “They really have wholehearted care about our children.”

But now, the close-knit school may be shuttered. Ida B. Wells is one of the five district schools that has been targeted for closure in a larger Memphis-Shelby County Schools facilities plan.

Smith and other parents credit the small classes for serving their children better than larger neighborhood public schools. But low student enrollment is one of the main reasons the district is considering closing Ida B. Wells, which opened in 1963, at the end of this year. Only 84 students currently attend the K-8 school, which is built to hold almost 500.

Memphis-Shelby County leaders plan to close up to 15 schools in the next three years because of rising facilities costs and chronic underenrollment. The school board is expected to vote on the first five closure recommendations — including Ida B. Wells, Georgian Hills Elementary, Frayser-Corning Elementary, Lucy Elementary, and Chickasaw Middle — next Tuesday.

At a January community hearing on the closure proposal, parents questioned why a higher performing MSCS school is being targeted. Ida B. Wells students earned the highest state score for academic growth last year and slightly outperformed the district-wide average on reading and math tests.

Smith worries those results can’t be replicated at other MSCS schools, especially for students with specific needs like her daughter.

“Another teacher is going to basically learn her all over again, and it’s going to be hard,” Smith said.

But MSCS leaders say chronic underenrollment is preventing students throughout the district from receiving the highest quality resources and staff. Higher building costs means less money for what goes in the schools, facilities director Michelle Stuart said.

“Nobody wants their school to close,” Stuart said recently. “But I have recognized that people are understanding the logic of not having half-empty buildings,” she said, because the district can add more staff and programming to full schools.

Parents, staff criticize district options for Ida B. Wells students

Ida B. Wells Academy is nestled in a quiet residential neighborhood with narrow streets south of East E.H. Crump Boulevard. On a school day afternoon, laughter and chatter can be heard from outside the school walls.

On one side of the building, there’s a vibrant mural featuring the school’s namesake, a dedicated investigative journalist and NAACP co-founder. Bright blue letters by the school’s front door spell out “vision, leadership, responsibility.”

Ida B. Wells is an open enrollment school, meaning any MSCS family can apply to attend regardless of their home address. Some current parents are wary of their neighborhood options, which is where they say their children would likely end up if the school closes.

Linda Farmer is the grandparent of a Wells sixth grader. If MSCS closes the school, her grandchild will attend Booker T. Washington next year. But she said she’s wary of moving her grandchild to a school with a larger population that combines grades 6-12.

“They never should have put the youth in there alongside the teenagers, because it made it more dangerous,” Farmer said.

Ida B. Wells has a multicolored mural featuring the school namesake, a dedicated journalist and NAACP cofounder.

MSCS parents raised similar safety concerns at the closure hearing for Chickasaw Middle School in December, as the district proposed a merger with nearby Westwood High School, and again at a hearing for closing Lucy Elementary.

In their long-term facilities plan, MSCS leaders say they want to lean more on those grade combination structures to boost building enrollment. Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond argues that those models increase stability and continuity for students.

“I can enter school in the sixth grade, and I can establish relationships with my teachers and the leaders, so that for six years I can be in one feeder pattern and in one school,” he said. “We understand some of the parental concerns, but this is not a new way of looking at structuring schools.”

Opponents to the Ida B. Wells closure say the school has a unique culture that can’t be replicated elsewhere. Louis Morganfield has been the building engineer since June, but he’s worked in MSCS for the past six years.

“I walk those halls and I see the difference,” he said of the South Memphis school. “I haven’t seen one fight. I don’t hear any screaming and hollering at the kids. Teachers give them a look, and they get right in line.”

According to 2024-25 state education department data, fewer than 10 students were disciplined at Ida B. Wells Academy. Overall, close to 16,000 MSCS students were disciplined that year.

Morganfield is running for the District 9 seat on the local school board in May because he’s been frustrated with the closure process. And he feels more MSCS schools should be like Ida B. Wells: small and tightly run.

“It’s teaching [students] to stand up to Goliath with reading and writing,” Morganfield said. “The world is going to put obstacles in their way. But because of what they are learning at Ida B Wells, they’re going to be able to jump over, go around the obstacles, and they are going to do what they need to do to be successful.”

Farmer, the grandparent of an Ida B. Wells student, said she thinks the district hasn’t talked to families enough.

“The majority of the time they don’t listen because they already made their decision,” she said.

But district leaders say they’re taking feedback from families seriously. MSCS board members have been frequent attendees of the community listening sessions held in the past few months.

“Ida B. Wells is an amazing school,” board member Michelle McKissack said in a board meeting last week. “But there are 84 students across nine different grades. That is not serving the greater Memphis community.”

Smith says the Ida B. Wells teachers and staff are like extra parents to her two kids. And they’re reliable mentors and supporters for parents, too.

“They’ll tell me I’m doing a good job. They always stay to give me a hug,” she said. “I don’t want to lose that.”

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis board appoints Roderick Richmond as permanent superintendent after contentious debate

2026-02-12T02:05:39+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis schools interim leader Roderick Richmond will serve as the district’s permanent superintendent after contentious debate among board members Wednesday.

The Memphis-Shelby County school board voted unanimously to appoint Richmond as the full-time superintendent after his temporary contract expires at the end of July. That came after a split board argued over whether a full superintendent search was feasible and necessary for transparency, or whether immediate stability was the most important factor.

“There’s a crisis of inconsistency here,” said board member Amber Huett-Garcia, who voted to appoint Richmond. “We have four colleagues here who had rooms full of people begging you not to make a decision last January. But the community voice didn’t matter back then.”

Last January, the MSCS board voted to suddenly fire former superintendent Marie Feagins. They immediately appointed Richmond as the temporary leader. Richmond is the fourth leader MSCS has had in four years.

Board members pushing for Richmond’s appointment Wednesday said the context of an impending state takeover puts urgency behind the decision.

“We are under attack by the state,” said chair Natalie McKinney, who voted to appoint Richmond. “Our continued kicking the can down the road in making a decision about a permanent superintendent puts us possibly in the crosshairs with the state.”

Richmond’s promotion comes as Tennessee Republicans are working to pass bills for a state takeover of MSCS. Bill sponsors Sen. Brent Taylor and Rep. Mark White, who both represent the Memphis area, are pushing to establish a state-appointed board of managers that would strip the local school board of most powers, including the hiring and firing of superintendents.

While neither will confirm whether the new board would immediately replace the district leader, Taylor said in a Friday interview that decisions made by MSCS now — including Richmond’s appointment — are “irrelevant.”

Three board members – Tamarques Porter, Sable Otey, and Towanna Murphy – originally voted against the appointment process, and to delay naming an appointee until Feb. 24.

“I do appreciate Dr. Richmond for bringing us stability,” Porter said. “I don’t see a need to rush right now.”

The terms of Richmond’s new contract are undecided. MSCS General Counsel Justin Bailey will enter immediate negotiations with Richmond to decide how long he will stay on and what his salary will be, among other details. Richmond receives $325,000 per year as interim, the same rate paid to former superintendent Feagins.

Bailey is expected to present Richmond’s contract after at least 14 days.

Richmond has said in previous interviews that he’s focused on restoring trust and stability to the district. After the meeting, Richmond told reporters that he’s excited to lead MSCS towards being the “number one urban district in the country.”

“Having retention in our district is one of the most important things we can do now,” he said. “We’ve stabilized the district. Now, what I want us to do is provide the continuity necessary for us to turn it around.”

Board members praised Richmond for delivering on the responsibilities they gave him earlier this year. In the last 11 months, Richmond helped develop a long-term facilities plan that includes closing up to 15 schools in the next three years. The MSCS board will vote on five of his recommendations this month.

He also created a new regional superintendent model for MSCS and brought back district-wide testing. Under Richmond’s leadership, teacher vacancies were cut in half to 226 in the beginning of the school year. Richmond has said he wants that number down to 50 by August.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis leaders criticize ‘premature’ audit comments from GOP lawmakers

2026-02-11T16:01:30+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools interim leader Roderick Richmond says state lawmakers’ comments about the forensic audit of the district are “premature,” given no findings have been officially reported.

Last week, the Tennessee Comptroller and audit company CliftonLarsonAllen held a meeting with select Tennessee lawmakers in Nashville to present updates on the $6 million forensic investigation of MSCS that’s been happening since August. Legislators called the update “concerning,” but refused to give details about what they learned.

In an interview Tuesday, Richmond called out GOP lawmakers for speaking on the audit before any conclusions or findings have been reached.

“I think there’s a certain level of embellishment in regards to saying it’s extremely troubling,” he said. “The ethical thing to do is for people to not interfere with any type of forensic investigation prematurely, because interfering could impact the outcome of the investigation.”

Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor, both Republicans representing the Memphis area, are using that Feb. 4 update from the audit company CLA to bolster calls for an aggressive state takeover of MSCS. Other GOP lawmakers want to spend more time and money to expand the audit.

But Richmond says the audit is already draining district time and resources. During a board meeting Tuesday, he shared that MSCS has provided over 450 documents, some of which are hundreds of pages long, to CLA in the past six months.

“I just don’t think people can truly understand the gravity of what my team and I, along with the support of our board, have navigated,” Richmond said. MSCS staff “are doing these things in real time, while also managing our day-to-day work,” he added.

Richmond says CLA is required by contract to immediately share any evidence of fraud or illegal acts with the comptroller. But he hasn’t heard anything indicating that has happened.

“As I’ve always said, we welcome the audit,” Richmond added. “It’s not a reflection on me and my leadership.”

The forensic investigation is focused on MSCS operations from July 2021 through June 2024, long before Richmond was appointed as interim superintendent – and predating more than half of the current school board. CLA is also conducting a “digital assessment,” which Richmond said includes reviewing emails, through this year.

“This audit is extremely comprehensive,” he said. “You’re talking about a $2 billion organization, and so I didn’t know, really, if the audit would take 12 months, 24 months, 36 months.”

That’s why Richmond says he never expected the audit to be complete before this legislative session is over, despite what state takeover advocates originally wanted. Neither CLA nor the comptroller have provided a specific timeline for the investigation.

Board Chair Natalie McKinney said during Tuesday’s meeting that she welcomes feedback on the district’s “legacy systems and antiquated records.”

“We view this as an opportunity to work with the state to strengthen our system,” she said. “Please understand that we welcome oversight, reject speculation, and remain committed to facts, integrity, and responsible governance.”

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Will Memphis hold a formal search for its next superintendent?

2026-02-10T22:18:09+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis school board members are expected to vote Wednesday on whether they will conduct a full search for the next superintendent amid state takeover pushes that could render their decision irrelevant.

Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s contract expires at the end of July. The Memphis-Shelby County school board appointed Richmond, who’s worked in the district for over 30 years, almost immediately after firing former superintendent Marie Feagins last January.

Board members could sidestep a drawn-out superintendent search and instead extend Richmond’s contract with a simple majority vote, which some expressed support for at a Jan. 20 board meeting. The last formal superintendent search took over a year and caused board member infighting and controversies.

MSCS board members have three options when considering a new superintendent contract:

Extend Richmond’s contract by up to four years with a simple majority board vote.
Declare a vacancy in the superintendent position and appoint a new leader with a 2/3 majority board vote.
Conduct a full national or local search, including developing and collecting applications and hosting public interviews. The final candidate would be chosen by a 2/3 board vote.

District policy says the board must give Richmond at least 15 days notice before extending his contract or removing him from office, which they could do at any time.

The process to choose MSCS’ next leader comes as Tennessee Republicans continue to push for a state takeover of the district. Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor, both Republicans from the Memphis area, say they’re confident they’ll pass bills to create a state-appointed board of managers that would usurp the powers of the local MSCS board, including the hiring and firing of superintendents.

“At this point, the school board and the superintendent can make whatever decisions they want,” Taylor said in a Friday appearance on WKNO. “It’s immaterial to what we’re going to do in the legislature. And at this point, they’re as irrelevant as a nutrition chart on a bag of ice.”

Taylor said the board of managers could fire the next superintendent even if the MSCS board issues a contract before the takeover law passes. And both lawmakers point to the 2023 takeover of Houston’s public school district as a model. The state immediately fired the local superintendent.

At this point, they’re as irrelevant as a nutrition chart on a bag of ice.
Sen. Brent Taylor, talking about MSCS board & superintendent

Richmond says he wants the permanent leadership role to continue to provide stability to a district that’s seen five superintendents in the past 10 years.

“We can’t continue to have high turnover at the top,” Richmond told Chalkbeat in a Jan. 29 interview. “You build trust through relationships.”

Richmond received mixed reviews from MSCS teachers on an informal survey presented by the board Jan. 20. But principals and current board members gave the interim leader high marks on areas like student achievement and strategic vision.

The interim leader declined to speculate on what would happen to his role if the state takeover prevails.

“I think anybody who’s in a position of leadership has to be open to change, and they have to be adaptable,” Richmond said. “But as of today, that’s not the current state of our district, so my team and I would just stay focused on what’s within our control.”

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Shelby County judge says 2026 school board reset election is unlawful

2026-02-09T23:28:26+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Five Memphis school board members will not have to seek reelection in May after a Monday court ruling invalidated the monthslong push from the county government to put all nine seats on the ballot.

A Shelby County judge ruled that the September resolution passed by the county commission is invalid and void because it would cut five Memphis-Shelby County school board members’ elected terms short.

Chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson said the Shelby County Commission “exceeded their authority” by adopting a resolution that specified changes needed to happen in the next election cycle and across all districts. Those details were not included in the 2025 state law that authorized local governments to restructure election dates.

In an emailed statement, MSCS praised the court for making a “measured and thoughtful” decision.

“The court’s decision upholds both the letter and spirit of the law and reinforces the principle that locally elected officials should serve the full terms to which they were duly elected,” the statement said.

MSCS sued the Shelby County Election Commission in December for implementing the county’s resolution and won a temporary restraining order to stop candidate filing for districts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. Current MSCS board members filling those seats had called the move retaliation for firing former Superintendent Marie Feagins last January.

The initial lawsuit didn’t include the county commission. But on Jan. 15, the board amended its complaint to include the county government as a defendant and then dismissed the entire election commission a week later.

Lee Whitwell, the lawyer representing the Shelby County Commission, argued Thursday that those moves were “procedurally problematic,” giving the commission no time to prepare a legal argument. The MSCS team also hasn’t filed an updated complaint against the commission at large.

“We’re backed into a corner because of the way the plaintiffs handled this case,” Whitwell said Thursday. “Because they didn’t comply … they’re really not entitled to the relief that they’re seeking today at all.”

The judge agreed that MSCS didn’t follow proper procedure. But she said she couldn’t allow a technicality to result in the abridgement of elected terms. The court also was running out of time to issue a ruling, with candidate filings for 2026 races due in less than two weeks.

Taylor Jefferson declined to rule on whether the county commission’s resolution violates the Tennessee constitution, another claim alleged by MSCS in its initial lawsuit. Whitwell confirmed that those issues could be argued in an appeal to a higher court. But he declined to say whether the Shelby County Commission will appeal Thursday’s ruling.

Wade said the constitutional questions are a moot point, because the county exceeded what state law authorized.

“That alone is enough to disqualify,” he said. “You don’t have to have a constitutional basis.”

As of early last month, 22 challengers had completed the first step to run against incumbents in the May 5 primary, which this year is a partisan race for the first time. Districts 1, 6, 8 and 9 will still be on the ballot according to the usual four-year election schedule.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis schools close for ninth day in a row due to unsafe roads

2026-02-04T23:25:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis schools will be closed again Thursday despite the district officially running out of built-in snow days for the year.

Students in Memphis-Shelby County Schools haven’t seen their classrooms since Friday, Jan. 23 on the eve of a weekend winter storm. The district has been shut down since then due to unsafe road conditions caused by persistent ice.

“While conditions are improving, many areas, including residential streets, sidewalks, and bus stops remain impassable,” MSCS officials wrote in a social media post Wednesday afternoon.

The district budgeted eight built-in days for inclement weather closures this year. MSCS used all of them as of Wednesday. District leaders did not announce any plans for virtual learning, which means students could face an extended school year or shortened breaks to make up missed class time.

District officials have not announced how Thursday’s school time will be made up.

MSCS could absorb pre-planned professional development days or apply for an emergency waiver from the Tennessee Department of Education. Other districts, including Nashville, have said they will use the upcoming President’s Day holiday to make up a day.

Ryhanna Graham, a junior at Whitehaven High School, said the district made the right call to cancel Thursday – and she thinks schools will close on Friday, too.

“The roads have been bad, and I live on a hill, so I wouldn’t be able to get to school safely,” she said. “And a lot of people don’t even have cars. Walking on the ice, something bad could happen.”

Graham said she’s been completing online assignments for her dual enrollment classes throughout the break. But she hasn’t been able to go into work at Tropical Smoothie Cafe, which is taking a toll on her bank account.

“And I take AP classes, where our tests are already scheduled,” she said. “So when we get back, we really have to put pen to paper.”

Tennessee school districts are able to use up to five virtual learning days per semester due to weather-related closures. Graham said she doesn’t like that option because online classes can leave some students behind.

But Angell Lawson, the parent of a freshman at Power Center Academy, said the district should transition to virtual learning after a couple days off.

“Parents are going to be home as well, and these days have to be made up,” Lawson said in an interview. “I feel like the transition back will be almost like starting over at the beginning of the school year. They’ll have to get acclimated again.”

But Lawson recognizes that online classes come with logistical barriers, like internet and computer access. And it doesn’t solve the problem of families who rely on school for child care and meals.

Graham, the MSCS junior, said she hopes the district will take away scheduled spring break days instead of pushing the school year into the summer.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school takeover opponents are gearing up for a public fight

2026-02-03T19:21:12+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Last March, a group of Memphis faith and nonprofit leaders rallied outside the school district’s headquarters holding signs with “S.O.S.” printed in bright red letters.

It was a public show of community solidarity with Memphis-Shelby County Schools, which was facing threats of a state takeover from Tennessee lawmakers. The grassroots Save Our Students coalition called the proposal to establish a state-appointed oversight board “an attack on democracy.”

The group hosted a series of town halls and community meetings through May, shortly after the state legislature failed to pass a cohesive takeover bill. But since last summer, public pushback has been notably muted, even as Memphis Republicans signaled through the summer and fall they were working on a compromise to push the takeover bill forward in early 2026.

Community response seems to be “radio silent,” Liz Marable, president of the United Education Association chapter in Memphis, said. But former Save Our Students members say they’re taking a more behind-the-scenes advocacy approach, at least until they better understand what they’re up against.

“The organizing never stopped,” said Joseph Kyles, president of Rainbow PUSH Coalition Memphis. “But at this point, it’s all in terms of strategy. You need to know what you are fighting against, and the bill is not clear. The relationship between the Senate and the House is not clear.”

Kyles said he thinks rallies will kick up again after lawmakers learn early results of the district’s financial audit, which are expected Wednesday, and a final version of the takeover bill is developed.

White and Taylor could fast-track their bill through the legislative session if GOP leadership were on board with the compromise plan. While the House wants to push forward with a more aggressive state takeover, some Senate Republican leadership are hesitant about installing an oversight board with no input from local Memphis leaders.

Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said he’s met with a number of lawmakers about the state takeover pushes over the last year and regularly communicates with White and Taylor. As the “chief advocate for the district,” Richmond said he’s primarily been spreading word of MSCS’ growth.

“Just because people aren’t screaming and yelling doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t have people who are being supportive via other channels,” he added. “I would like to think that there are more people advocating for us than against us.”

Some Memphis community leaders say the recent immigration crackdown led by the Memphis Safe Task Force, a deployment of federal and state agencies against the wishes of local leadership, has drained energy and resources.

“People are gearing up for immigration fights and the harms that are being caused to people in our community,” said Cardell Orrin, executive director of Stand for Children Tennessee. “Most of the organizations here are not education-specific. So there’s still interest, but there’s an organizing gap.”

Memphis takeover opponents argue that they want state support instead of overreach. Marable, leader of the local teachers’ group, said the state should invest more money into the school system for wraparound student services and strengthen affordable housing.

“We’re not asking the state to walk away; we’re asking them to be a real partner,” Marable said. “If Tennessee is really about student success, I think it has to invest and not control, because they don’t have the power to run schools. They’ve proven that over and over.”

In 2012, Tennessee lawmakers took control of around 30 Memphis schools under what they called the Achievement School District. That experiment, meant to boost school performance, is largely considered a failure. Most state takeovers over the past three decades haven’t successfully improved student achievement.

But proponents for the MSCS takeover want to use Houston’s takeover in 2023 as a model. Luke Cymbal, vice president of the Shelby County Republican Party, says he’s met with Houston’s new state-appointed superintendent alongside White and Taylor.

“I think the result there speaks for itself,” Cymbal said.

Student reading and math proficiency scores have improved in Houston since 2023. But some researchers and the Houston teachers union have raised concerns about the validity of the A-F school rating system, which was overhauled the same year that the state takeover began.

“The data just does not support takeover,” Richmond said. “What the data supports is more of a partnership approach, a co-management approach, where all of us want the same thing.”

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis cancels school Thursday and Friday, marking a full week of weather-related closures

2026-01-28T19:16:19+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools will be closed Thursday and Friday, marking a full week of canceled classes due to last weekend’s winter storm.

All weekend activities will also be canceled, the district announced on Wednesday. According to The Daily Memphian, messy road conditions are expected to persist through next week, with the city’s limited supply of plows unable to clear the sheets of ice covering neighborhood streets.

Thursday is the only day forecast to reach above freezing temperatures before this weekend, city officials said.

MSCS has eight inclement-weather days built into the calendar to avoid extending the school year. Five will be used as of this week, leaving only three for any additional cancellations in the months ahead.

According to MSCS policy, the superintendent can decide as late as the morning of the affected school day whether to close schools or dismiss students early. Under Tennessee law, districts can use up to four hybrid instruction days per year, meaning some students are in-person and others virtual, and up to five remote learning days per semester due to inclement weather.

Correction: An earlier version of this story previously stated that Tennessee law banned school districts from using virtual learning days during inclement weather. That is incorrect; districts can use up to five each semester.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis schools will remain closed Wednesday

2026-01-27T19:28:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools will stay closed on Wednesday as last weekend’s winter storm continues to shut down city services.

That will be the third snow day in a row for Memphis students. All afterschool activities, including athletics and YMCA child care, are also cancelled.

The MSCS board has yet to reschedule its meeting originally set for Tuesday night, where key decisions on the district’s next superintendent search are on the agenda. A hearing scheduled Monday for the board’s lawsuit against the 2026 reset election is also postponed.

Future closure decisions could happen as late as the morning of the affected school day. According to MSCS policy, the superintendent can close schools or dismiss early due to hazardous weather. Under Tennessee law, districts can use up to four hybrid instruction days per year, meaning some students are in-person and others virtual, and up to five remote learning days per semester due to inclement weather.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis schools close Tuesday as city slowly recovers from weekend storm

2026-01-26T19:02:06+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools will be closed Tuesday in the aftermath of a weekend winter storm.

Over the weekend, district leaders called off Monday classes as snow accumulated. The National Weather Service estimated three inches of snow on the ground in the Memphis area as of Monday. There is also an extreme cold warning in effect through Tuesday at noon. All extracurricular activities are cancelled when schools are closed.

According to The Daily Memphian, the city is making slow progress to clear streets, causing tough commutes. But Memphis residents aren’t facing the widespread power outages seen in Mississippi and eastern Tennessee.

MSCS leaders said families should keep checking the district website and social media accounts for updates. The Memphis school board also postponed its meeting scheduled for tomorrow, where a second donation from Elon Musk and the search method for MSCS’ next superintendent are on the agenda. It’s unclear when that meeting will take place.

Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond could also choose to close individual schools instead of the whole district. MSCS has a handful of snow days built into the annual schedule to avoid extending the school year due to inclement weather.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis schools cancel Monday classes due to weekend storm

2026-01-24T18:19:37+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Note: This story will be updated as more cancellation announcements are made.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools is cancelling classes on Monday due to “ongoing hazardous weather” caused by a weekend storm.

The district announced the closure decision on Saturday morning. In a video posted Friday, interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said the safety of students and staff guides all cancellation decisions.

“While we recognize that school is often the safest place for our students, we also have a responsibility to remain mindful of changing weather conditions, potential power outages, transportation challenges, and the impact on families and staff,” he said.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the Memphis area from Friday evening through Sunday evening, estimating a total of up to seven inches of snow and ice. Bitterly cold windchills will last through early next week, the NWS said.

Future closure decisions could happen as late as the morning of the affected school day. According to MSCS policy, the superintendent can close schools or dismiss early due to hazardous weather.

Richmond could also choose to close individual schools instead of the whole district. The MSCS leader has to consult with local principals, weather officials, and neighboring districts before making a decision, the district policy says.

The district has a handful of snow days built into the annual schedule to avoid extending the school year due to inclement weather. All extracurricular activities are cancelled when schools are closed.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Tennessee Republicans want a Houston-style takeover of Memphis schools. What does that mean?

2026-01-22T13:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Tennessee Republicans are pushing forward their plans to take over Memphis-Shelby County Schools, and they’re using the recent overhaul of Houston’s public school district as a model.

In 2023, Texas’ top education leader removed the Houston Independent School District superintendent and elected board members and replaced them with his own picks. Now, some Tennessee lawmakers want a similar intervention in Memphis. They’re inching closer to establishing a state-appointed board of managers that would have control over the district’s budget and leadership hires.

While takeover advocates applaud higher school ratings in Houston as a sign of the takeover’s success, those ratings don’t measure achievement in the way that Tennessee Republicans say they want to see Memphis schools improve.

Bill sponsors point to Memphis’ low proficiency rate as the main problem they’re hoping to solve with a takeover. Last year, over 75% of Memphis students failed to achieve proficiency in reading and math. But the district earned the highest possible score in academic growth, or student improvement on state tests, for the fourth year in a row.

That academic growth isn’t enough according to Republican lawmakers pushing for a takeover, such as House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Memphis Republican Rep. Mark White, the sponsor of the legislation. White and Sen. Brent Taylor, sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, say Memphis students should be testing on par with the state average, where around 40% of students test as proficient.

“You can have a little bit of growth because the children are so far behind in the classroom, but if you don’t get them up to proficiency, we’re still not there,” White said in a Jan. 20 interview with Chalkbeat.

What counts as student and school improvement?

Research shows that most state takeovers happening in the past three decades haven’t successfully improved student achievement, especially for Black students. Houston is touted by supporters as a notable exception.

Over the past two years, HISD students have improved their reading and math scores. On average, just over half of HISD students in grades 3-8 achieved reading proficiency in 2025, and over 42% did the same in math. That’s around a seven percentage point increase from 2023 for both metrics. And most grades — third, fifth, sixth, and seventh — outperformed the state average.

Overall school rating scores also improved, with Houston leaders announcing that no schools received an F rating on the state report card last year. But some researchers and the Houston teachers union have raised concerns about the validity of the A-F rating system, which was overhauled the same year that the state takeover began.

In 2023, the Texas Education Agency altered its accountability system to place more value on growth, or how much students improve, than on raw test scores.

Cardell Orrin, director of the nonprofit Stand for Children Tennessee, said Memphis students are also seeing significant growth in reading and math proficiency. But they aren’t being rewarded under Tennessee’s achievement-focused grading system.

“We all know there are ways to game accountability systems,” Orrin said. “If your goal is to get schools to perform better … then we should be really clear about the how and what of it.”

It’s not clear what changes the state-appointed board would make for Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The takeover legislation could change significantly before lawmakers pass it.

White said the board would first conduct a 90-day in-depth analysis of the district and have the power to enact any changes it deems necessary. A newly installed board would have final say over the district’s budget, the superintendent’s contract, and charter schools, essentially seizing all major decisions from the elected school board.

Though GOP lawmakers say they are primarily dissatisfied with the district’s academic achievement, the MSCS takeover has also been spurred by years of school board dysfunction. The board’s firing of then-Superintendent Marie Feagins just months into her tenure led to White and Taylor filing takeover legislation last year.

“It’s not just the failing schools that need to be fixed,” Taylor said. “It’s the systems and the central office that needs to be corrected. They spend more time on personnel and real estate than they do on policies to better educate and improve educational outcomes for our kids.”

Would Memphis scrap district leadership and overhaul classroom curriculum?

In Houston, the new state-appointed superintendent, Mike Miles, implemented a controversial teacher pay model based on test score performance. He also cut 1,500 central office positions and reduced the number of support staff helping students experiencing homelessness and hunger.

Miles requires over 130 Houston schools to use a standardized curriculum he created under a program called the New Education System. He says the move is designed to help teachers, but some opponents — including students — say the lessons feel restrictive and militaristic. Libraries now serve as disciplinary centers or are gone from schools entirely.

Texas’ takeover also spurred a massive student and teacher exodus in Houston, which are already critical issues plaguing MSCS schools.

Domingo Morel, a professor at New York University who studies state takeovers of local schools, said most local residents wind up unhappy with the methods used by state interventionists and the results.

“Because what state takeovers ultimately do is they force the community to absorb certain policies that they just don’t want,” Morel said. “People don’t want to lose arts programs. They don’t want the libraries to close. They don’t want their teachers to be fired.”

Houston’s takeover largely centered on the underperformance of one school. After years of lawsuits and protests, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath appointed a new district superintendent on June 1, 2023. He also selected a nine-member school board made up of Houston residents, most from the same wealthy neighborhood in the city.

Tennessee Republicans are promising to put local residents on their state-appointed board as well. But Morel says including local residents doesn’t necessarily better represent local concerns.

“It ultimately creates tensions when the community has a particular vision for what they want to see, but the state has a conflicting vision,” he said. “Those appointed board members, who are they going to listen to? They have to be accountable to the state.”

White didn’t rule out any of the changes enacted in Houston for the Memphis takeover, including whether the new board would immediately fire the district superintendent.

“The main thing I’m interested in is making sure we address the challenges and the weaknesses in the Memphis-Shelby County school system,” he said. Houston is a model, he said, “but that doesn’t mean our model will be exactly the same.”

Morath announced in June that Houston’s takeover will continue through 2027. The current language in White’s takeover bill, which Taylor has thrown his support behind, would include a three-year limit for the takeover board with an option to extend.

Despite their agreement, there isn’t full support for the bill yet among legislative Republicans. The most notable holdout is Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, a Republican from Oak Ridge who is hesitant to install a handpicked board without input from local elected officials.

Next steps for the takeover effort are expected to become more clear in late January, after lawmakers are briefed on an ongoing audit into Memphis finances.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis’ interim superintendent receives mixed reviews from teachers on informal survey

2026-01-21T00:44:48+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

While Memphis teachers want Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond to visit more classrooms, the longtime Memphis-Shelby County Schools administrator earned high marks from principals and district staff on a survey about his performance.

This is the first step in an informal evaluation of Richmond’s performance over the past 10 months, board members said in a presentation Tuesday. A formal assessment based on his contract is expected in the next 30 days.

Richmond’s interim role is set to expire at the end of July, but he wants the full-time job. Two MSCS board members expressed strong support Tuesday for appointing Richmond as the full-time superintendent without conducting a formal search, the last of which took over a year. But board members won’t vote on whether to start a search until next week.

“I could vote tonight, and we all could, because the work is being done,” said board member Keith Williams. “There’s no reason for us to go beyond the walls of this institution looking for someone.”

A timeline for making the new superintendent decision is unclear. But documents on the selection process presented Tuesday suggest that the board could appoint Richmond as the new leader at any time.

Over 2,300 MSCS staff completed the optional December survey about Richmond’s performance, including under one-sixth of the district’s teachers, or 940 in total. Less than half of surveyed educators rated Richmond as “favorable” in leadership and strategic vision, staff relations and capacity, and operations and finance.

Richmond earned the most “unfavorable” ratings from teachers, at 41% of respondents, on whether he was visible at schools for check-ins or other engagement activities. Richmond said that’s because he has responsibilities such as trips to Nashville and building connections with community members.

“Some of those things have prevented me from getting in schools the way I would like to get in schools,” he said Tuesday. “But if teachers want me to be more accessible, I have no problem with that.”

Richmond said he hopes to start sending out biweekly communication to MSCS teachers about evaluations and recruitment and retention. And he wants to have regional meetings where teachers can voice concerns to him directly.

The MSCS board appointed Richmond as temporary leader almost immediately after firing former superintendent Marie Feagins last January. But the decision to keep him on or start a search might not entirely be theirs to make. Tennessee Republicans are pushing forward a plan to establish a state-appointed board of managers to oversee MSCS, including superintendent hiring and firing decisions.

Exactly 50% of the teachers who responded rated Richmond as favorable in student achievement, the fourth category surveyed. By contrast, more than three-fourths of principals and central office staff gave Richmond the top rating across all four categories.

Every MSCS board member but Towanna Murphy responded to the survey because of a technology disruption, she said Tuesday. She expressed support for appointing Richmond as the full-time leader without a search.

“Doing another search is just number one gonna cost us some more money,” she said. “And I think that having another search will just make things even more difficult … We have him, and he’s doing an amazing job.”

Five board members rated Richmond favorably on leadership and strategic vision and board relations. Six approved of his performance in raising student achievement, and four did the same for operations and finance.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis parents say district shouldn’t close school with strong academic growth, low enrollment

2026-01-15T02:18:14+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis parents at Ida B. Wells Academy are questioning why district leaders would recommend closing a school that earned the highest possible state score for student growth last year.

The open-enrollment K-8 school in South Memphis is one of five the district is recommending for closure at the end of this school year. During the mandated community hearing Wednesday, parents said that Ida B. Wells’ academic growth and small class sizes should make it a model for Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

But MSCS leaders say the school’s declining enrollment and high facilities costs make it unsuitable to keep open. Only 84 students attend Ida B. Wells this year, leaving over 400 available spots unfilled. And the building needs $5.8 million in repairs over the next decade.

“There is nothing about this that feels right,” said Michelle McKissack, the MSCS board member who represents Ida B. Wells Academy. “It’s the hardest thing that a board member has to do.”

MSCS board members are expected to vote on the five proposed closures in February. That decision is part of a larger plan from Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond to shut down up to 15 schools by 2028 due to facilities costs and chronic underenrollment.

Ida B. Wells Academy earned the highest state score, a 5, on the 2024-25 Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System, which measures for improvement in student academic performance. The school also slightly outperformed the district on state reading and math standardized tests, with 25% and 26.7% proficiency rates respectively

During Wednesday’s meeting, parents credited that success to the school’s dedicated teachers and small class sizes. Erica Smith has two children at Ida B. Wells, one of whom has a sleep condition.

“The teachers here are very good at helping her,” she told Chalkbeat. “She’s no longer behind.”

MSCS leaders said 21 teaching positions would be affected if Ida B. Wells is closed. Smith said she’s worried about transitioning to a bigger school, where teachers “might not know how to handle her [child’s] situation.”

Ida B. Wells is not a traditional neighborhood school; children apply to attend through the open enrollment process. That means displaced students would have the option to attend their zoned schools or choose another one.

“I heard many of you say you like the small environment here,” said MSCS Enrollment Advisor Stacey Davis. “We have many other schools that offer that small environment setting.”

But parents said Ida B. Wells is unlike any other school in its area. Some asked why MSCS doesn’t have a policy that prevents the highest-achieving schools from being recommended for closure.

“You’ve given us some more reasons and feedback that we can take back to the board to consider,” said Chief Academic Officer Angela Whitelaw. “Recommendations can change as we listen.”

Catch up on Chalkbeat Tennessee’s coverage of other Memphis school closure discussions at:

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Tennessee legislature revives Memphis schools takeover bill

2026-01-14T15:47:24+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

A proposed takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools is inching forward in the Tennessee General Assembly, though it’s still unclear how much control a proposed oversight board might have over the state’s largest school district.

The House and Senate sponsors of the legislation, both Republicans from Memphis, want the same thing: a state-appointed oversight board of Shelby County residents authorized to make the final call on all major MSCS governing decisions, including its budget and its superintendent’s contract.

House leadership is also on board, while top Senate Republicans appear more hesitant to install an oversight board without local political leaders’ input.

Democrats have resisted the measure altogether, pointing to the failure of previous state interventions.

A state takeover would hit Shelby County amid an already tense period in local-state relations and significant upheaval at MSCS, after the abrupt firing of its superintendent a year ago. All nine school board seats are up for election this year, and the interim superintendent’s contract expires this summer.

Some Republicans divided over scope of oversight board’s powers

The House on Wednesday chose not to accept a 2025 Senate proposal on the issue. The Senate is expected to do the same to the 2025 House proposal, setting up an opportunity for lawmakers to hash out a compromise bill in a conference committee.

Republicans last year failed to find a compromise on their versions of the takeover legislation, in part after Senate Republicans balked at installing an interventionist board without input from local political leaders like the Shelby County mayor.

But Senate sponsor Brent Taylor said Tuesday he “no longer trusts” the mayor’s judgment, nor that of the Shelby County Commission, after months of local-state tensions over Tennessee’s deployment of the National Guard in Memphis and a federal law enforcement surge. The Shelby County mayor and other elected officials have sued Gov. Bill Lee over the issue.

“That’s why I think we need the House version, where the speakers and the governor appoint local people, people from Memphis and Shelby County that will go in and actually run the school system, turn it around and then hand it back to the elected board,” Taylor said.

Though the bill sponsors agree on a path forward, there isn’t full support for the bill yet among legislative Republicans.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton has voiced full support for Rep. Mark White’s House plan, but Taylor acknowledged that discussions with Lt. Gov. Randy McNally are “still a work in progress.” McNally last year pushed for more local input.

“While Lt. Gov. McNally still prefers to have some level of local involvement, he remains in active discussions with sponsors and other stakeholders on the best way to encourage a turnaround in outcomes in the Memphis-Shelby County school system,” McNally spokesperson Adam Kleinheider said.

Democrats cite state’s track record with takeovers

Democrats have resisted the effort, pointing to previous state intervention efforts like the Achievement School District, which tried and failed to turn around low-performing Memphis schools.

“What I don’t think they do is take into account every single thing that the state has done to our district, and then wonder why we’re not performing to the level that they want us to perform,” said House Minority Leader Karen Camper last week.

Both Taylor and White maintain their proposal would not be a state takeover like the ASD, because local leaders would be appointed to the oversight board rather than having the state explicitly run the schools.

However, the Republican-dominated state government would still have the power to appoint the board, effectively giving the GOP broad governing authority over local schools in a majority Democratic county.

Memphis schools have made some improvements in recent years. This year, MSCS students outpaced the state average for academic growth in reading and math. More Memphis schools also earned top marks in Tennessee’s report card system for the 2024-25 school year.

Yet the district continues to lag significantly in academic achievement, with less than 25% of MSCS students meeting grade-level benchmarks on state reading and math tests.

After the House action on Wednesday, the Senate can now accept or reject the 2025 House bill. The Senate is widely expected to reject it, which would then allow McNally and Sexton to appoint members of a conference committee.

Lawmakers on the conference committee could make substantial changes to proposed legislation relatively quickly.

And while any changes would require a full vote from the House and Senate, the legislation would not have to return to committees for votes, meaning it could pass into law quickly once it exits the conference.

Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.

The Memphis school board election looks different this year. Here’s why it matters.

2026-01-05T18:47:42+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis voters will choose an all-new school board this year in an unprecedented mega-election that comes as state lawmakers push to dilute the power of the locally elected board.

For the first time, the 2026 ballot will include candidates for all nine Memphis-Shelby County school board seats. And those vying for the open positions will also compete in a partisan primary in May.

These changes are part of what some state and local officials say is a plan to increase voter turnout and school board accountability. But others argue the moves are unconstitutional and retaliatory.

The MSCS board filed a lawsuit in December against the local election commission to stop it from holding races for Districts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. Those races would cut short five members’ terms, a move the lawsuit calls “legislative punishment masquerading as election reform.”

Memphis school board members have faced heavy backlash from some parents and community leaders, in addition to government officials, since voting to fire former Superintendent Marie Feagins last January. Some say the 2026 election changes are a reaction to that decision.

But there’s much more at stake, including school closures and a new superintendent hire. And in the midst of the district’s upheaval, the board’s own authority could be usurped by the state in the coming months.

Here are four reasons why the 2026 board election is so important.

For some, it’s a long-awaited reckoning for Marie Feagins’ ouster

During months of back-and-forth votes from the county commission, some MSCS parents and community members testified that the school board needed to be held accountable for abruptly firing Feagins, who they say was making good progress.

Board members have said the mega-election is retaliation for that decision. Four of the five members who will lose two years of their elected terms voted to oust the former superintendent.

Others say Feagins is a factor in the election upheaval, but not the driving force.

“The firing of Feagins is a symptom of the problem, but it was not the only problem, and it wasn’t necessarily the triggering problem,” said Luke Cymbal, vice president of the Shelby County Democrats. Cymbal said it’s more about low literacy and high absenteeism rates in the district, academic underperformance issues that have long plagued the district.

Mauricio Calvo, a former MSCS board member and director of Latino Memphis, said Feagins’ firing sparked a lot of anger in some parents.

“People were really upset, but they didn’t care enough to go and vote last year,” he said. “Suddenly they’re like, ‘I want to recall board members; they should be fired,’ and that’s not a thing.”

Rep. Torrey Harris, a Democrat from Memphis, has already filed a bill that would allow voters to recall local elected officials — including school board members — in the upcoming legislative session.

Significant state intervention could be coming

Two Republican Tennessee lawmakers, Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor, say they will revisit an effort to establish a state-appointed board of managers in MSCS. If White and House GOP leaders get their way, the board would have significant decision-making authority, diluting the power of the elected school board.

The results of an independent financial audit of the district, also pushed forward by state lawmakers last year, are expected to come out in 2026. An early report should be released at the beginning of the year, White said in December.

While Taylor’s Senate bill last year established an oversight body with limited authority over district decisions, White and other House leaders are adamant the group needs voting authority on major school board decisions like budget creation and large purchases.

Local Republican leaders are hopeful that support for a takeover could propel some conservative candidates to win MSCS board seats. Regardless, debates about how best to work with the state on MSCS issues will likely play a major role in the 2026 elections.

MSCS leadership decisions are coming

MSCS is due for a new superintendent at the end of July. Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said he wants the permanent role, but it’s unclear if the MSCS board will conduct a formal search. The last superintendent search took over a year and stalled multiple times because of board infighting.

Board members kicked off an informal review of Richmond’s 10-month performance in November. They’re expected to discuss results from anonymous staff surveys and give their input in January.

Meanwhile, Feagins’ lawsuit against MSCS in which she seeks to be reinstated as the district’s top leader is still ongoing. The Daily Memphian reported that she also recently announced a bid for the 2026 Shelby County mayoral race.

School closures and building upgrades are on the way

In February, the current MSCS board is set to vote on a proposed list of four school closures and the transfer of one elementary school to a neighboring district starting next year. Up to 10 more schools could be closed by 2028, according to a long-term facilities plan released in December.

The new plan didn’t name which schools will be suggested for closure in the next few years. But it did say most recommendations will be concentrated in the Northwest and Southwest districts, where chronic underenrollment and facility conditions are at their worst.

In town halls this fall, parents raised concerns about teacher relocation and student safety, especially at schools that could merge students from different grade levels. But the long-term plan suggests leaning even more on K-8 or 6-12 schools.

The next school board will be in charge of approving the 2027 and 2028 closures and directing the first wave of needed building upgrades and repairs. That includes securing funding, such as asking the Shelby County commission for a $750 million bond for the next 10 years.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Who’s running in the 2026 Memphis school board election? Here’s what we know so far.

2025-12-22T18:05:07+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The field for Memphis’ 2026 school board election is starting to take shape.

Campaign season kicked off Monday and candidates can now begin collecting qualifying signatures ahead of a Feb. 19 deadline for the May 5 primary.

Five incumbent Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members — Michelle McKissack, Natalie McKinney, Tamarques Porter, Sable Otey and Towanna Murphy — confirmed with Chalkbeat that they’re running for reelection.

McKinney, Porter, Otey, and Murphy are currently suing the election commission for cutting their terms short by putting all nine seats on the ballot this spring, while McKissack’s District 1 seat was already slated for the 2026 election cycle before the election reset.

A handful of challengers have announced their campaigns, while another person indicated they’re strongly considering a run through campaign filings.

Amber Huett-Garcia, who currently represents District 8, will not seek reelection, as she is running for county commission. The other three incumbent board members did not respond to requests for confirmation.

The board is still waiting for the outcome of a lawsuit filed against the measure last week, which includes a preliminary injunction request to stop the Shelby County Election Commission from holding the races for Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.

“If I have to run again, I will,” board member Towanna Murphy, who represents District 7, said.

The Shelby County Commission put all nine seats up for grabs this spring after overriding a mayoral veto in October. MSCS board candidates will also run in a partisan primary for the first time this May, a decision made by both county Democratic and Republican parties that has drawn criticism from some incumbents and community members

“School board races should be nonpartisan, because classrooms aren’t red or blue,” District 5 board member Otey said. “Decisions about literacy, safety, and student success should be guided by data and what’s best for kids, not party politics.”

Still, nearly all of the confirmed candidates, including Otey, say they’ll be running on the Democratic ticket. In one of the largest Democratic strongholds in Tennessee, the May primary will likely be more of a competitive battle than the Aug. 6 general election. Republican candidates will face an uphill battle to victory in the current districts.

Luke Cymbal, the vice chairman of Shelby County’s Republican party, said the group will back conservative candidates for the MSCS race despite the challenges ahead.

“We are going to give the city of Memphis a choice, and we are going to encourage them to look at how voting historically has worked out for the Memphis-Shelby County School District, which we say is a failure,” Cymbal said. “We will encourage them to vote differently.”

Cymbal said Republican candidates will most likely support efforts for a state takeover of MSCS, which could sway some Democratic voters who support further state intervention. The local party has already seen increased momentum, he said, because of their support for the megaelection.

Jon Carroll has worked for the state and local Democratic committees and PTAs for years. But this year, he’s running to take over the District 9 seat on the MSCS board. Caroll said the state takeover is probably inevitable regardless of who wins the 2026 seats, but the level of disruption is to be determined.

A lifelong Memphis resident, Carroll says he wants to improve the board’s budget and resource allocation process. He also hopes to increase funding for career and technical education programs and rebuild the community’s trust in MSCS.

“The community doesn’t trust the school board right now,” Carroll said. “They want professionalism; they want change.”

Here’s who is running so far, based on public announcements and documents filed with the local election board:

District 1

Incumbent Michelle McKissack confirmed to Chalkbeat that she will run as a Democrat.

District 2

Incumbent Chair Natalie McKinney, who’s facing shortened terms, confirmed to Chalkbeat that she will run as a Democrat.

District 3 (Incumbent Stephanie Love did not confirm whether she will run for reelection.)

Tarnika Love-Anderson filed campaign documents with the election commission as a Democrat and announced her campaign on Facebook.
Valerie Wright filed campaign documents with the election commission as an Independent and announced her campaign on Facebook.

District 4

Incumbent Tamarques Porter, who’s facing shortened terms, confirmed to Chalkbeat that he will run as a Democrat.

District 5

Incumbent Sable Otey, who’s facing shortened terms, confirmed to Chalkbeat that she will run as a Democrat.

District 6 (Incumbent Keith Williams did not confirm whether he will run for reelection.)

District 7

Incumbent Towanna Murphy, who’s facing shortened terms, confirmed to Chalkbeat that she will run as a Democrat.
Sonia Partick-Warr filed campaign documents with the election commission but did not list a party affiliation.

District 8 (Incumbent Amber Huett-Garcia will not be running for reelection.)

Toshina Williams-Webb posted her intention to run on Facebook.

District 9 (Incumbent Joyce Dorse Coleman did not confirm whether she will run for reelection.)

Jon Carroll confirmed to Chalkbeat that he will run as a Democrat.

This is a developing story that will be updated as candidates announce their campaigns.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis leaders lay out reasons for second school closure proposal in Frayser neighborhood

2025-12-16T02:09:07+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis parent Chajuana Williams said she would miss the family history embedded at Georgian Hills Elementary if district leaders decide to close the school in June.

“I would hate that the school is closing down because I’ve got older kids that went here,” Williams said at a community hearing Monday night. She has two second graders and one first grader at Georgian Hills this year and is a parent and aunt to former students who are now teenagers.

In September, Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond recommended shutting down four Memphis-Shelby County schools due to chronic underenrollment and growing repair needs. Two of the schools slated for closure, including Georgian Hills, are in the Frayser neighborhood.

Previous school closure meetings at Chickasaw Middle, Lucy Elementary and Frayser-Corning Elementary drew larger crowds in the past two months. District leaders are expected to make final decisions in February.

Under Richmond’s plan, Georgian Hills students would be split between two other neighborhood elementary schools next fall, Whitney and Hawkins Mill. All three schools earned a C rating in the state’s performance assessment system, MSCS leaders said Monday.

But Hawkins Mill Elementary students were more likely to test as proficient on standardized math and reading tests. And while over half of the students at Whitney and Georgian Hills are chronically absent — meaning they miss more than 10% of school days each year — only 11% of Hawkins Mill students meet that mark.

Williams said she worked as a custodian at Hawkins Mill years ago, so she feels more comfortable sending her children there.

“I can deal with it if [Georgian Hills] is closing because the teachers are wonderful over there,” she said.

It’s unclear how many students would be sent to Hawkins Mill or Whitney elementary schools if the school board approves Georgian Hills’ closure in February. MSCS Facility Services Officer Michelle Stuart said Monday that over 50% of the seats at Whitney are unfilled, compared to around 40% at Hawkins Mill.

Georgian Hills fills three-fourths of its available seats right now, Stuart added.

“That’s a good, healthy utilization,” she said. “But the building is so small that we can’t get many more kids in.”

Georgian Hills’ building also needs more maintenance repairs in the next decade than Whitney and Hawkins Mill. Closing the school would save MSCS $910,000 next year alone, Stuart said.

The district will hold another community meeting for Georgian Hills families at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at Hawkins Mill Elementary School.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Some Memphis schools won’t have custodians after board rejects contract again

2025-12-15T22:50:05+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis school board members doubled down on their decision to not offer a custodian contract to ABM Industries on Monday, leaving around 35 schools without cleaning services starting Jan. 1.

After a 25-minute discussion that wasn’t open to the public, five Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members voted against the contract. Board Chair Natalie McKinney and member Amber Huett-Garcia voted in favor, and Stephanie Love abstained. The board didn’t discuss other options to fill service gaps.

The current contract, which manages cleaning services for Northwest regional buildings, expires Dec. 31. There are no other board meetings scheduled before then, and MSCS adjourns for winter break starting next week.

Earlier this month, board members expressed concern about hiring ABM Industries due to district complaints filed against the company over a decade ago. But district leaders said the company was chosen from a pool of vendors after earning the highest score on a rubric used to vet MSCS partnerships.

MSCS currently splits custodial services regionally among four different companies. Board members renewed next year’s contracts for three of the current companies on Dec. 2. The board is expected to begin working on new four-year contracts for all regions in May or June.

The district first started outsourcing custodial services in 2013 to save money after the Memphis City and Shelby County school system merger. That raised concerns about worker pay and cleaning quality at the time, and that debate is still playing out in school districts nationwide.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis parents have safety concerns about proposed middle and high school merger

2025-12-09T18:41:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Student safety concerns took center stage at a Memphis school closure hearing Monday as parents pushed back on a district proposal to merge a local middle and high school.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools leaders want to close Chickasaw Middle School at the end of the school year due to chronic underenrollment. Sending those grade 6-8 students to neighboring Westwood High School would fill empty classrooms and usher in new staff supports, MSCS leaders said Monday.

School board members are expected to vote on the proposals in February. But in Monday’s meeting, parents and local residents said it feels like the decision to close Chickasaw has already been made without sufficient community input.

“They asked how many parents were here, and four people raised their hands,” Joseph Cox, who runs the neighborhood nonprofit Youth of Westwood. “They’re good about making decisions about us without us. This is just a small fraction of the community, and most of these people are school employees.”

Parents present during Monday’s meeting said they worry that putting 12-year-olds and 18-year-olds in the same building could cause safety issues.

“I feel like those schools already have their own separate behavioral issues,” said Brianna Kraft, parent of a sixth grader at Chickasaw. “Putting them together would be catastrophic.”

Westwood would become only the third combination middle and high school in the district. According to state discipline data from the 2023-2024 school year, just under one-third of Westwood students and over half of Chickasaw Middle students were subject to disciplinary action like suspensions compared to 13% of students district-wide.

MSCS leaders faced similar backlash from parents last week about a proposed elementary and middle school merger. Both are part of a September recommendation from interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond to close four schools and transfer control of a fifth at the end of this year to combat rising maintenance costs and enrollment challenges.

Angela Whitelaw, who leads the district’s academics team, said the ongoing community meetings are meant to gather feedback ahead of the board’s February vote.

District policy mandates proposing closures to board members first and then seeking community input, she said. Details such as school safety plans will be fleshed out after an official decision is made.

“We’re constantly looking at our data and how we support schools when we merge them together,” Whitelaw said. Safety is “one of the first concerns” district leaders will talk about with school principals, she added.

There are only two other MSCS schools that combine middle and high schoolers. But Michelle Stuart, MSCS’ facilities manager, said there aren’t any other feasible merger options given the neighborhood’s transportation challenges.

“There are 51 rooms at Westwood [High] and it’s only half full,” she said. “So there is plenty of room for this merger.”

Right now, only half of the seats at Chickasaw Middle and less than half of those at Westwood High are filled. Combining the two schools would fill more than three-fourths of the Westwood building.

Westwood High has a significantly lower chronic absenteeism rate than Chickasaw, MSCS leaders shared Monday. Almost half of Chickasaw students miss more than 18 days of school in a year, compared to 7.5% at Westwood. And 14.5% of Westwood students tested as proficient on state reading tests, compared to 7.5% at Chickasaw.

But Kraft, parent of the Chickasaw sixth grader, said that’s not enough of an improvement to justify the shuffle.

“The fact that we’re considering 14% of students passing as a win is unacceptable,” she said. “Coming from a home school perspective, y’all would have ripped my kid away from me if he was only passing 14% of his class.”

Board Chair Natalie McKinney, who was present at Monday’s meeting, said the Chickasaw closure is not a “foregone conclusion.” She encouraged families to reach out to board members with their concerns ahead of the Feb. 24 vote.

“The administration is just proposing this to us, and we’re going to look at the data they provide,” McKinney said. “That data includes the qualitative part, which is more voices.”

MSCS will host another meeting about the recommendation to close Chickasaw Middle at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10 at Westwood High School.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis parents criticize proposed K-8 school merger due to safety concerns

2025-12-04T02:14:45+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Parents at a Memphis elementary school are concerned about student safety in a proposed K-8 merger next year that comes as part of a larger district school closure plan.

In September, interim Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Roderick Richmond recommended the transfer of the Lucy Elementary building to neighboring Millington Municipal School District at the end of this school year, in order to comply with a 2023 state law and address chronic underenrollment. Richmond also recommended closing four MSCS schools, a proposal that board members are expected to vote on in February.

But children currently attending Lucy would likely not be able to transfer to Millington, because they are still zoned for MSCS. District leaders say merging students with Woodstock Middle School would fill empty classroom seats and offer new amenities, like a renovated gym.

Right now, only around 30% of seats at Lucy Elementary and Woodstock Middle School are in use. Combining the two schools would boost that figure to over 70%.

“We have 12 K-8 grade structures, so we understand exactly what we need to do to make sure we get it right for your babies,” said MSCS Regional Superintendent Debra Fox-Stanford at a Wednesday hearing.

But some parents aren’t sold on that idea. Jeffery Porter has a daughter in second grade. He said last year, an older student gave her a THC-infused gummy candy while on the bus ride home.

“She had to go to the hospital; it was bad,” Porter told Chalkbeat Tennessee. “And now, she could be riding the bus with eighth graders. That’s bigger kids, they’re close to being grown. We’re really worried about that.”

Porter said he will likely try to send his daughter to a different elementary school through the district’s open enrollment process. But MSCS leaders said Wednesday that the process opens for applications on Jan. 27, before the school board is set to vote on Lucy Elementary’s transfer. Offers are given on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Lucy Elementary needs $2.5 million in maintenance upgrades in the next two years, according to an independent report released this spring. Stanford-Fox said transferring the building to Millington before the 2027 deadline set by state lawmakers will allow MSCS to funnel that money more directly to Memphis students.

“The proposal to transfer the school to Millington early will keep the district from investing any additional funds into a building that they will no longer operate,” she said. “We can continue to make Woodstock Middle School even better.”

MSCS leaders said Wednesday that they don’t know yet if Woodstock would be able to offer prekindergarten classes, which Lucy Elementary currently does. As for the seven staff affected by Lucy’s transfer, which parents raised concerns about in the district’s first closure hearing, there will be a “special transfer period” to apply to work at Woodstock.

Audrey Williams, director of transportation for MSCS, said bus monitors can be assigned if issues arise from students from different grade spans mixing. But Porter said he’s not convinced that will solve everything, especially because those same safety issues come with cafeterias and hallways.

“I understand if [merging the schools] is the best they can do for now,” he said. “But I just don’t think it’s a good idea to have that young of kids around that big of kids. Bullying’s a big issue, and that’s just like setting it up.”

MSCS will host another community meeting about the proposed transfer of Lucy Elementary Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Woodstock Middle School.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis’ interim superintendent wants the permanent role. Here’s why.

2025-12-02T21:18:45+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis schools interim leader Roderick Richmond says he wants the permanent superintendent role once his term expires in July to continue his work on “stabilizing the district.”

Richmond has worked in Memphis-Shelby County Schools for over 30 years. In an interview with Chalkbeat Tennessee, he said he knows the school board will make the final decision.

“I have a great relationship with the board, so I would hope that they will consider me long-term,” Richmond said. “But I try to live in the moment and try not to look too far into the future and deal with hypotheticals.”

The MSCS board appointed Richmond as temporary district leader in January, shortly after firing former Superintendent Marie Feagins. Feagins’ ouster sparked criticism from elected officials and some local parents, amplifying pushes for a state takeover of MSCS. All nine board members will also have to run for reelection in 2026, but a lawsuit from the board could be on the horizon.

It’s unclear whether the board will independently appoint a new superintendent or conduct a national search in which Richmond could apply for the job. The last search, which ended with Feagins’ appointment, took over a year due to board infighting and controversies.

In the past 11 months as MSCS leader, Richmond says he’s most proud of his work to rebuild trust in the district.

“I can see where the morale in employees and people is starting to get back to a point of normalcy,” he said. “It’s not like I would want it to be exactly, but I think my team and I have been able to steady the water.”

MSCS board members are conducting an informal review of Richmond’s performance this month, surveying district staff and teachers. They’re expected to review results in early January.

In the meantime, Richmond said he’s focused on finalizing his long-term facilities plan to address growing maintenance needs in school buildings. He’s expected to present a first draft to the school board by Dec. 16.

Richmond said the district has sold around 12 properties since he began his interim term, generating $27 million in revenue, and bought five new buildings to repurpose. He’s also proposed closing four schools by the end of the school year and transferring a fifth to a neighboring school district.

“When I think about what we’ve done in those 11 months, it’s more than we’ve seen in a decade in regards to facilities improvement,” Richmond said. “And those things are only going to get better.”

If he continues as superintendent past July, Richmond said he also hopes to reduce the district’s number of teacher vacancies to fewer than 50 by the start of the next school year. Currently, he said, that number is around 165, a significant reduction from over 300 vacancies last year.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

First Memphis school closure meeting raises concerns about displaced teachers, students

2025-11-20T02:19:10+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

At Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ first school closure hearing, parents expressed concern about the students and teachers who could be displaced by the recommended shutdown of an elementary school at the end of this year.

District leaders said Wednesday that 11 teachers at Frayser-Corning Elementary could lose their jobs. But Jasmine Davis, a Frayser-Corning parent, said she hopes most of the staff can follow students to their new schools.

“My son, he gets close to his teachers,” Davis said. “I want him to be comfortable at the new school, not just going to new teachers over and over again.”

Some parents also questioned why Frayser-Corning Elementary, one of five primary schools in the Frayser neighborhood, is recommended to close. Superintendent Roderick Richmond also included Georgian Hills Elementary on his proposed list of school shutdowns in September, citing underenrollment and high facilities costs.

During Wednesday’s meeting, MSCS leaders echoed those reasons while emphasizing that no action has been decided yet.

“This is just a proposal,” said board member Stephanie Love, whose children went to Frayser-Corning years ago. “We want to hear from you as employees, as parents and you as students. We want to hear from the most important people.”

The MSCS board is expected to vote on Richmond’s suggested closures in February, after holding two community meetings for each of the five schools on the list. That includes reviewing Richmond’s plans for rezoning over 1,000 affected students, who will mostly attend nearby schools that have vacant seats.

Frayser-Corning students could be rezoned to Whitney or Westside elementary schools, which struggle with chronic underenrollment. But Monique Pollion, whose son is in Frayser-Corning’s pre-K program, said she’s wary of switching buildings.

“I went here most of childhood and I like the school; I like the neighborhood where the school sits,” she said. “I don’t know anything about Westside, and I don’t know anything about Whitney. I prefer him to stay here.”

Closing Frayser-Corning would save the district over $1 million in 2026-27 alone. Whitney and Westside also scored higher on MSCS’ report card for academics last year, earning C’s, while Frayser-Corning earned an F.

“Both the academic performance and the facility conditions are better at Westside and Whitney,” said Regional Superintendent Deborah Fox-Stanford. “Combining the students and resources of the two schools … will create more opportunities for our students.”

MSCS is hosting another community meeting for Frayser-Corning parents at Westside Elementary School on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis board kicks off evaluation for interim superintendent, no mention of permanent search

2025-11-19T21:11:53+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The Memphis-Shelby County school board is asking teachers and principals to rate Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s performance as he enters the latter half of his interim term.

It’s the first step in an informal evaluation process for the MSCS leader, which will end in a public board meeting reviewing collected feedback in the first week of January. Teachers and staff are expected to receive an anonymous survey starting next week.

Richmond, who’s worked in the district for over 30 years, has spent 10 months in the top position. Board members still haven’t decided whether they will launch a search for the new superintendent before his term expires on July 31.

“We haven’t had that conversation yet,” Chair Natalie McKinney said.

The last search, which ended in the appointment of former Superintendent Marie Feagins, took over a year. It also stalled multiple times due to board member infighting and sparked community pushback for a lack of transparency.

Richmond took over the superintendent spot in January after the MSCS board voted to oust Feagins. He said then that he’s interested in leading the district in a permanent role.

In a board meeting Tuesday, evaluation committee leader Amber Huett-Garcia praised Richmond for “proactively seeking out feedback” from all district employees.

“I think that’s a culture we want to continue to nurture,” she said.

Teachers and staff members will rate Richmond’s performance on a 1-5 scale across four categories: leadership and strategic vision, student achievement, staff relations, and operations and finance.

Surveys will close on Dec. 5. Board members are expected to complete their own evaluations before the holiday break, which will center on Richmond’s progress in his 100-day plan. The plan outlines goals in what Richmond calls the “5 A’s”: academics, attendance, attitude, arts, and athletics.

Since January, Richmond has introduced a new “regional superintendent” model that splits the district into five different zones to target academic support and management. In September, he recommended four schools to close by the end of the academic year, while overseeing the creation of a comprehensive facilities repair plan.

Meanwhile, the suit Feagins brought against MSCS is still ongoing. Feagins wants to be reinstated to the superintendent role. But in August, a Shelby County judge denied her request to be immediately given the district’s top job.

The next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school board members want to sue over the 2026 reset election. But time is running out.

2025-11-19T02:40:51+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The Memphis-Shelby County School District board is one step closer to filing a lawsuit over the 2026 reset election that would cut short five newly elected members’ terms.

In a meeting Tuesday, board members voted unanimously to hire a lawyer who will “promptly assess the legality and constitutionality” of putting all nine seats on the ballot in May, according to the resolution. Those findings could trigger a future lawsuit, though it’s unclear who it would be against.

Board Chair Natalie McKinney said Tuesday that the election reset is “blatantly, patently and clearly unconstitutional.”

“This is not about individual positions,” she added. “This is about the integrity of this body.”

The Shelby County Commission adopted the realignment of MSCS board elections in September, a move made possible by a state law passed earlier this year. That vote came after months of debate and community pushback, including a veto by Mayor Lee Harris.

County commissioners overrode his veto in late October. Now, candidates can start filing for a seat in any of the nine school board districts on Dec. 22.

Board members say in the resolution that these election changes are an “imminent threat to the lawful function and democratic integrity” of the district. The board has compelling interests, the resolution says, including:

“Protecting the integrity of its governance structure;
Upholding the democratic process by preserving the full terms of office as established at the time of elections; and
Maintaining the decision-making authority vested in the body by law.”

State lawmakers and some Memphis parents have been calling for more accountability since the MSCS board fired former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January. But board members Tuesday said that decision doesn’t give the county or state permission to nullify voters’ choice in 2024.

“Being angry doesn’t mean you take the votes away from the people who put us here,” Towanna Murphy said.

Murphy is one of five board members who would have their terms abridged by the 2026 election, along with McKinney, Stephanie Love, Sable Otey, and Tamarques Porter.

Board members Michelle McKissack and Amber Huett-Garcia, who opposed the Feagins ouster, were not present for Tuesday’s vote. Keith Williams was also not present.

The 2026 board election is already set up to be different than in years past, with MSCS candidates running in partisan primaries for the first time in May.

Plus, Republican legislators say they’re once again sponsoring bills to establish a state-run “board of managers” to oversee the district. And Rep. Torrey Harris, a Memphis Democrat, plans to introduce legislation that would allow Tennessee residents to recall local elected officials, including school board members.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis leaders will host meetings starting Nov. 19 at 5 schools slated to close

2025-11-14T21:04:57+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools will begin hosting community meetings next week at schools recommended for closure by the end of the academic year.

The first meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, at Frayser-Corning Elementary School. District leaders are expected to host meetings at each school — Frayser-Corning Elementary, Lucy Elementary, Chickasaw Middle, Georgian Hills Elementary, and Ida B. Wells Academy — over the next two months.

MSCS will also host a meeting at five schools where students could be rezoned, starting on Thursday, Nov. 20 with Westside Elementary School.

“MSCS wants to ensure district-owned real estate is managed to align with educational, operational, community, and neighborhood goals,” the district wrote in a press release Friday.

Each meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Here’s the full schedule:

Nov. 19 at Frayser-Corning Elementary School.
Nov. 20 at Westside Elementary School (rezone for Frayser-Corning students).
Dec. 3 at Lucy Elementary School.
Dec. 4 at Woodstock Middle School (rezone for Lucy Elementary students).
Dec. 8 at Chickasaw Middle School.
Dec. 10 at Westwood High School (rezone for Chickasaw Middle students).
Dec. 15 at Georgian Hills Elementary School.
Dec. 17 at Hawkins Mill Elementary School (rezone for Georgian Hills students).
Jan. 14 at Ida B. Wells Academy.
Jan. 15 at Norris Academy (Ida B. Wells Academy is an unzoned choice school, so students could attend any district school with available seats).

In September, Superintendent Roderick Richmond presented proposals to close the four MSCS schools and transfer control of Lucy Elementary to Millington Municipal School District for the 2026-2027 school year. Leaders say chronic underenrollment and growing facilities costs are motivating the closures.

Those are also the two factors determining where rezoned students may go, according to a plan presented by MSCS leaders in October. The more than 1,000 affected students are expected to attend other MSCS schools with unused classroom seats.

Board members will vote on whether to approve the school closures and rezoning plans in February. In the meantime, a new facilities committee is working to develop a comprehensive plan for these and future school projects, in light of a looming $1.6 billion maintenance budget for MSCS buildings.

The facilities committee will present their recommendations for the comprehensive plan, including a $750 million bond request for the Shelby County Commission, to the school board on Tuesday.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis district could seek $750 million county bond for school repairs

2025-11-11T19:21:59+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis schools’ facilities committee wants a $750 million bond from the Shelby County government to help fund long-term building repairs and closures.

It’s one of many proposals that the group will be presenting to the Memphis-Shelby County school board for approval next week. But there’s a long way to go before those recommendations are put into action.

“This is preliminary, and this is ongoing,” committee co-chair Natalie McKinney said in a meeting Monday.

MSCS leaders are expected to present initial plans on Dec. 16 for what could be a decade-long process of school closures and renovations. This comes after an independent study found this spring that Memphis schools need over $1.6 billion in maintenance repairs over the next 10 years.

Superintendent Roderick Richmond is proposing to close four schools by the end of the academic year and transfer ownership of a fifth to a nearby suburban district. The school board will vote on approving those closures and the district’s comprehensive facilities plan in February.

During Monday’s meeting, facilities committee members also recommended creating a public accountability board to oversee the 10-year facilities project. That would include managing hundreds of millions of dollars in county and state investments along with a significant private capital campaign.

Tito Langston, MSCS’ chief financial officer, said the $750 million bond ask is a “great starting point.” That amount represents the annual maximum Shelby County commissioners allocate for capital projects, which is $75 million spread over 10 years.

Langston said he hopes to also raise around $600 million in private donations.

Committee members also advanced recommendations for a family engagement plan, including community liaisons and 14 neighborhood meetings across the county. That campaign would cost the district around $185,000.

The district has not announced dates for the 10 community hearings about this year’s school closures, which MSCS leaders originally said would happen before the end of the calendar year.

Richmond recommended closing Frayser-Corning and Georgian Hills elementary schools, Chickasaw Middle School, and Ida B. Wells Academy in June. Lucy Elementary is slated to be transferred to Millington Municipal School District for the 2026-2027 school year.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school board expands student busing to reduce absences caused by increased immigration enforcement

2025-10-29T02:06:11+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis school leaders are planning to expand student bus services to combat attendance drops caused by the recent surge of law and immigration enforcement in the city.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members voted unanimously during a meeting Tuesday to approve the resolution, which says the deployment of the Tennessee National Guard and Immigration and Customs Enforcement this month has “created a climate of heightened fear and anxiety for many students and their families leading to significant increases in absences from school.”

“This is not just about expanding a bus route; this is about protecting lives and families,” said board member Michelle McKissack.

There haven’t been any reports of ICE activity on Memphis school campuses. But MSCS educators told Chalkbeat Tennessee that parents and students are afraid of being detained by ICE while traveling to and from school buildings. That’s caused Hispanic students in particular to miss class in recent weeks or withdraw from school.

The resolution hopes to curb those attendance effects by expanding bus eligibility to students living less than two miles away from their school building. Previous district policy designated those areas as a “parent responsibility zone” for transportation.

Superintendent Roderick Richmond is tasked with developing an emergency plan and budget for increased bus service in the next 30 days. It’s unclear how much the expanded program will cost or how many additional buses will be needed.

During public comment, dozens of Memphis educators and community organizers pushed the district to adopt the protective measure for students and families. Lucero Amador, an MSCS kindergarten teacher, said she sees patrol cars parked along the street when she leaves work each day.

“A couple of families have withdrawn their students and claimed they’re going back to their home countries,” she said. “The students that do attend are living in fear.”

The resolution says Richmond will also lead a study on the long-term feasibility of expanded bus routes, including cost and legal parameters.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Shelby County Commission overrides mayor veto to put full Memphis school board on 2026 ballot

2025-10-27T23:57:55+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The Shelby County Commission voted to override the mayor’s veto of a full Memphis school board reset election, once again putting all nine seats on the ballot in 2026.

Monday’s vote is the latest twist in a monthslong back-and-forth about realigning school board election dates. It also means five Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members will be forced to run for reelection less than two years after taking office.

In early October, Mayor Lee Harris vetoed the commission’s 2026 election resolution because of those term cuts, saying elected officials should only be removed from office early because of emergencies or criminal conduct.

But in an 8-4 vote Monday, commissioners in favor of the override said the MSCS school board needs to be held accountable to voters in 2026. Commissioners opposed to the measure did not speak.

“Something is very off about what’s going on with our school board,” said Commissioner Britney Thornton, who sponsored the motion to override the mayor’s veto. The 2026 reelection is an opportunity to let the public confirm who they want their school leaders to be, she said.

As tensions rose during public comments, the commission chair threatened to clear the chamber. Community members in favor of the 2026 election reset said the move empowers local voters to choose their leaders; those against said a reset would null their votes from the 2024 election.

Commissioner Mickell Lowery, who was absent from the original vote in late September, sided with reelection advocates Monday to give just enough votes to override the mayor. Lowery said he voted to side with his colleagues and allow their original action to stand.

But questions still remain about the legality of shortening some board members’ terms. Commissioners have said they plan to punt those challenges to state leaders, who sponsored the 2025 law that made election realignment possible in the first place. Lowery said the resolution likely will be legally challenged.

“And it probably should be decided by a court at the end of the day,” he said.

MSCS board members have called the push for an election reset a form of retaliation for ousting former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January. Four of the five members now facing shortened terms voted to fire Feagins.

Since that decision, the school board has faced heavy backlash from some local stakeholders and state leaders alike. Two Republican lawmakers are bringing back their proposals to create a state-appointed “board of managers” to oversee MSCS in the coming legislative session. And Rep. Torrey Harris, a Democrat from Memphis, is introducing a bill that would give voters the power to recall local officials, including school board members.

Plus, 2026 will be the first year that MSCS board candidates will face partisan primaries. Hopeful candidates have until Feb. 19 to announce their bid for a school board seat. And Memphis residents will cast their first vote for the next education leaders at a May 5 primary election.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Here’s where Memphis school leaders want to send students from four closing schools

2025-10-22T18:12:47+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

More than 1,000 students from Memphis schools facing proposed closures this year could be split among five other district schools that leaders say are underenrolled.

In a board committee meeting Tuesday, Memphis-Shelby County School officials shared that 57 staff positions would be cut from the four schools recommended for closure and a fifth that is being transferred to a neighboring school district for ownership as mandated by state law. It’s unclear if those employees will be retained by the district in other roles.

The school board is expected to vote on proposed closures in February. Superintendent Roderick Richmond said he will be meeting with school principals tomorrow to discuss his rezoning plans.

Richmond first presented his closure recommendations in September. He said the four affected schools face chronic underenrollment and climbing maintenance costs with over $6.5 million in immediate repair needs.

Here’s a breakdown of where students could go in the 2026-27 school year:

Chickasaw Middle School would be combined with Westwood High School, which students already are zoned to move to after grade 8.
Frayser-Corning Elementary students would be sent to Whitney and Westside elementary schools, which are also in the Frayser neighborhood.
Georgian Hills Elementary students would be sent to Whitney and Hawkins Mill elementary schools, which are also in the Frayser neighborhood.
Lucy Elementary students would attend Woodstock Middle School, forming a K-8 structure. The old building will be transferred to Millington Municipal School District.
Ida B. Wells Academy is an unzoned choice school, so students could attend any district school with available seats.

The proposed rezoning decisions would boost the number of available seats being filled in each school building.

In Frayser, there are currently five elementary schools within a five-mile radius. Only 60% of those available student seats are filled.

Rezoning students from Frayser-Corning and Georgian Hills elementary schools into the others would fill closer to three-fourths of the available neighborhood seats. It would also save the district a little over $2 million in just one year.

Lucy Elementary is located in Millington, a neighboring suburb that split from the MSCS system over 10 years ago. Per a 2022 state law, the district is required to sell the building to Millington Municipal School District by June 2027. MSCS leaders said Tuesday that transferring the school early saves them from funneling $2.5 million over the next two years into a building they soon won’t own.

More closures are likely on the horizon. Members of the MSCS facilities committee, tasked with making a long-term plan to address the district’s billion-dollar maintenance needs, are expected to announce their recommendations next month.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Community meeting set for next week in Frayser, where two schools could close

2025-10-17T14:28:43+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County school leaders will host a community meeting to discuss proposed school closures next week in Frayser, where two schools are slated to be shut down this year.

The “listening session” will take place from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at the North Frayser Community Center. In a press release, MSCS leaders described the event as “a chance for families and community members to have their voices heard and get important information” about a range of issues: “the proposed school closures, Board Members roles & responsibilities, available community resources, and historical context of the state takeover.”

Last month, Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond announced his proposal to close four schools and transfer control of a fifth to a neighboring district. The suggested closures of Ida B. Wells Academy, Chickasaw Middle, and Georgian Hills and Frayser-Corning Elementary schools come as MSCS faces a billion-dollar maintenance bill and chronic underenrollment across its buildings.

There are still many unanswered questions surrounding the proposed school closures, including what will happen to teachers and staff. The district and the state do not track the number of staff in each building, so it’s unclear how many will be displaced by the closures.

MSCS school board members are expected to vote on Richmond’s suggested school shutdowns in February. They would take effect for the 2026-27 school year.

Richmond said at September’s meeting that the district will present more information on rezoning plans for displaced students sometime this month. He also said MSCS leaders will host at least two listening sessions for each school on the proposed closure list before the end of the calendar year.

Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to the event as the first of several town hall events focused on the proposed school closures. District officials later clarified that this event is separate from that planned series.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis-Shelby County School Board will switch to a political primary election in 2026

2025-10-02T23:50:29+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County school board candidates will face partisan primaries for the first time next year, though some sitting members say they plan to run as independents to avoid party labels.

Voters will head to the polls on May 5 to choose their candidates on a Democratic or Republican ticket. In a Democratic stronghold like Shelby County, some races could effectively be decided in the primary. Running without a party backing could put candidates at a disadvantage on a partisan ballot.

This change adds another layer to an already unusual school board election, given a recent county commission decision to put all nine seats on the ballot at the same time in 2026.

Towanna Murphy, a current MSCS board member, told Chalkbeat that she likely won’t align with a party to run for re-election, even though she identifies as a Democrat, because it could be confusing for voters. Sable Otey, another current board member, said partisan elections “risk dividing our community even further.”

“Our focus as a board should be on education, not on party politics,” she said.

Tennessee lawmakers gave local counties the option to put school board seats on a partisan ticket in 2021. More than half of the state’s districts made the switch that first year, most of them Republican-controlled. But Shelby County held out until now.

The Shelby County Republican Party voted to sponsor school board candidates back in May, hoping to seize on a moment when some parents are demanding more accountability from a vexed Memphis-Shelby County Schools system. Democrats followed suit in August to counter that push. Those two votes put the partisan election into effect.

That happened just before the Shelby County Commission passed an election cycle reset for the school board in late September after months of debate. The decision cut short five board members’ terms in the process, a move critics say is unconstitutional.

“It’s part of a collective effort to undo the democratic process,” said Telisa Franklin, secretary for the Shelby County Democrats. “If we give up too much of our control, we’re compromising not just our future but our now.”

Local Republicans argue that there needs to be more accountability for what they see as a failing Memphis-Shelby County school system. Those calls grew louder from the GOP and some MSCS parents after the school board voted to fire former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January.

Luke Cymbal, vice chairman of the Shelby County Republicans, said the local GOP backed calls for change after the Feagins ouster, including realigning the election cycle. That made parents take notice, he said.

“We had a lot of people say, ‘Oh my gosh, the local Republican Party is helping us and the Democrats are not,’” he said. “It’s starting to be a little bit of a wake-up call.”

Cymbal said he thinks the local GOP could win at least two MSCS school board seats in 2026. But he said the main motivation for partisan elections is showing the strong Republican presence in the six neighboring suburban districts.

“We want to show the difference between the really well-run suburban districts and the failing Memphis-Shelby County school district,” he said.

Franklin said Democratic candidates will need to be strong public school advocates and against private expansion. The local party will also focus on raising awareness about what school board members are supposed to do, she said, including hiring and firing superintendents.

What do calls for a ‘state takeover’ of MSCS have to do with this?

Cymbal said local Republicans also support proposals from Tennessee lawmakers to establish a state-controlled “board of directors” to oversee the district. Mark White, one of the sponsoring legislators, said even with all the MSCS board election changes, he is still pushing for that goal.

“With the amount of bureaucracy that’s in the system,” White said, “having a highly qualified board election, as well as a board of managers that can move in and intervene, would be helpful to all.”

Murphy, one of the MSCS board members who voted to fire Feagins and is now facing a shortened term, said the partisan election change is “just another step closer to them trying to take over.”

“If Republicans are elected, let’s say the whole board is Republican, then the takeover is going to be effective immediately,” she told Chalkbeat. “It’s up to Democrats to stand up for the rights of the people.”

Otey said she plans on fighting the 2026 election reset. Some MSCS board members, including Otey and Murphy, have expressed support for filing a lawsuit against the commission’s decision. But it’s unclear who will file that lawsuit or when.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school board chooses new leadership in a tense vote divided by superintendent ouster

2025-10-01T03:49:19+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The Memphis-Shelby County school board tapped Natalie McKinney as its new chair in a vote Tuesday that highlighted ongoing tensions since the ouster of former Superintendent Marie Feagins.

Board members did not mention Feagins, but spoke sharply about past decisions that lost public trust. McKinney won six votes to secure the 2025-26 board chair position, each from a board member who supported firing Feagins in January. Former chair Joyce Dorse Coleman rallied similar support for the vice chair nomination.

“We’ve been in a challenging time, and there are even more issues on the horizon,” McKinney said Tuesday. “We’re working to rebuild the district, focusing on student achievement and support.”

The MSCS board has faced intense scrutiny from state and local leaders and the public since the Feagins vote. Just last week, the Shelby County Commission voted to put all nine school board seats up for reelection in 2026, cutting five members’ terms in half. Four of the members whose terms will be shortened, including McKinney, voted to fire Feagins.

McKinney is now poised to lead the board through another turbulent year. Tennessee lawmakers are continuing their push to establish a state-appointed board of directors to take control of the district, partially because of the Feagins ouster. There’s a $6 million district audit underway, more school closure decisions on the line, and a potential new superintendent search before the interim’s contract ends this summer.

Amber Huett-Garcia, who did not support Feagins’ ouster, received the only other nominations for both board leadership positions, earning three votes for chair and four for vice chair. She said before voting began that she is the best candidate to “rebuild trust” with the community, and urged her colleagues to usher in “fresh leadership.”

Michelle McKissack backed Huett-Garcia both times. While abruptly leaving Tuesday’s meeting, she said to reporters that the decision “is just not right.”

“All that’s old is new again; we’ve just restored it,” she said.

But McKinney says things have changed since January, and she’s excited to focus on moving forward.

“I think actions speak louder than words,” she said. “As we do the work, it will demonstrate that we mean the work.”

McKinney leads the district’s new facilities committee, which is tasked with developing a plan to address a growing school building maintenance bill of over $1.6 billion in the next decade. Last Tuesday, MSCS leaders recommended closing four local schools by the end of this year and transferring control of a fifth to a neighboring district.

McKinney said the importance of community listening sessions and public hearings being shown through that work should be the model for board operations.

“I want to make sure that we commit to sort of codifying that, making that part of our DNA,” she said. “That is something that the board, no matter who’s sitting in these seats, should be doing on a consistent basis.”

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

What we know so far about the Memphis schools slated to close this year

2025-09-24T17:37:17+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Many unanswered questions remain after Memphis education leaders presented their recommendation Tuesday to close four schools and transfer control of a fifth at the end of this academic year.

Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said at the board meeting that he expects to share more details next month on the impacted schools, including student rezoning plans.

“We don’t take any of this lightly,” Richmond said. “We realize that whenever we’re repurposing or closing schools, it does impact families.”

Here’s what we know — and don’t know — so far:

Which schools are on the closure list, and why?

Ida B. Wells Academy, Frayser-Corning Elementary, Chickasaw Middle, and Georgian Hills Elementary are slated for closure at the end of this school year.

Lucy Elementary is recommended for transfer to Millington Municipal School District, one of the six suburban districts that separated from MSCS in 2014.

Richmond said Tuesday that these schools face chronic underenrollment and climbing repair costs. According to an independent report released earlier this year, the five buildings in total have more than $6.5 million in immediate maintenance needs and a projected $48 million over the next 20 years.

Four of the five affected schools were also considered for closure in 2024 under different district leadership.

Are these Memphis schools definitely going to close?

It’s not a sure thing yet. The MSCS school board is scheduled to vote on the plan in February.

And before then, district leaders plan to hold a minimum of two public hearings for each of the five schools before the end of December. They will also host “community forums” in affected neighborhoods to address questions and gather ideas for repurposing the buildings.

Richmond said Tuesday that he will be providing board members and the public with full reports on the recommended schools in October. Those reports will describe building conditions, financial impacts, academic performance, and student reassignment needs.

Where will students and staff go if these Memphis schools close?

It’s unclear where exactly students will be rezoned for the 2026-27 school year.

After past closures, students were mostly reassigned to nearby neighborhood schools in better physical condition. That didn’t always translate to better academics, though.

After 21 schools closed from 2012 to 2016, around half of the rezoned students wound up attending schools that performed on par, or academically worse, than their original placement.

Richmond said district leaders will present plans for student and staff relocation in October, which could include renovations for buildings absorbing displaced students. He also said teachers will be allowed to follow their students, if there are openings.

Those rezoning plans will also include information on transportation, Richmond said Tuesday. He said these changes will “possibly mean more students are being placed on a bus.”

What’s going to happen to the old buildings?

It’s not yet known what the school buildings will be used for in the future. That’s part of the information Richmond said he hopes to bring to the public next month and finalize by January.

Facilities Services Officer Michelle Stuart said Tuesday that the district plans to use the Ida B. Wells Academy building for alternative services such as adult education or student support. According to the independent facilities report, the building is in need of roofing and plumbing fixes and has key accessibility issues.

Chickasaw Middle, Frayser-Corning Elementary, and Georgian Hills Elementary could be used for similar purposes, Stuart said.

The Frayser-Corning building is in need of a new electrical system. Chickasaw Middle has non-functional HVAC and lighting equipment, as well as some exterior structures that are “life-safety” issues. And four additional buildings on the Georgian Hills campus, currently being used for storage, are recommended for closure.

MSCS board member Natalie McKinney, who chairs the district’s new facilities committee, has been adamant about repurposing closed buildings for community use.

Next week, board members will consider selling the building that housed Humes Middle, which closed in 2024, to local nonprofit New Ballet. The organization hopes to build an arts-focused middle and high school.

Are we done with school closures now?

Most likely, no. This list represents the first phase of what’s expected to be a much larger facilities plan for the Memphis-Shelby County district, in response to a growing maintenance bill of over $1.6 billion in the next decade.

The school board formed a facilities committee composed of local business and community members this summer to spearhead that plan development. The group is expected to make its recommendations in November.

It’s unclear how many school closures or upgrades could be included in that longer term plan.

According to a Chalkbeat analysis, 10 school buildings will reach the end of their usable life by 2035. And eight schools, including Ida B. Wells Academy, failed to reach the committee chair’s enrollment threshold of 150 students in recent years.

Do you have any other questions Chalkbeat can try to answer? Reach out to the email below.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis leaders plan to close four schools by the end of the academic year

2025-09-24T00:29:19+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County education leaders recommend closing four schools and transferring one to a neighboring suburban district by the end of the academic year.

The list of schools presented Tuesday by Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond is the first phase of a long-anticipated facilities plan slated to be released by early 2026. The school board is expected to vote on these initial closures in February.

Leaders hope the short-term and long-term plans will address chronic underenrollment and deteriorating building conditions. The district is facing over $1.6 billion in building repairs and renovations over the next decade, and 10 buildings are set to reach the end of their useful life in that time.

Richmond said that the initial schools, located in the Northwest and Southwest regions, were chosen for closure because of underenrollment and high deferred maintenance needs. In total, the five buildings have more than $6.5 million in immediate maintenance needs and a projected $48 million over the next 20 years, according to an independent report released earlier this year.

The impacted schools are:

Lucy Elementary (transfer to Millington Municipal School District).
Ida B. Wells Academy (closure).
Frayser-Corning Elementary (closure).
Chickasaw Middle (closure).
Georgian Hills Elementary (closure).

It’s unclear how students and staff will be re-zoned for next school year. District leaders say they expect to present plans for rezoning and reports on each schools’ enrollment and programs next month.

In past closures, students have mostly been sent to nearby MSCS schools in better physical condition. Teachers will be able to follow their students if there are openings, Richmond said Tuesday.

From October to December, the district will conduct a minimum of two public hearings per school to address parent concerns and float ideas for repurposing. According to the presentation Tuesday, the Ida B. Wells building is designated to be used by MSCS for adult education or district operations.

Richmond said the district is still evaluating what will happen to the three other buildings after closure.

District leaders shuttered 21 schools from from 2012 to 2016, mostly in South Memphis. Around half of those students wound up in schools performing either on par or worse academically than their original placement, according to Chalkbeat analysis.

The district has a history of announcing closure plans that don’t materialize. A 2024 draft plan under former Superintendent Toni Williams slated 21 schools for closure. Only one, Humes Middle School, has since shut down.

Four of the five schools recommended for closure Tuesday were included in the 2024 draft plan.

In 2016, former Superintendent Dorsey Hopson promised 24 closures in five years. But according to past Chalkbeat coverage, only around seven of his 28 recommendations have closed.

In both cases, MSCS leaders cited academic performance as the main driver of school closure decisions, partially out of fear that the state would take control of those communities as permitted by Tennessee law. But low student enrollment is also a factor, with most of the MSCS schools closed between 2012 and 2016 serving less than half of their capacity.

Current MSCS leaders say these factors and more will be taken into account for future school closures. The new facilities committee, composed of community members and business leaders, is set to propose long-term recommendations by November.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school leaders slated to share first recommendations for school closures by end of month

2025-09-18T22:46:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Since publication of this story, district leadership has recommended that four schools be closed and a fifth be transferred to another district. Catch up with the latest news here.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools leaders could present their recommendations for the first round of school closures as early as next Tuesday.

MSCS board member Natalie McKinney said administrators will provide a list of proposed 2025-2026 closings, consolidations, and repurposing projects at either the Sept. 23 or Sept. 30 board meeting.

It’s unclear how many schools will be affected by the proposal, when the board will vote on it, or when the schools will close if the board approves the closures.

There are 10 MSCS school buildings that should be closed or rebuilt in the next decade due to expensive repair needs, according to a district facilities review last year. Both building quality and enrollment are expected to play a key role in closure decisions.

McKinney leads the district’s new facilities committee, a group of local business and education professionals formed this summer to weigh in on how MSCS should handle a growing building maintenance crisis. In the committee’s first meeting in August, students said deteriorating building conditions are hindering their ability to learn.

But McKinney also said some action is required now.

“We need to do the right thing by our students,” she said.

According to a facilities report from independent firm Buenas Veritas, 10 MSCS school buildings will reach the end of their “useful or serviceable life” by 2035. That designation comes from the Facility Condition Index, which measures the cost of fixing and maintaining a building versus replacing it entirely.

Sable Otey, who co-leads the facilities committee, said she understands people will be upset if their schools are slated to close. But her priority is getting students into “safe, operable and clean environments.”

Sometimes that means closing a building that costs millions of dollars each year to maintain for only 150 children, she said, and combining the staff and students with another school.

“It takes a lot of money to run a school building,” she said. When schools are combined, “we’re now fully staffed, or overstaffed in some cases, and we’re able to allocate those resources a little bit better.”

According to state education department data, eight MSCS schools enrolled fewer than 150 students in 2023-2024:

Memphis Business Academy Hickory Hill Middle School (56 students).
Arrow Academy of Excellence (83).
Ida B. Wells Academy (98).
Hollis F. Price Middle College (105).
Medical District High School (111).
Shrine School (115).
Veritas College Preparatory (135).
Memphis Business Academy Hickory Hill Elementary School (142).

Facilities committee members will likely present their own recommendations on future closures to the school board and district leaders in November. For the next two months, they’re splitting into work groups based on different topics, including data strategy, community engagement, funding and partnerships, and implementation.

Charlotte Fields, president of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, said her focus as a member of the data team is on student enrollment, and whether buildings are under capacity.

“How can we better use the building once it has a small number of students and is not being utilized to its full potential?” she said.

McKinney said building utilization is one of many factors that committee members are considering, including residential development plans and transportation.

“What do we do with those buildings, and then how are we being strategic about what we close or consolidate and what we demolish?” she said.

Fields said she hopes to convert underenrolled buildings into trade or contract schools with community partners. She pointed to the building that used to house Humes Middle School, which closed in 2024, and is now under consideration for a new arts-focused school purchased by local nonprofit New Ballet.

Board members are expected to vote on the sale of that building during the Sept. 30 meeting as well.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis teacher vacancies decline, but district still struggles to hire certified educators

2025-09-11T11:00:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools is filling significantly more teaching positions than it has in past years, but still relying on virtual and conditionally licensed hires to take over vacant spots.

As of Sept. 4, 220 of the district’s new teacher hires are not fully licensed, instead holding conditional permits that expire in three years. But gaining licensure comes with high costs, including exams and additional schooling.

MSCS Chief of Human Resources Crystal Oliver said there are 132 vacant classroom teaching positions as of Wednesday, not counting roles that the district has extended offers for that haven’t yet been accepted.

That’s an increase from the 85 open spots without pending offers reported on Aug. 22, but significantly lower than 226 at the beginning of the month.

“The number is very fluid, because we have people that are resigning,” Oliver told Chalkbeat. “We’ve had quite a few retirements since that time, and we are continuing to hire.”

There are no classrooms currently operating without an instructor, Oliver added, with gaps being filled by substitutes and virtual teachers through Proximity Learning. In late May, the Memphis school board approved a $4.6 million contract with the private company for this school year. That amount paid for 100 live online teachers from Proximity Learning in 2024.

Dolores Rivers, director of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, said she thinks high teacher turnover is typical for school districts, especially in the beginning of the year as new educators adjust to realities of the classroom.

“It’s a lot; I mean, I know two people already who have resigned, and this is just day 28,” she told Chalkbeat. “Retirements and resignations happen every other week.”

But MSCS’ vacancy numbers are much lower than the beginning of last school year, when leaders reported nearly 500 vacancies.

Oliver said the HR department was “significantly impacted” by layoffs last July under former Superintendent Marie Feagins. She credits much of the district’s progress this year to having more HR people and resources dedicated to staff hiring.

“I looked at, how could I realign the people that I had and put more emphasis on staffing?” she said. “I’m very confident that going forward, you will continue to see not only a decline [in vacancies], but also more stabilization, because we are able to get fully staffed in HR.”

Oliver said the number of conditional hires stays “pretty much stagnant” from year to year. There’s a big cost barrier to getting certified, she said, which prevents some people from completing the process.

Education preparation programs vary widely in cost in Tennessee, according to a 2022 report from the state department of education, with most charging thousands of dollars. More than two-thirds of surveyed teachers reported having debt because of those programs.

Rivers added it costs a minimum of $150 to take the required Praxis exams, a figure that can grow if aspiring educators don’t pass the first time. She remembers the test catering to smaller school districts, which made some content feel “far-fetched.”

That’s why the district should invest more in Praxis training, Rivers said. She also said there needs to be more focus on retaining teachers in general.

Oliver said many of MSCS’ existing vacancies are in high school math, special education and elementary school. Over one-third of the empty roles are in the iZone, which refers to the district’s lowest-performing schools.

Oliver said she hopes to hold more targeted recruitment events, like job fairs specifically for math teachers, in the coming months.

“My goal is to get to the point that we are more proactive,” she said. “That we are filling jobs based on anticipated retirements, and we’re not struggling to fill openings in the classes.”

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis schools are increasing dyslexia support to boost state reading test scores. Will it work?

2025-09-08T11:05:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis students with dyslexia will start receiving targeted reading support this school year through the district’s first universal intervention program in an effort to increase state test scores.

Under a nearly $540,000 contract approved by the Memphis-Shelby County school board last month, an outside literacy company will boost support for nearly 5,000 students who show characteristics of dyslexia. But one local reading expert noted that many students struggle with comprehension, which needs intervention beyond foundational skills.

MSCS is required by state law to screen every student for signs of dyslexia, such as difficulty connecting letters with sounds. But Tennessee allows only an outside provider such as a licensed psychologist to give an official dyslexia diagnosis to students, in order to trigger state and federal disability services.

Jo Anna McCall, an education consultant for Utah-based Reading Horizons, the literacy company contracted by the district, said the end goal of the program is to increase MSCS scores on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP. Nearly 75% of Memphis students didn’t test as proficient in reading last year.

McCall said students with characteristics of dyslexia often get “lost in the shuffle” of general classroom instruction.

“Many have fallen through the cracks, and it’s going too fast for them, and so we have to slow down,” she said.

In an Aug. 26 board meeting, MSCS leaders said Reading Horizons will train at least one district staff member per school building to run small group tutoring sessions using the company’s dyslexia-focused curriculum by the end of the school year.

It’s unclear who exactly will receive that training or when they will run the 30-minute intervention sessions recommended by the company.

Reading Horizons’ method is based in the science of reading, a literacy strategy focused on phonics and fluency that has gained traction in education systems in recent years. Laura Kelly, a Rhodes College education professor who specializes in elementary literacy, said MSCS already uses the science of reading in its classroom curriculum.

“So my question is, what is this adding that their existing curriculum doesn’t already have?” she said.

Focusing on foundational phonics skills will help students with dyslexia, Kelly said. But she worries that won’t translate into improvement on comprehension skills – which means it’s unlikely to boost TCAP scores.

“TCAP is not a phonics test; it’s a comprehension test,” Kelly said. “And there is a good chunk of kids that master foundational skills, and then they still don’t comprehend what they’re reading.”

McCall said Reading Horizons’ method does go beyond phonics skills, including time in each lesson to read and write sentences or passages of text.

The company’s method is unique, she said, because of a “marking system” that helps students sound out words. Students mark vowels with x’s, break words into syllables, and follow simple pronunciation rules that McCall says guide about 75% of English words.

A screenshot of Reading Horizons product PDF.

“I think of this as training wheels on a bicycle,” McCall said. “As students are learning the patterns to the word, they’re going to have these markings. And then when they read passages, the marks won’t be there, but they can apply them when they come to an unfamiliar word.”

According to Reading Horizons’ contract, the company will provide scripted manuals, flashcards, and longer texts targeted to skills students are learning. There will also be one six-hour training for chosen MSCS staff and one-day targeted coaching budgeted at $3,000 each for 30 sessions.

MSCS Director of Curriculum Amy Maples said the district is investing the “bare minimum” funding level for Reading Horizons’ program, which company leaders said cuts out additional training and coaching sessions for school staff.

But Maples said MSCS could invest more in the program after the first year depending on results. The contract with Reading Horizons has the option for renewal through 2030.

District leaders will also be screening more students for characteristics of dyslexia this year, according to an emailed statement sent to Chalkbeat.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

xAI wants to fix some Memphis schools. But these students say that help comes with a cost.

2025-08-26T20:43:28+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Jasmine Bernard, a 16-year-old Memphis-Shelby County Schools student, remembers gaps in ceiling tiles and constant lighting issues at her middle school.

Like many other schools in the district, Bernard said, John P. Freeman Optional is “critically underfunded.”

“I can’t deny that the school definitely needs renovations,” she told Chalkbeat Tennessee. “And the Memphis education system needs funding.”

But Bernard, now a junior at University High School, doesn’t think turning to Elon Musk’s xAI for help is the answer.

In July, the MSCS school board voted to accept an unspecified amount of money from xAI to fix deferred maintenance issues at John P. Freeman Optional as well as Fairley, Mitchell, and Westwood high schools in Southwest Memphis. It’s not yet clear how much money the district will accept from the company, though a 2024 facilities report estimated those four buildings need $61 million for repairs over the next decade.

Bernard and a small group of student activists say xAI’s funding comes with a moral and environmental cost. She leads Youth Minds United, a climate justice group for Memphis-Shelby County students that helped organize protests and community meetings against xAI in the spring.

“xAI isn’t giving the schools a gift or an innocent ‘here you go; we’re helping the community,’” Bernard said. “It’s part of a bigger scheme to hide how they’re inherently disrupting the futures of the young people who go to those schools and live in those communities.”

Student and community activists say the AI company is contributing to toxic air pollution in historically Black Memphis neighborhoods. Research links supercomputer sites like the one in Memphis to premature deaths for neighboring residents and increased asthma and disease risk from gas turbines that the centers use for power.

xAI did not respond to Chalkbeat Tennessee requests for comment. But the company has previously denied contributions to environmental pollution in the area, saying in a July statement on X that its turbines are “equipped with state-of-the-art emissions control technology, making this facility the lowest emitting of its kind in the country.”

Watchdog organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency and American Lung Association already report high rates of pollution in Shelby County, citing toxic emissions from factories in Southwest Memphis. Local residents also face high rates of respiratory illness and other adverse health effects.

“You can give the school $100,000 for a smart board, but that doesn’t erase the fact that when [students] go home, it smells like gas,” said Rubi Salgado, a junior at Frederick Douglass High School who leads the Shelby County High School Democrats.

But MSCS is in need of funding, with school buildings districtwide needing over $1.6 billion in maintenance repairs over the next decade.

A committee of local officials is just starting to create a plan to mitigate rising costs, which is expected to include some school closures. During its first meeting in early August, students said that deteriorating building conditions are negatively impacting their ability to learn.

xAI is pledging to fix many of the specific concerns raised by those students, such as HVAC and plumbing systems. The AI company is focusing on four schools with some of the most dire facilities needs in the district, according to The Daily Memphian.

Bernard says that just shows xAI is “really good at propaganda.”

“They are focusing on things that historically, the community has needed and they have not received,” she said. “But I don’t want to frame it in a way that makes them seem like saviors or anything, because they’re not.”

Bobby White, policy advisor for the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, has been a community advocate for xAI officials in school board meetings and community hearings. He said the district is currently finalizing a memorandum of understanding with the company.

White said xAI is “doing everything within their power to ensure that they are as environmentally conscious as they can be.”

The company received approval from the Shelby County Health Department in early July to operate 15 methane-fueled gas turbines, after the city found no early evidence of increased air pollution. But some community members and experts question the validity of those results, saying the testing didn’t measure key pollutants or follow Environmental Protection Agency standards.

White said he commends students for paying attention to issues affecting their schools.

“I think the unfortunate part is that we’ve had a community that has been whipped into a frenzy, thinking that officials have not done their jobs by holding a company accountable,” he said, “when, in fact, officials have done their job by ensuring they’re applying the law.”

MSCS board member Natalie McKinney said she wants to see xAI commit to being a “collaborative partner” with the district, not a one-time donor. Part of that, she said, includes addressing the “valid and legitimate concerns” about potential air pollution.

“As long as they are here and are expressing they want to be good neighbors, then let’s figure out what that looks like,” McKinney said. “We have obligations, I think, to ask these questions and figure out how we can potentially mitigate some of these concerns.”

White contends that xAI leaders aren’t trying to win the public’s favor and the donation to schools is a “gift” for neighbors living near the company’s second facility, which is still under construction in Southaven.

Earlier this month, the company purchased over 60 gas turbines to be delivered to the Colossus 2 site – but it’s unclear whether they will actually be used to power the facility there.

Rubi Salgado, the Frederick Douglass junior, said she doesn’t believe it’s possible for xAI to establish a trusting relationship with the community.

“People are getting hurt due to the increase in pollution, and I don’t think that anything that they do except stopping is going to make up for what they’ve done,” they said.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Lead, fleas, and heat: Memphis school leaders respond to early facilities issues

2025-08-15T23:10:41+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools leaders say it’s doubtful that students were exposed to lead by recently reported contaminated water sources.

Michelle Stuart, the district’s facilities leader, said in a press conference Friday that she received the state-mandated lead testing results on July 27. By the next day, all sinks and fountains deemed unsafe were shut off.

“Let me be clear that that was before school started for the year, so no children were in the building,” Stuart said.

MSCS officials called the press conference less than a day after the Shelby County Health Department announced it will offer free blood-lead testing to students at the 24 affected schools.

Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said it “may be safe to assume” the toxic metal accumulated in school water sources over the summer, though the last time MSCS leaders conducted districtwide testing was in 2023.

Plumbers are working to discover and repair the source so that sinks and fountains can be re-tested and turned back on. In the meantime, the district will provide bottled water to all affected schools. All buildings also have water filtration systems in at least one water fountain to provide clean drinking water.

Richmond said leaders wanted to “provide context” about facilities-related issues hitting the school system in its first two weeks of classes, including reports of fleas at Berclair Elementary and HVAC disruptions at Central High School.

“We want to be a transparent administration,” Richmond said.

The district reported air conditioning issues in four classrooms at Central High School early Friday, saying one student experienced a medical emergency but is now in stable condition. Stuart said that student was not in a classroom where temperatures were higher than usual, reaching around 76 degrees instead of the preferred 68-72 degree range.

Classes at Central continued without disruption Friday, Stuart said. Cooling issues haven’t been as big of a burden this year, she said, because of “chillers” in place at most MSCS schools.

“It’s really hot outside,” Stuart said during the press conference. “The systems are old in our buildings, and they’re working as hard as they can.”

Since 2021, MSCS has spent over $200 million on repairing school HVAC systems, making up over half of the district’s total maintenance costs.

Stuart said she is confident that the fleas reported last week at Berclair Elementary are now gone. MSCS treated the campus buildings starting Aug. 7 and through the weekend and applied a three-tiered insecticide system on Monday.

“I have not had a single report since then,” Stuart said. The source of the insects hasn’t been found.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Shelby County leaders won’t cut current school board terms. But election changes are still pending.

2025-08-07T01:18:29+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

A Shelby County Commission committee advanced a resolution Wednesday to align school board races with the general election cycle by 2030, dropping an earlier plan that would have cut short five members’ terms.

Last week, commissioners delayed voting on a proposal to put all school board seats on the 2026 ballot. They said that proposal, which shortened some current terms, raised constitutional concerns. The full commission is expected to vote as early as Monday on the new resolution, which also includes term limits that could start with those elected in 2030.

A state law with bipartisan backing made the election cycle changes possible. The Memphis lawmakers who sponsored the bill, Democratic Rep. Torrey Harris and Republican Sen. Brent Taylor, had argued that syncing up election cycles would save money and increase voter turnout, which is consistently low for school board-only elections.

But some have characterized the move as a school board reset amid the controversy that followed Superintendent Marie Feagins’ January ouster.

Resolution opponents said Wednesday that the new proposal still violates the state constitution because it would create term limits without a voter referendum. That concern caused Memphis Rep. G.A. Hardaway, who originally voted for the state legislation, to ask the Tennessee Attorney General to weigh in.

School board member Natalie McKinney told Chalkbeat that she doesn’t oppose board term limits but said that voters should decide whether or not to implement them.

“We don’t have to do this, and we don’t have to do it this way,” she said. “So you have to ask yourself, what’s the real goal here?”

Commission Chair Michael Whaley, who sponsored the original resolution, refuted the claim that these changes are about individual board members or district performance.

“We are talking about an issue of governance, and whether we want this [system] to exist decades from today, with new people in these seats,” he said. “We really need to look at it longer-term.”

But Commissioner Miska Clay Bibbs, who leads the county education committee, said Wednesday that she doesn’t think aligning election cycles will increase turnout. She cited current voter data that, she said, “shows that as you go down the ballot, based upon what the seat is, less people vote.”

Commissioner Erika Sugarmon, who sponsored the new resolution, said the amended measure, which pushes back changes for four years, would make a lawsuit less likely. But a representative for the county attorney’s office said that isn’t guaranteed.

Four of the five school board members who originally faced shortened terms voted to fire Feagins after just 10 months on the job. Towanna Murphy, one of those members, called the measure a “form of retaliation.” She said delaying the timeline doesn’t change that.

“None of this was happening until that incident with Dr. Feagins, and then they decided to take these measures because they were angry at us,” she told Chalkbeat Wednesday.

In January, the county commission issued a no-confidence vote for the school board members who voted to fire Feagins. Some Republican state lawmakers subsequently advocated for a state-appointed board to control the Memphis-Shelby County district.

Commissioner Henri E. Brooks, one of three who voted against the revised resolution, said the state law allowing for election-cycle changes has “discriminatory intent,” since it applies only to county boards of education and not to the six suburban districts within Shelby County.

“If we’re going to do it to the Memphis-Shelby County Schools, then the others should be susceptible,” she said.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school board gives green light to new cellphone ban days before classes start

2025-07-30T02:52:02+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Following a fast-tracked school board vote on Tuesday, Memphis-Shelby County students will face a more stringent cellphone ban when classes begin next week.

School board members voted unanimously to approve the ban, which explicitly permits Memphis schools to confiscate devices and employ other disciplinary measures, including suspensions, in response to student violations.

It also adds smartwatches to the list of devices that need to be “powered off and out of sight” during school hours. Some board members previously expressed concern about how students would be disciplined if caught with their devices.

No further discussion followed Tuesday’s vote.

The new student cellphone policy replaces one that the Memphis district first put in place in 2010, and it follows a new state law that requires all school systems to adopt a ban on “wireless communication devices” ahead of the 2025-26 school year. The state law mandates exceptions for students with medical conditions or disabilities.

Tennessee’s law comes amid a wave of state legislation across the country to curb cellphone use in schools, as research grows on the learning and health impacts for young students.

The legislation leaves all other details about how the ban should be enforced, including what devices to include and where students have to keep them during the school day, up to local school boards.

According to the new district policy, students will be required to place their powered-off devices in “designated locations” during the school day, which will be determined by the superintendent or a school leader. Those locations could include:

Individual secured pouches
Student lockers
Backpacks or purses
Students’ personal cars

MSCS has yet to provide additional guidance about how the new policy will be enforced.

The district’s decision to include smartwatches on the list of banned devices was the result of an amendment proposed by board member Michelle McKissack last week.

Stephanie Cole-Farris is the clinical services manager for Memphis’ chapter of Youth Villages, a statewide youth mental health nonprofit. She said there needs to be a “pilot phase” for students as they adjust to the state directive, since the district’s cell phone policy wasn’t consistently enforced in years past.

“Our children are born into and brought up at a time where we are very much reliant on devices throughout the day,” she said. “Not having access to that could create stress, anxiety, and overall, just a feeling of hopelessness and being overwhelmed.”

Cole-Farris also stressed the need for district leaders to develop a robust communication plan for all parties involved, especially in the case of emergencies.

Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said last week that his team is working on such a plan.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Porter-Leath won the Memphis Head Start funding. It has a week to fill 3,000 seats.

2025-07-28T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

With only a week until school starts, local early childhood education nonprofit Porter-Leath needs to fill 250 staff positions and nearly 3,000 student seats as Memphis’ new sole Head Start provider.

Porter-Leath announced last Monday that it’s taking over the five-year contract and the nearly $30 million annual federal grant from Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The district lost the contract after repeated safety violations.

The changeup leaves Porter-Leath with only a week to transition before the school year starts on Aug. 4. And families who previously signed up with MSCS for the upcoming school year need to apply again, said Vice President of Development Robert Hughes. The district didn’t explain how it plans to communicate that to parents.

“Time is a huge challenge,” Hughes said.

Over 700 families applied for acceptance last week, he said, and the organization is hosting enrollment support workshops and job fairs throughout the month of August.

Hughes also said Porter-Leath is expanding partnerships with other community organizations like First 8 Memphis to open new Head Start sites “for space reasons.” The nonprofit currently operates five centers of its own.

During the first enrollment event Friday, Family Services Manager Tracy Jackson said over 100 families showed up to Porter-Leath’s American Way center for support before 11 a.m.

For the past four years, MSCS has run the free federal pre-K program for low-income families. But funding from the federal Administration for Children and Families went up for grabs this spring because MSCS repeatedly violated Head Start safety standards, according to The Daily Memphian. The district received 3 deficiency notices in 2023-24 for “concerning discipline patterns,” including teachers who “hit, pulled and grabbed children by the neck.”

In an email to Chalkbeat, MSCS confirmed that it will not receive any Head Start funding this school year.

But the district will still provide “high-quality early learning opportunities” to 3,340 students, the email said, primarily four-year-olds, through funding from the state education department’s Voluntary Pre-K program.

MSCS did not say whether it would need to lay off any staff. In an earlier press release, district officials said the transition will affect 23 childcare providers.

“While the loss of Head Start funding has required adjustments to our staffing model, we are working diligently to retain as many team members as possible through reassignment and redeployment into roles supported by [the] Early Childhood Department,” the recent email said.

Last year, Porter-Leath served around 1,500 children in its Early Head Start program for children up to 3 years old and other pre-K models. And until a fallout in August 2021, the district paid the nonprofit around two-thirds of its grant award to serve as a partner in offering Head Start services.

Porter-Leath was one of 13 providers nationwide to be designated a “Program of Excellence” by the National Head Start Association in 2023. Hughes credits most of the organization’s success to its early education staff, and the focus on professional development.

“We’re not just like, ‘Hey, you’re hired. Go for it,’” he said. “We’re not asking somebody to rely on what they learned in school 25 years ago with no additional support. And that pays off in the classroom.”

Hughes said Porter-Leath also puts additional adults in its classrooms and centers through outside partnerships with AmeriCorps, including its “foster grandparents” program.

“Having extra adults in the classroom and in the centers makes a huge difference obviously, for our teachers, knowing that there’s a third set of eyes,” he said.

Starting Friday, Porter-Leath will begin hosting job fairs specifically for former MSCS Head Start employees, which will run every Wednesday and Friday through August.

What will a new student cellphone ban look like in Memphis schools?

2025-07-23T18:41:26+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis school board members will vote next week on a revised student cellphone policy to align with new state standards.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools already had a cellphone policy in place since 2010 that required students to keep phones and “personal communication devices” turned off and stored in their locker during school hours. But the new version adds state-mandated exceptions, such as students with documented health conditions or disabilities using devices as outlined in their individual education plans.

During a meeting Tuesday, board members raised concerns about disciplinary measures outlined in the proposed policy, which aren’t required by Tennessee’s new law. The proposed revisions specifically outline that repeated violations “will result in the escalation to a higher progressive disciplinary measure.”

District officials say the consequences echo what was included in the original policy, which mainly talked about confiscating devices and mentioned “additional consequences” for multiple violations.

In the spring, Tennessee lawmakers unanimously passed a bill banning the use of “wireless communication devices” such as cellphones and tablets during the school day. The law, signed by Gov. Bill Lee in April, tasks local boards of education with hashing out the specific policy details.

That move aligned with a nationwide trend to ban cellphone use in schools at the state legislature level, due to rising concerns about student mental health and bullying.

With the renewed state and local push, including more devices and exceptions to navigate, MSCS board member Michelle McKissack said there should be extra support in place for administrators.

“This is going to be a big fat deal,” said McKissack. “There really is a serious concern from principals, because the greater majority are at risk of violating this. These are iBabies; they literally were born with phones in their hands.”

District Policy Advisor Maria Stewart said the board needs to vote as soon as possible to have the policy in place by the Aug. 4 school start date.

Stewart said the new policy would follow the district’s current “progressive disciplinary approach” for violations, which starts with consequences like confiscation and escalates to suspension.

Board member Amber Huett-Garcia said Tuesday that the process feels “devoid of personal circumstances” for students, who often have “adult responsibilities” that dictate their phone use.

“I think it’s very different if you are a high school senior, and your mother’s texting you to pick up your elementary sister, or you’re scrolling on TikTok during AP history,” she said.

Huett-Garcia said she’s also concerned about consequences being “greater than the disruption.”

“If I was on my phone for 10 minutes during the school day, but then you’re going to be out of school for three days, what’s the greater learning loss?” she said.

Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said his team will review data on the effectiveness of current disciplinary measures for student cellphone use.

He also said he’s putting together a communications plan about the new rules in anticipation of concerns from parents and students.

Are you an MSCS teacher or principal with thoughts or concerns about the new state cellphone ban? Email bhatch@chalkbeat.org to tell me more – I’d love to hear from you!

A previous version of this story listed Facility Services Officer Michelle Stuart as the district spokesperson at the board meeting. Policy Advisor Maria Stewart is the correct speaker.

The push to take over Memphis-Shelby County Schools isn’t over, state lawmakers say

2025-07-14T16:43:24+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The two Republican lawmakers who introduced bills this spring to change who controls Memphis-Shelby County Schools say the push for a state takeover isn’t finished.

Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor told WKNO/Channel 10’s “Behind the Headlines” Friday that their legislation to establish a state-appointed “board of managers” overseeing the district will be fast-tracked to pass this spring.

That’s because the lawmakers’ two versions of the legislation – which include some key differences – each passed one chamber by April, then stalled. Now, Taylor and White said they’re waiting for results from the $6 million independent audit of the district, which started this month, to best inform how they’ll combine the bills come January.

“They’re sitting there fully ready to go,” White said. “All we have to do when we go back in January, if the timing is right, is just line them up, kinda like the Big Beautiful Bill that Congress just did.”

White’s version gives the state-appointed board power over elected MSCS board members. Taylor’s puts the state in an advisory role, but gives the commissioner of education authority to remove MSCS members who are “obstinate to the change,” he said.

Taylor also said he thinks the state’s largest school district will ultimately need to be broken up into smaller districts in order to operate effectively.

“We’ve got a district that is too big; it’s unmanageable,” he said.

District officials didn’t respond to requests for comment before publication.

The lawmakers’ comments, and the scale of the changes they discussed, set the stage for another fight over the district’s future in 2026.

Both White and Taylor said the reason for state control boils down, mainly, to academic results in the Memphis-Shelby County district. The push for state takeover also came on the heels of the board’s sudden decision to oust former Superintendent Marie Feagins, which sparked demands for more accountability.

MSCS students improved on state tests for the fourth year in a row, with even larger reading and math score gains for the district’s youngest learners. Just over 29% of students in grades 3-5 passed in reading this year, up from 26% in 2023-24.

Statewide, 41.7% of third graders hit the mark. Fourth and fifth graders saw 47.7% and 40.7% proficiency rates, respectively.

Taylor said the “small incremental increases” from MSCS aren’t good enough.

“We don’t expect them overnight to get to the state average,” he said. “But we need to be moving and headed in the right direction.”

The Memphis and Shelby County school systems merged in 2011. State lawmakers then passed a bill allowing surrounding suburban neighborhoods to break off and form their own districts, with significantly smaller and less diverse student populations.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

$118M in Tennessee K-12 funding is held up in Trump federal funding review

2025-07-08T11:00:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

More than $118 million for Tennessee schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump administration froze federal funding last week that had been approved by Congress.

Withheld funds or potential cuts could heavily impact Tennessee education programs, where it’s primarily been used to pay for teacher development, after-school programs, and other child care initiatives.

In a statement, Memphis-Shelby County Schools district officials say 100 teacher and staff positions could be impacted if some $17 million is withheld.

The district planned to use more than $14 million of the impacted funds for teacher development and recruitment efforts across 38 positions, according to district budget proposal documents. Another $1.6 million was earmarked for English language learner support to supplement 46 school-based translators.

“While this situation presents significant challenges, MSCS is actively developing thoughtful contingency plans to minimize disruption and ensure students, families, and staff continue to receive the support they need,” the district said. “In the event the funding is not reinstated, the district may be required to make difficult decisions, which could include program adjustments or use of reserve funds intended to protect long-term financial stability.”

The Tennessee Department of Education hasn’t commented on the funding freeze or how it’s communicating developments to school districts in the weeks before Tennessee students return to the classroom, though other states have provided breakdowns of projected impacts on local schools.

Congress approved the funding in March, and school districts expected the money to be released at the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1. The federal funding included $890 million for English language learners, $2.2 billion for teacher training, $1.4 billion for before- and after-school programs, and $1.3 billion for enrichment programs like college counseling nationwide.

A smaller pot of money — $375 million — was supposed to pay for academic support for the children of migrant farmworkers.

Several Democrat-led states have called for the funding to be released and have threatened legal action. The Trump administration has said the freeze is part of an ongoing review of federally funded programs.

An Office of Management and Budget spokesperson said its initial findings showed that grant funds have “been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda,” including issues around immigration, though the office did not provide Chalkbeat with any documentation of the allegations.

In Tennessee, less than 2% of this federal funding allocation went to “migrant education,” according to a review by the Learning Policy Institute. The institute estimated Tennessee stands to lose more than $106 million under the freeze, slightly less than the $118.9 million total provided by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, the Democratic vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee who also sits on the Senate Education Committee.

Nashville Metro Schools did not receive any money last year from Title I-C, which funds migrant education, while MSCS was projected to receive less than $60,000 for the upcoming year, a tiny portion of the district’s $1.9 billion budget.

In Nashville, the district said it does not anticipate any immediate impacts on programming but is following the issue closely.

“These congressionally mandated programs support essential services for our students—including those who are learning English, need additional academic support, or benefit from extended learning opportunities—and help ensure we have effective educators in every classroom,” district spokesperson Sean Braisted said in an email. “We support efforts to fully fund these programs at or above previous levels.”

Child care advocates are raising alarms about the funding freeze’s effect on before- and after-school programs, which are vital in states like Tennessee with skyrocketing child care costs. Last week, Boys & Girls Club CEO Jim Clark warned the loss of 21st Century Community Learning Center funding, which supports extracurricular programs, could decimate hundreds of clubs across the country.

Tennessee received more than $23 million to support these programs last year, according to the AfterSchool Alliance, with about $3.2 million going to local Boys & Girls Clubs. Those clubs are not likely to close their doors but could be forced to pull back on programs such as additional tutoring and enrichment experiences.

Bart McFadden, the interim executive director for the Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee, said no clubs in the state are exclusively federally funded, and they will be able to withstand the freeze.

“This is a pause, and we don’t know what it’s ultimately going to mean as we get into the school year. We’re hopeful these funds are released,” McFadden said. “If they’re not, plans are in place to mitigate the impact so that our blue doors, as we call them, are open for kids.”

Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis-Shelby County school board approves $1.9 billion budget, will add some staff positions

2025-06-12T00:16:22+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The Memphis-Shelby County school board passed the $1.9 billion 2025-26 district budget Wednesday that will fund the return of fall and spring break academies, staffing incentives, and a new preventative maintenance team to address longstanding building issues.

The school board scaled back $30 million of proposed school fire safety and HVAC upgrades from the budget after not receiving full funding from the Shelby County Commission for a $35 million investment toward deferred maintenance issues.

The district will instead direct $5 million to pressing safety issues, using $4.5 million to update intercom systems in 25 schools and the rest of the money to replace elevators in two schools.

At the budget meeting, MSCS assistant superintendent of operations Tito Langston said some schools are relying on two-way radios to communicate across campus.

“We have to be able to communicate with our students in case there are any emergencies,” said board member Natalie McKinney.

The budget is still fluid, Langston reminded board members. The board can amend the budget until the end of the month and readdress the fire and safety issues later this year. The budget requires final approval from the county commission later this month.

Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s first budget does not include any major staff cuts one year after more than 1,000 positions were cut.

MSCS was thrown a budgeting curveball this spring when a new federal directive essentially blocked districts from spending out the remainder of pandemic-era relief funds.

With more than $55 million on the table, the district had intended to direct the funds toward long-awaited heating and air conditioning systems in schools. Last August, at least 12 Memphis schools had to close early on the first day of school due to high temperatures and A/C issues.

The district has applied for an extension to use the funds that has yet to be approved.

Before the budget vote, Langston said if the district can get the $55 million back, or at least a portion of it, the board could reassess the capital projects in several months. The approved budget removed $18 million of proposed HVAC updates and $8 million of proposed fire alarm replacements.

The budget would fund 40 new “mobile” security officers and 10 new multilingual teachers, in addition to a $30 million injection for specialized education assistants. The district has relied on the assistants to support K-2 classrooms.

Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools remains under pressure, even as state intervention bill stalls

2025-04-23T20:08:22+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools narrowly avoided legislation that would have expanded state control over its elected school board and budget. But lawmakers intend to bring that bill back — and other efforts to audit the district and potentially change the timing of its school board elections have advanced.

Though versions of state intervention bills passed in the House and Senate, the chambers could not reconcile them before the Tennessee General Assembly adjourned on Tuesday. Each bill called for a state-appointed oversight board whose members would be paid by the school district, but the two versions differed on what powers it gave that board, and the thresholds that would trigger state intervention.

Rather than settle on a compromise bill, the sponsors made a “strategic decision” to keep the bills alive, according to a statement from sponsor Rep. Mark White of Memphis.

“Continuing to invest in failed leadership and administrative mismanagement without addressing the district’s fundamental issues is doing a disservice to the people we were elected to represent,” White and Senate sponsor Brent Taylor of Memphis said in a joint statement.

A bill that would allow for the recall of school board members also stalled.

White’s legislation came in response to the firing of MSCS Superintendent Marie Feagins in January — less than a year into her tenure — a move that drew strong objections from many district educators and members of the community. At the time, many of them warned that firing the superintendent would signal the kind of disorder that would invite state intervention.

But critics of the legislation called it undemocratic and an example of state overreach. The local teacher’s union president delivered more than 5,000 petitions against the legislation last week. Many members of the Memphis delegation also voiced opposition, as did the elected school board.

The state has a history of interventions in MSCS, including the Achievement School District turnaround program, which removed low-performing schools and placed them in a state-run district, often under the control of charter operators. Earlier this week, the state voted to end the ASD after research showed it failed to achieve long-term academic improvements.

School board member Michelle McKissack, who represents District 1, said there is a need for reform in MSCS — a state takeover was not the solution.

“I also was frustrated and upset by the decision of members of my board in terminating the previous superintendent,” McKissack said. “But at the same time, I didn’t want to see the state step in, take over, to the degree of usurping the voice of the people.”

Though this intervention legislation stalled, more change could be on its way. State lawmakers passed a budget that will fund a $6 million forensic audit of MSCS, conducted by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. The sponsors of the intervention bill intend to merge their legislation when results of the audit are in, according to a press release from the state House Republican Caucus.

The legislature also passed a bill Tuesday that would allow the Shelby County Commission to synchronize school board elections to the same cycle as commission elections. It’s an effort to increase voter turnout for those positions. But it could mean that elected school board members’ terms are cut short.

The commission would need to pass a resolution before the election timing would change.

McKissack said an increase in voter turnout could be beneficial, but it could also lead to a total replacement of the school board at one time, wiping out veteran knowledge and creating upheaval. Ultimately, she said she wants to see some stability for MSCS.

“We’ve been through a very tumultuous period,” McKissack said. “No matter what, moving forward, I hope that all of the stakeholders involved just really keep children at the forefront of what’s best. Sometimes that has gotten lost in the conversation.”

Tennessee bills on Memphis school intervention outline powers of state-appointed boards

2025-04-18T21:26:41+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

New versions of legislation aiming to intervene in Memphis-Shelby County Schools would establish state-appointed boards to oversee the elected local school board and superintendent contracts, while the bills emerging from the Tennessee House and Senate differ somewhat on the amount and types of authority those boards would have.

The bills follow the firing of MSCS Superintendent Marie Feagins by a divided school board in late January — nine months into her tenure — a move that prompted calls from community members for greater accountability for district leaders. Critics call the legislation undemocratic and state overreach.

In both proposals, members of the state-appointed boards would have the authority to review large contracts for superintendent pay, but it would be up to the districts to pay the members of the state-appointed boards.

Republican Rep. Mark White of Memphis, who sponsored the House legislation, said MSCS needs intervention now.

“For a city like Memphis, it’s important that you have a strong K-12 system,” he said. “It’s time that we address an issue of a system that has a $1.8 billion budget.”

White’s legislation looks much different from a previous iteration, which would have stripped the majority of the elected school board’s powers.

Memphis schools have faced continual upheaval over the past 15 years, from a merger that created the Memphis-Shelby County district and the withdrawal of several municipalities from that district, to the takeover of many local schools by the state-run Achievement School District turnaround program and leadership turmoil that has left the district with its fourth superintendent in less than three years.

Multiple Democratic members pushed back on the bills, saying that the state has a bad track record in intervention, and that the proposals would only add to the district’s upheaval.

“The children have to absorb all of those changes every single year,” said Democratic Rep. Karen Camper of Memphis, adding: “No other county, no other district, has been through this, and it’s been traumatic.”

The House and Senate versions still need to be fully reconciled. Both are set for a full floor vote on Monday.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers passed a budget this week that will fund a forensic audit of MSCS.

Who would make up the board

Both House and Senate proposals envision nine-member boards made up of county residents.

In the House proposal, the members would be appointed by the governor and speakers of the state Senate and House. The board would operate for three years, with the possibility of a three year extension.

In the Senate proposal, the board would include the city and county mayors, or their designees. The board’s oversight would last four years, with a two-year extension option.

In both proposals, the state-appointed board members would be compensated the same amount as the elected school board members, and be paid by the district. In the Senate version, the board would also be allowed to hire up to three staff members and determine their salaries. These salaries would be paid for by the local legislative body — like the county or city — not the state, according to the proposal.

“Now we’re putting a whole new unelected board that taxpayers have to fund, that they did not choose,” Democratic Sen. London Lamar of Memphis said during discussions of the bill this week. “So we’re basically superseding the decisions of voters.”

Republican Sen. Brent Taylor of Memphis, sponsor of the Senate bill, said the board would act in an “advisory” capacity.

The board’s powers: Senate vs. House version

In the Senate version, the state commissioner of education could recommend removing elected board members and the district superintendent, and seek help with this from the state-appointed board. The Shelby County Commission could then appoint new school board members, who would have to be confirmed by the state.

In districts like MSCS that have had frequent leadership turnover, the bill would allow for the County Commission to appoint a superintendent, who would serve for at least four years.

The state-appointed board would submit “recommendations” to items on school board agendas. The board would also conduct an annual comprehensive needs assessment to create a “transformation plan” for the district.

The state-appointed board would review contracts worth $50,000 or more before the elected school board could sign, amend, or renew them.

“Public education in the state of Tennessee is a partnership between the state and the local government,” said Republican Sen. Jack Johnson of Franklin. “It is altogether entirely appropriate that we send an advisory board, that we get further engaged as a partner in how those kids are being educated.”

In the House bill, the board’s main power would be to approve or veto items in the local elected school board’s budget. As in the Senate version, it would review contracts of $50,000 or more. The board would also approve or deny expenditures of $50,000 or more. These contracts and expenditures would exclude contracts and salaries for teachers and principals, but would apply to payments for the superintendent.

Bills create more openings for charter schools

Both bills would help promote the spread of charter schools. For example, they would require the elected school board to send a list of vacant and underutilized property to the state-appointed board. The board would then determine which properties could be occupied by a public charter school.

The Senate version would allow the state commissioner to recommend charter conversion for schools in the district. It would also outline a process allowing charter operators to apply directly to the public charter school commission for authorization.

The House version would restrict the elected school board’s ability to deny charter renewals, charter conversions, or amended applications for new charter schools. The oversight board would need to review and approve any such denial.

“It seems like this is the actual goal: to take these properties and hand them over to your charter friends,” said Democratic Rep. Johnny Shaw of Bolivar.

Rep. White denied that, and said he supports any school that can educate MSCS children.

Thresholds for intervention

Both bills specifically target Memphis-Shelby County Schools, though any district meeting the following thresholds could face intervention.

The Senate version kicks in when:

50% or more of district students are economically disadvantaged
50% or more did not meet grade-level expectations in math and English
At least one school managed by the district has been identified as a priority school for the last five lists released

The House version applies when:

50% or more of district students did not meet grade-level expectations in math and English
At least 30% of district-managed schools receive a failing grade from the state
At least 25% of students are chronically absent
At least one school managed by the district has been identified as a priority school for the last five lists released
The county legislative body approves a resolution declaring no confidence in the district’s school board

Bill to strip power from Memphis-Shelby County Schools board moves ahead

2025-03-18T19:09:02+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

A Tennessee bill that would strip power from Memphis-Shelby County Schools board and create a state-appointed panel to oversee the district advanced in the legislature.

In a 6-2 vote along party lines, the bill from Republican Rep. Mark White of Memphis cleared the Tennessee House’s K-12 subcommittee after a hearing Tuesday, and moved ahead for consideration by the full education committee.

The hearing was lawmakers’ first public discussion of the legislation, which could overhaul how decisions about Tennessee’s largest school district are made. The bill would create a nine-member, state-appointed board to manage the district for at least four years. The elected school board would continue in an “advisory capacity,” but the state board would be able to veto the elected board’s choice of superintendent and direct a range of its actions, according to the draft legislation.

Critics of the legislation warned that the bill, if approved, could set a precedent for the state to encroach on local control in other districts across the state.

White insisted the legislation should not be framed as a state takeover.

It is not that, he said. “I am a representative of the city of Memphis. I am locally elected by the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County, and they have asked me to push forward on such legislation.”

The board members would all be Shelby County residents, and they would be experts in facilities, curriculum, contracts, budget, finance, K-12 education — “all the above things that you need to run the school system,” White said.

Under the draft legislation, the governor would appoint five members to the state-appointed board of managers, with the speakers of the state Senate and House each appointing two others. It also allows the state education commissioner to recommend that district public schools convert to charter schools.

Under the bill, modeled on a Texas law, the state board would have “full authority to right-size the district,” said White.

The legislation leans on Tennessee’s public accountability act, which enables the state education commissioner to intervene if at least 30% of a district’s schools have a D or an F letter grade and 25% of the students are chronically absent, White said.

In the Memphis Shelby County Schools district, just 17% of students are proficient in math, while 1 in 4 are proficient in reading, and the district has more than $1 billion in deferred maintenance needed for its facilities, White said.

MSCS recorded some improvement in the latest round of school letter grades released in December, with more schools earning A’s and B’s, and fewer schools earning F’s. However, 11% of eligible schools in MSCS earned failing grades, the largest proportion of F’s among districts with 50 or more schools.

White said he wants to see better outcomes given that $1 out of every $7 of the state’s $1.8 billion education budget goes to Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

“Our students deserve better than what we’re giving them,” White said. “The state deserves better, and so what I’m working on is a system of intervention.”

The proposal follows several years of leadership turmoil in the district. After Superintendent Joris Ray resigned under a cloud of scandal in August 2022, it took the school more than a year to find a permanent successor. But that successor, Marie Feagins, lasted less than 10 months on the job before the board fired her on the grounds that she misled the board about a range of topics.

The move divided the board and drew strong criticism from educators and members of the community. While some board members saw the firing as a necessary removal of an uncooperative leader, others saw an abrupt, potentially destabilizing decision driven by personality conflicts, and warned that it could invite state intervention.

White had urged the board to retain Feagins, saying the board’s conflict with the superintendent was distracting members from focusing on students’ academic challenges.

District advocates and officials, including school board members, sharply criticized White’s bill this week, and Democrats voiced their opposition at Tuesday’s hearing.

Rep. Sam McKenzie, a Knoxville Democrat, questioned whether the state was an appropriate body to address issues in the local school system, and said passage of the bill would override the rights of local voters to determine how their school district is managed through representatives on the board.

He pointed to the failures of the state’s Achievement School District — a state-run turnaround school district created in 2010 that took over many Memphis schools and turned them over to charter operators in arguing against the bill.

Ron Redwing, the founder of the Save Our Students coalition, told lawmakers he “vehemently opposed this bill.”

Redwing acknowledged the school district faced challenges, but asked lawmakers to let district leaders solve them at the local level. He also warned that the bill could give the state leeway to strip power from other local districts and their elected boards.

“Be careful of the doors you open,” he said. “Because it’s Memphis and Shelby County today, but it’s Crockett County, Fayette County, and every other county tomorrow.”

Max Lubbers contributed reporting.

Some Tennessee charter school applicants could bypass local districts under governor’s proposal

2025-02-13T23:52:04+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Gov. Bill Lee is pushing for a major revision to Tennessee charter school law to create ways for operators to bypass their local elected school boards and apply directly to a state commission for authorization.

The legislature’s Republican majority leaders have filed a bill on behalf of Lee’s administration to create three new pathways for charter school operators to seek approval from the state:

Beginning July 1, any school board whose decision to deny a charter application is overturned by the state three times within three years could be bypassed, allowing a charter operator to apply directly to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission for authorization during the next five years.
Public colleges and universities could apply to the state commission to open a charter school for K-12 students.
An operator with at least one charter school that is authorized by a local school board or the state commission and that has been operational for at least one year could apply either to the local district or state commission to replicate its model to create one or more charter schools.

If the Republican governor’s bill passes the GOP-controlled legislature, the measure could further dilute local control over Tennessee’s charter sector, while giving the powerful 4-year-old commission even more authority to open and close publicly funded but independently controlled charter schools.

The commission, whose nine members are appointed by the governor, already has significantly expanded its footprint through an appellate process that allows the state to authorize and open charter schools when overturning a local board’s application denial. Another law allows better-performing charter schools in the state’s Achievement School District turnaround program to transfer to the state commission’s oversight, rather than returning to their home district.

The charter commission now oversees 25 charters, including seven that are scheduled to open in the next two years and one transferring from the ASD. Most are in urban Davidson and Shelby counties, but a few operate in suburban Madison and Rutherford counties.

Three of the schools were previously overseen by the state Board of Education before the state commission took over its charter responsibilities in 2021 under a 2019 law initiated by Lee.

The governor, who is one of the nation’s biggest charter advocates, pushed to create the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission to ensure that high-quality charter schools can open and ineffective ones are closed.

He initially wanted to give the new body the power to bypass local school boards altogether and open new charter schools directly. But he agreed to limit the commission’s authority after district leaders expressed outrage to their legislators about any measure that would circumvent local education control.

The commission has not been a rubber stamp for opening charter schools. Since it began hearing appeals in 2021, the panel has sided with local school boards on half of their application denials.

Gov. Bill Lee (center) poses in 2021 with original members whom he appointed to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Commissioners represent all three of the state's grand divisions.

However, the latest legislative proposal, if approved, would move the state closer to Lee’s original vision for the commission.

The first proposed pathway — allowing operators to bypass local boards if their denials have been repeatedly overturned — is viewed by charter advocates as an incentive for school boards to take their charter authorization process seriously.

“This bill supports fairness, transparency, and high standards for Tennessee’s successful public charter school community, upholding local input while ensuring districts fulfill their responsibilities,” said Elizabeth Lane Johnson, the governor’s press secretary.

Charter critics, meanwhile, characterize it as a way to pressure school boards into approving charter applications.

While districts would begin with a clean slate on July 1, a review of the last three years of the commission’s appellate decisions shows that Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, in Davidson County, has had the most denials overturned by the state, followed by Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Asked about the proposed changes to the state’s charter school law, a spokesman for Nashville’s school system said district officials do not typically comment publicly on pending legislation.

In Memphis, school board Chair Joyce Dorse Coleman told Chalkbeat that leaders of Memphis-Shelby County Schools are “carefully monitoring” the bill.

The Tennessee School Boards Association did not respond to Chalkbeat’s request for comment.

Tennessee charter growth has been nurtured by out-of-state groups

In all, Tennessee has about 115 charter schools, most authorized locally by the board for Memphis-Shelby County Schools, with a total statewide enrollment of about 44,000 students, according to the Tennessee Charter School Center. Under a 2002 state law, Tennessee’s first three charter schools opened in Chattanooga, Memphis, and Nashville in 2003.

Along with funding from several Tennessee-based foundations, the state has seen an influx of money from out-of-state philanthropic groups to promote and support the sector’s growth in Tennessee. They include Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Charter School Growth Fund, and the City Fund. (The City Fund’s partners include two prominent figures in Tennessee education: Chris Barbic, founding superintendent of the charter-centric Achievement School District, and Dorsey Hopson, founding superintendent of the merged Memphis-Shelby County Schools district.)

Much of the money is distributed through the State Collaborative on Reforming Education, or SCORE, a nonpartisan education advocacy and research organization founded by former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist in 2009. (Among SCORE’s grant recipients is the Memphis Education Fund, whose president and CEO, Terence Patterson, is a member of the state charter school commission.)

In its most recent report outlining SCORE’s goals for 2030, the organization listed three recommendations to bolster the state’s charter sector, including one to expand pathways for authorization to open new schools.

“The General Assembly should update state law to allow charter school operators to consolidate under a single authorizer when seeking renewal with schools under multiple authorizers,” the report said. “Further, the state should allow existing high-performing charter schools seeking to replicate and new charter schools seeking to meet a critical workforce need to choose their authorizer.”

The Tennessee Charter School Center also supports the governor’s legislative proposal, said CEO Elizabeth Fiveash.

“We appreciate the fact that the legislation continues to provide districts the first opportunity to review charter school applications,” Fiveash said, “but also provides increased accountability for districts that don’t meet their authorizing obligations.”

You can read the bill here and track its movement on the General Assembly’s website.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools needs state intervention, Republican lawmaker says

2025-02-01T00:20:56+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

A Tennessee lawmaker wants Memphis-Shelby County Schools to come under the oversight of a state-appointed management board to address concerns about the district’s leadership, facilities, curriculum, and finances.

Rep. Mark White told Chalkbeat he intends to introduce legislation that would create a seven- to nine-member board, filled by Memphis-area residents who have expertise on those topics, that would oversee the local elected school board until the state deems the district has stabilized.

The Memphis Republican, who also chairs the House Education Committee, said he’s working on legislation modeled after a Texas law that allowed that state to take over Houston’s nearly 200,000-student public school system, the nation’s eighth largest district, in 2023. The Texas Education Agency replaced Superintendent Millard House II, a former district administrator in Clarksville, Tennessee, with a new leader and an appointed board of managers comprising local residents.

Rep. Mark White is a Memphis Republican and chairs the House Education Committee.

But White said that, under his bill, the elected board for Memphis-Shelby County Schools would remain in place, “because they have a lot of duties to carry out, and there are a thousand moving parts to running a school system this large.”

He added, however, that the board would have to work under the management board’s supervision until state officials believe the district has stabilized.

“We’ve got to do something,” White said, “and we think this model will work.”

A spokesperson for Memphis-Shelby County Schools said Friday that the district had no comment about White’s draft legislation.

Earlier this week, MSCS board member Michelle McKissack told Chalkbeat that while she doesn’t want a state takeover, she also understands why some community members would be open to it. McKissack was one of the strongest defenders of former Superintendent Marie Feagins and sought to block her ouster.

“It’s always best for a school district to be left in the hands of the people who are locally in the district, who are right there with the folks,” McKissack said. “You always want to have local control when you’re talking about education.”

“But at the same time,” she said, “our local school board is not listening to the people who elected them. … I see where it’s coming from to a certain extent.”

Talk of a state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools has swirled for weeks, even before the school board fired Feagins on Jan. 21 after a nine-month tenure marked by tense relations with some school board members.

Feagins enjoyed widespread support from within the district and community for shaking up the bureaucracy and aggressively shrinking central office staff, transferring many of the workers to understaffed schools.

The board fired her anyway, despite pleas from White, the Shelby County Commission, a couple of board members, and community leaders to hold off and try to work through their differences in order to avoid another prolonged search for a new superintendent.

On Monday, House Speaker Cameron Sexton told Memphis radio station KWAM that the state will take over the school system because of the leadership turnover. He called Feagins a “great leader” and pledged that the state will establish a different board “to get the schools back under control.”

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally agreed that the status quo is unacceptable.

“If the board cannot get its act together, and it is becoming very clear they can’t, the state will have to step in,” McNally told Chalkbeat in a statement.

State oversight or state overreach?

Democratic state lawmakers representing Memphis characterize any change in school board governance as “state overreach,” especially in a community where power, politics, and race have long loomed large in the relationship between the state and the public school district.

Sen. Raumesh Akbari said gutting the authority of a locally elected board would be an “attack on democracy,” while Sen. London Lamar said it would set a troubling precedent. Both called it a step backwards.

“Memphis-Shelby County Schools are making progress, despite being part of one of the most underfunded state education systems in the country,” Akbari said.

Last year, for the third straight year, the district earned the highest possible score for academic growth under the state’s accountability system, exceeding state expectations.

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, who also represents Memphis, said the takeover talk reminds him of when the state took over dozens of Memphis schools for placement in the state-run Achievement School District beginning in 2012. The school turnaround initiative, which is likely to be shuttered by lawmakers this year, has been wildly unpopular and mostly unsuccessful in improving academic performance in low-performing schools.

“We failed children miserably with the ASD, and now we have the nerve to say we’re going to create ASD on steroids by taking a chainsaw to Memphis-Shelby County Schools? That doesn’t make sense,” Hardaway said.

White, while acknowledging the failures of the turnaround district, calls that comparison “apples and oranges.”

“That was more of an academic intervention that involved schools, classrooms, and teachers. This would be a management intervention,” he said.

White said he has met in the last week with Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, interim Memphis school Superintendent Roderick Richmond, and school board member Sable Otey, among others, to talk about community backlash over Feagins’ firing, and what should happen next. Earlier this month, the Shelby County Commission passed a resolution declaring no confidence in the school board.

White said that in drafting the bill, he’s conferred with Sexton’s staff and Sen. Brent Taylor, the Memphis Republican who will be the measure’s co-sponsor.

State takeover of Houston district is steeped in controversy

The Texas Education Agency appointed a nine-member board of managers and installed a new superintendent to oversee the Houston district beginning in 2023, reducing the elected board to an advisory body. The plan is to return the district to local control once the district meets established criteria.

The changes in Houston have been sweeping, and often divisive. According to The Houston Landing, the new state-appointed leadership redesigned teaching and learning, sought to tie teacher pay more closely to student test scores, boosted some teacher salaries by tens of thousands of dollars, and slashed spending on many non-classroom expenses.

While state test scores improved in 2024, critics of the takeover have pointed to high teacher turnover and question the long-term affordability of the turnaround plan, the Landing reported.

Others called the takeover the latest example of Republican and predominantly white state officials asserting power in heavily minority and Democratic-led cities.

Some Houston officials have called for an end to the takeover and an investigation into why and how it happened.

Tennessee lawmakers will be moving on to other business now that they’ve completed a special session that was headlined by passage of a universal school voucher bill. White said that his draft legislation would likely call for the change in Memphis governance to happen July 1, though it could be sooner.

“Some are calling this a takeover,” he said, “but I call it an intervention.”

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis-based reporter Dima Amro contributed to this story.

Feagins is fired as Memphis schools superintendent after stormy 9-month tenure

2025-01-22T03:30:04+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Marie Feagins was fired Tuesday as superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, setting the district back to where it has been repeatedly in recent years: searching for leadership.

A bitterly divided school board voted 6-3 to oust Feagins less than 10 months into her tenure, approving a resolution that cited allegations of professional misconduct and poor leadership.

Feagins, a former Detroit school administrator hired by a previous board to lead Tennessee’s largest school district after a prolonged and problem-plagued search, vehemently denied any wrongdoing. She described herself as a target of “false accusations and political maneuvering.”

Board chair Joyce Dorse Coleman introduced the resolution to fire Feagins and was joined in voting “yes” by members Stephanie Love, Natalie McKinney, Sable Otey, Towanna Murphy, and Keith Williams. Michelle McKissack, Tamarques Porter, and Amber Huett-Garcia voted no.

The board voted to name Roderick Richmond, a longtime district administrator now serving as the district’s transformation officer, as interim superintendent.

In a statement issued later Tuesday night through a public relations firm, Dorse Coleman said Feagins “has not demonstrated the transformational leadership that is critical to the success” of the Memphis district.

“At this pivotal moment, we need a transformational leader who will collaborate effectively with the Board and respect governance protocols, keeping students at the center of every decision,” she said.

The board will hold a news conference at noon Thursday at the district’s central office, the statement said.

According to multiple media reports, Feagins told reporters after Tuesday’s vote that her firing is “exactly the opposite” of what an educational institution stands for. She said many members of the board “chose chaos over children, and it looks like they’ve chosen litigation over leadership.”

She added: “I’ll see them in court.”

After a tense and at times chaotic special meeting, the board approved a resolution Dorse Coleman first introduced Dec. 17 to fire Feagins. The resolution claims that Feagins:

Failed to provide evidence of her statement that district employees were paid $1 million in overtime for time not worked.
Accepted a donation of more than $45,000 without board approval, then misrepresented what happened.
Misled the board and public about a federal grant and its missed deadline.

Feagins’ hiring was supposed to bring stability and rebuild trust after a turbulent 18-month superintendent search, and as the district navigated serious academic and financial challenges, including possible school closures. Instead, months of simmering tension between Feagins and the majority of board members led to a hasty divorce with potentially significant ramifications.

If the decision amounts to a firing for cause the board would avoid paying Feagins in severance — it was estimated at $487,500 as of last month — but potentially open itself up to other costs if Feagins follows through on pursuing legal action. Feagins began work last April on a four-year contract that was to pay her $325,000 annually.

Lawmakers concerned about the prospect of Feagins being fired also were poised to take action.

State Rep. Mark White, Republican chairman of a House education committee, has floated reintroducing legislation he drafted last year that would give the state the power to appoint up to six new members to the nine-member Memphis board. White on Tuesday wrote a letter to the school board urging members to retain Feagins. Another lawmaker, Democratic Rep. G.A. Hardaway, has already filed a bill that would create a process for recalling school board members.

Huett-Garcia and community members who spoke during Tuesday’s public comment period raised the specter of greater state intervention to warn board members against voting to fire Feagins.

A long line of speakers come to Feagins’ defense

More than two-dozen speakers — including teachers, alumni, and community organizers — lined up during public comment to support Feagins and criticize the attempt to oust her.

Among them was Justin Pearson, a Democratic state representative from Memphis who drew national attention in 2023 after Republicans expelled him from office over his participation in a disruption at the Capitol. Pearson, who was quickly reappointed and then reelected to office, called the process targeting Feagins unfair and urged the board to “slow down.”

Pearson used sharper language in an interview with Chalkbeat, calling the process “horrendous.”

“I got expelled in an unjust and unfair way,” he said. “I know what it looks like and that’s what’s happening now.”

The meeting grew heated when the board’s outside counsel, Robert Spence, said his review found the allegations against Feagins were true. McKissack interjected, accusing Spence of acting like he was in a courtroom giving “Perry Mason editorializing.” Dorse Coleman threatened to “clear the room” repeatedly as audience members booed and heckled.

When the room quieted, Spence said Feagins violated her contract and deviated from board policy, and that she exhibited a pattern of untruthful statements. The board then voted to release Spence’s 209-page report to the public.

Before voting to terminate Feagins’ contract, the board rejected a counterproposal from board member Huett-Garcia to keep Feagins and attempt to repair her relationship with the board. Under that resolution, Feagins would have had to provide monthly updates to the board, and board members would have been required to complete board governance training.

Even the superintendent’s most vocal board supporters said Feagins bore some responsibility for the deterioration of her relationship with the board since she started.

Still, McKissack pleaded with her colleagues to listen to community members and adopt the counterproposal to retain Feagins, which she described as fair and balanced.

“We can hit the reset button on all of this,” she said. “We absolutely can do this together.”

It was clear last month that at least five board members were inclined to sever ties with Feagins. But Dorse Coleman hit pause, casting the deciding vote on a proposal to delay the discussion until this month to allow for more deliberation and a response from Feagins.

During a board committee meeting last week, Feagins shared a point-by-point response to the allegations against her. She said some school board members presented misleading and false information, calling the effort to fire her “politically motivated” and vowing not to resign.

Board member McKinney leveled additional allegations at the committee meeting, accusing Feagins of “a pattern of failed leadership” and citing graduation issues, inadequate staffing, and cutting student support systems.

That prompted McKissack to say some of her peers were “hell-bent” on dismissing Feagins, and Huett-Garcia said McKinney was “crossing the line of governance.”

When it came time to finally vote on the resolution to fire Feagins at Tuesday’s special meeting, the discussion was more procedural than emotional. The board members in favor of ousting her did not make speeches explaining their vote. The roll call was taken, and the votes were tallied.

“The resolution was adopted,” Dorse Coleman said. “Thank you.”

Superintendent drama has been running for more than two years

A different board took a markedly different approach in parting ways with Joris Ray, who resigned in August 2022 in the midst of a board-ordered outside investigation over claims that he abused his power and violated district policies. That board approved an agreement that gave Ray a severance package equivalent to 18 months’ salary — about $480,000. The agreement also ended the investigation into Ray before any findings were made public.

District administrator Toni Williams then took over as interim superintendent. She went back and forth on applying for the job on a permanent basis, and ultimately withdrew from consideration. The district restarted its national search in June 2023, after the board agreed on a fresh set of job qualifications and criteria. That eventually led to Feagins’ hiring.

Feagins lasted a little over nine months in the role, not even as long as Williams served as interim superintendent.

Before coming to Memphis, Feagins was an official in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, which, by contrast, has experienced a long period of leadership stability under Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.

Vitti, who was hired in 2017 as the district emerged from state control, received a second contract extension in March that will keep him in the post until 2028 and make him one of the longest-serving leaders in district history. He said at the time that working with the board on a succession plan would be one of his top objectives.

One of Feagins’ harshest critics in recent weeks has been board member McKinney, who unseated then-board Chair Althea Greene as District 2’s representative in the August 2024 school board election after campaigning as an advocate of leadership change. She signaled in her campaign that she would emphasize communication and community involvement, telling Chalkbeat: “Family and community engagement must be meaningful, genuine, inclusive, and responsive to truly support our students.”

Memphians are “tired of watching their students graduate but not be prepared for postsecondary opportunities,” McKinney said on election night. “At some point we have to decide who will be responsible for this. If things haven’t worked under that leadership, it’s time to try something new.”

McKinney was one of four newly elected board members last year. But Feagins’ board opposition included a mix of veteran and new board members: Dorse Coleman, Williams, and Love joined with McKinney and two other newcomers, Murphy and Otey. The other newly elected board member, Porter in District 4, sided with Feagins, along with McKissack and Huett-Garcia.

As the meeting room emptied Tuesday night, Overton High School Spanish teacher Noah Nordstrom said he felt shocked, heartbroken, and betrayed by the vote to fire Feagins.

Nordstrom, 26, said he fears ripple effects in classrooms, with teachers returning to a feeling of low motivation that was prevalent before the superintendent position was filled.

“For the last year under Dr. Feagins there’s been this new hope, this new sense of motivation, like our district is going somewhere,” Nordstrom said. “And now it feels like we’re going back.”

Correction, Jan. 23, 12:26 p.m.: A previous version of this story referred incorrectly to the number of days Feagins was in her post.

Memphis school board still appears divided over firing Feagins as superintendent

2025-01-15T01:17:14+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

A proposal to save the job of Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins and attempt to repair her relationship with the school board exposed deeper divisions, at least initially, between board members who want to keep her and those who want her out.

Board member Amber Huett-Garcia, who wants to keep Feagins, introduced the proposal at a Tuesday board work session. Board member Natalie McKinney countered with a long statement accusing Feagins of “a pattern of failed leadership” and introducing new allegations against her — drawing a rebuke from Huett-Garcia and another pro-Feagins board member.

No votes were cast Tuesday. The board is expected to decide Feagins’ fate at its next business meeting Jan. 21, and it isn’t clear whether any board members have changed their minds.

At a meeting Dec. 17, five of the nine board members supported firing Feagins, but board members ultimately voted to delay the discussion until this month to allow for more deliberation and a response from Feagins.

At a brief public meeting that preceded the work session, Feagins said some school board members presented misleading and false information to the public in their effort to fire her.

“The truth was drowned out by false narratives designed to divide us,” Feagins said. “And while I do not expect fairness or impartiality from everyone in this room, my integrity and my commitment to this district demand that I not allow facts to be drowned out by false accusations and political maneuvering.”

In a letter read to the board, Feagins responded point by point to allegations contained in a proposed Dec. 17 resolution seeking to terminate her four-year contract early on the grounds of alleged financial misdeeds and lack of communication.

The resolution Huett-Garcia introduced Tuesday sought to retain Feagins and give her and the board more time to work out their differences. It would require monthly updates by Feagins on the state of the district, its finances, and the students.

In a response to that resolution, McKinney acknowledged Feagins’ contribution to the district but said that the concerns outweighed them and that Feagins’ “leadership failures have jeopardized the stability and progress of our district.”

After McKinney raised other allegations about Feagins’ performance — including graduation issues, concerns about inadequate staffing, and cutting student support systems — board member Michelle McKissack, a supporter of Feagins, said some of the board members are “hell-bent” on dismissing the superintendent.

Huett-Garcia said McKinney’s statement amounted to “crossing the line of governance.”

“It’s maddening to hear the tone and the severity in which you framed things,” Huett-Garcia said, calling it “so disrespectful.”

Board member Towanna Murphy, who supports firing Feagins, told Chalkbeat after the meeting that she has not changed her mind “because we’ve been going through this thing since I’ve been elected, for five months, and nothing has changed.”

However, board member Sable Otey, who had supported firing Feagins on Dec. 17, said after Tuesday’s meeting that she is “going to be open, I’m going to be fair. So I just need a little time.”

Otey did not say whether she had changed her stance on firing Feagins.

Feagins has firmly denied any wrongdoing and issued a formal rebuttal earlier this month to the allegations listed in the resolution, calling the effort to fire her “politically motivated” and vowing not to resign.

The loss of a district leader less than a year into her tenure would be another setback for the image of MSCS, the state’s largest school district, which is struggling to address academic and financial challenges, and to repair lingering damage to its relationship with the community caused by the turbulent 18-month search for a superintendent.

Already, the school board is taking fire from state and county officials over its discussions about firing Feagins. The Shelby County Commission voted Monday to approve a no-confidence motion targeted at MSCS board members, as reported by The Daily Memphian, and approved a governance plan that asks the board and the superintendent to set goals for bettering the district by April.

In a statement Monday, school board Chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman called the vote “unfortunate,” and said the board has “a better understanding” of the district’s leadership than the commission.

State Rep. Mark White, longtime chairman of a House education committee, told Chalkbeat he wanted to meet with the school board and several other state lawmakers from Memphis.

White said he could reintroduce legislation he drafted last year to give Gov. Bill Lee’s administration the power to appoint up to six new members to the nine-member Memphis board, but he is not ready.

The Dec. 17 resolution seeking Feagins’ ouster claims that she:

Failed to provide evidence of her statement that district employees were paid $1 million in overtime for time not worked.
Accepted a donation of more than $45,000 without board approval, then misrepresented what happened.
Misled the board and public about a federal grant and its missed deadline.

Feagins began in April and has a four-year contract that pays her $325,000 annually. If she is fired without cause she would be entitled to a severance payment of $487,500, according to her contract.

Memphis school superintendent decries effort to oust her as ‘politically motivated’

2025-01-07T22:03:53+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins wants to make clear what she thinks about the attempt to oust her: She plans to defend herself and has no intention of resigning.

In a written response to the school board Monday, Feagins said the allegations cited as a basis for firing her are “meritless” and described the effort as “personally driven” and “politically motivated.”

The board agreed to discuss the matter at a scheduled work session on Jan. 14, after deciding Dec. 17 to defer a vote on whether to end Feagins’ contract.. Any vote to fire her would have to take place at a formal board meeting. The next one is Jan. 21.

In her response Monday, which board attorney Robert Spence shared in an email to Chalkbeat, Feagins said, “I will not resign,” and urged members to reconsider an action that “does not serve the best interests of our district, children, or the broader community.”

Feagins said her attorney received no response when asked about specific policies and procedures she is alleged to have broken.

“To directly speak to the meritless claims, I have never, under any circumstances, intentionally or unintentionally misled a board member or the board as a whole,” she said in her response. “Furthermore, I have not mismanaged district funds.”

The allegations were contained in a resolution that Board Chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman presented to the board on Dec. 17, seeking to terminate Feagins immediately on grounds that she breached the terms of her contract. The resolution claims that she:

Failed to provide evidence of her statement that district employees were paid $1 million in overtime for time not worked.
Accepted a donation of more than $45,000 without board approval, then misrepresented what happened.
Misled the board and public about a federal grant and its missed deadline.

While presenting the resolution in December, Dorse-Coleman said Feagins “engaged in conduct detrimental to the district and the families it serves.”

Under Feagins’ contract, if she is fired without cause, she would be entitled to a severance payment of $487,500. Feagins strongly denied the claims at the Dec. 17 board meeting, and the board appeared split on whether to vote to oust her.

Board members Stephanie Love, Sable Otey, Towanna Murphy, and Natalie McKinney opposed delaying a decision at the Dec. 17 meeting. But Michelle McKissack, Amber Huett-Garcia, Tamarques Porter, and Keith Williams spoke out against the resolution.

Ultimately, Dorse-Coleman cast the deciding vote on a proposal to move the discussion and decision to the new year, and give Feagins more time to respond. In a Dec. 26 statement, Dorse-Coleman said her stance on removing Feagins has not changed.

“She has a pattern and practice of not providing critical information and instead misinforming the board members,” Dorse-Coleman said in her statement. “I don’t think this is something we can overcome.”

Murphy shared similar concerns with Chalkbeat after the district’s attorney told her about Feagins’ response on Tuesday.

Murphy said the superintendent does not make an effort to communicate with her, and it “has gotten worse” since the Dec. 17 meeting.

“She does not follow the instructions of the board,” Murphy said. “It is about running the school board as a whole, and us doing it for the children. But we seem to keep forgetting about the children because we’re too busy putting out Dr. Feagins’ fires.”

Murphy said she wanted Feagins to work out but she no longer envisions a future with her.

Feagins’ said in her statement Monday that she feels “deeply disturbed” by some board members’ “unwarranted attacks” on her integrity and what she described as their disregard for her professional background.

“Despite the falsehoods and defamatory public remarks intended to damage my character and diminish public trust in me, I have upheld the highest standards of professionalism,” Feagins told the board in her response. “This includes navigating attempts by current and former board members to remove me and create an intimidating work environment — actions of which you have been aware for months — while also tactfully addressing this resulting national embarrassment brought on our city and district.”

Meanwhile, the district still grapples with academic and financial challenges while trying to rehabilitate a relationship with the community that weakened during the long superintendent search.

Feagins has a four-year contract that pays her $325,000 annually. Before coming to Memphis, she held a leadership position at the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

Feagins became the first outside leader of MSCS since the district was created through a merger a decade ago.

Attempt to oust Memphis superintendent sparks school funding threat and calls for a ‘reset’

2025-01-06T23:58:41+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Community backlash is mounting ahead of a pivotal decision this month on the fate of Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins.

The Shelby County Commission is set Wednesday to discuss whether to vote Jan. 13 for a resolution of “no confidence” in the school board after several members launched an effort last month to oust Feagins, who began in the role April 1 after a prolonged search.

A second resolution on the commission’s agenda would place a 90-day hold on the county’s recent $33 million allocation toward building a long-anticipated high school in the city’s Frayser community.

A parent advocacy group, meanwhile, has called on Feagins and the school board to work out their differences in private, while a prominent Memphis lawmaker says he is pursuing his own meeting with the board to “reset the conversation.”

The activity comes ahead of a Jan. 15 school board work session in which the board will revisit the case against Feagins, which Chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman laid out in a resolution to terminate Feagins’ contract.

Feagins has forcefully denied any wrongdoing, and was expected to submit written responses to the board on Monday. Any vote to oust Feagins would need to happen at a board business meeting. The next one is set for Jan. 21.

At its December meeting, the board voted 5-4 to push its decision on Feagins to this month. Dorse-Coleman cast the deciding vote, saying she wanted to “keep it fair” and allow more time to review the facts.

The resolution contends that Feagins has been dishonest and difficult to communicate with, and that she mishandled or misrepresented district finances on three occasions.

Conflict draws in state officials

The drama in Memphis-Shelby County Schools has gotten the attention of state officials, too.

Rep. Mark White, longtime chairman of a House education committee in the state legislature, is seeking to meet this week with the entire school board and several other state lawmakers from Memphis.

“We need to dial down the temperature,” said the Memphis Republican. “There’s a lot of people in our community who are very upset by this situation.”

White said poor working relationships between Feagins and certain board members are distracting all of them from more important academic challenges facing Tennessee’s largest school system, such as low reading scores, chronic absenteeism, a high dropout rate, and a critical need for stronger workforce development in the Mid-South.

He said he’s not ready to introduce legislation that he drafted last year to give Gov. Bill Lee’s administration the power to appoint up to six new members to the nine-member Memphis board. However, that avenue remains an option, White said.

“It took 18 months to find this superintendent, and now some board members want to let her go while she’s still trying to learn the ropes and drinking from a fire hose,” White said. “You don’t disrupt an entire community and call a meeting to dismiss your superintendent without a clear definition of the grievances.”

Six board members with Memphis-Shelby County Schools meet with Rep. Mark White and other state officials on Feb. 14, 2024, at the Tennessee Capitol. White decided later against filing a bill to authorize the governor to appoint new members to the Memphis board.

Feagins has hired Memphis lawyer Alan Crone to represent her in the dispute, while the board has retained Robert Spence, another local attorney.

Nearly a year ago, the board voted to hire Feagins away from a leadership position at the Detroit Public Schools Community District, making her the first outside leader to direct Tennessee’s largest school system since it was created through a merger a decade ago.

According to her contract, she must be paid a severance of $487,500 if the board terminates her contract without cause. However, Dorse-Coleman has said the claims by her and several other board members justify a termination, meaning that Feagins would not receive a severance package.

Funding for new Frayser high school at risk

The “no confidence” resolution before the county body that oversees local funding for public schools is co-sponsored by Commissioners Amber Mills and Erika Sugarman. Mills is the sole sponsor so far of the second resolution, to withhold millions of dollars approved on Dec. 16 toward the $112 million cost of building a new high school.

“Firing a superintendent, no matter who they are, at the beginning of a critical project leaves the County Commissioners with no confidence … regarding the new construction of the Frayser High School and other actions,” the first resolution reads.

Mills said the resolutions are her attempt to make the school board think deeply before moving ahead with an ouster attempt that she said has “blindsided our whole community.” Freezing funding for a new Frayser school, she added, would be “just a pause” as the commission seeks “clear direction and accountability from school district leaders.”

“A lot of people love Dr. Feagins and are happy that she’s making changes,” Mills said.

School board member Stephanie Love, who voted against postponing the termination vote, said Monday she’s disappointed that the county commission has gotten involved. She said Mills, whose district overlaps Love’s, has not contacted her to discuss the matter.

“It’s unfortunate that another elected body would consider holding off on building a new school in my district,” she told Chalkbeat. “Kids are the most important thing to me.”

Love added: “I will vote my conscience (on Feagins’ future). We are not going to make everybody happy. The public is unaware of the things we have to deal with behind closed doors.”

Dorse-Coleman, the board chair, did not respond Monday to Chalkbeat’s questions about community backlash. But in a Dec. 26 statement, she said she and other board members have tried sharing their concerns with Feagins privately without success.

“She has a pattern and practice of not providing critical information and instead misinforming the Board Members,” Dorse-Coleman said. “I don’t think this is something we can overcome.”

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Tennessee panel still waiting to hear first book appeal under 2022 school library law

2024-12-11T12:00:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Two years after Tennessee lawmakers made it possible to ban books from school libraries statewide, not a single book challenge has been heard, let alone approved.

And no complaints are waiting to be considered, either.

Since early 2023, parents, students, and school employees have been able to challenge library content by submitting an online form to the Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission.

But only three appeals have been filed with a commission that this year hired its first full-time staff at an annual cost of $500,000, in part to manage anticipated book appeals. All three appeals were withdrawn within a month.

“It’s been surprising,” said Commission Chair Linda Cash, about the lack of appeals before the state panel.

Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature passed Gov. Bill Lee’s school library law in 2022 to establish a local review process to make sure books and materials are “appropriate for the age and maturity levels” of the students who can access them.

A few months later, lawmakers approved a second measure creating an appeals system so that book complaints can go before the state’s existing textbook commission if the complainant isn’t satisfied with a decision by a local board or charter school. That law gave the commission unprecedented authority to ban certain books statewide, or to restrict them to certain grade levels in all Tennessee schools.

The school library legislation came after Tennessee emerged as one of the first states to restrict classroom discussions about race, gender, and bias. That the commission, two years in, has not considered any book ban complaints is evidence that school library debates are playing out locally instead of at the state level, with conservative parents getting mostly what they want.

Rep. Jerry Sexton, a Republican from Bean Station who co-sponsored the bill to create a book appeals process, said at the time that school libraries needed to be purged of content that he deemed as “pornographic” and “obscene.” His proposal also would have required schools to provide the commission with a list of books in their library collections.

When pressed on the House floor by Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons of Nashville about what the state should do with any banned books, Sexton said: “I would burn them.”

But Senate sponsors, who originally wanted the textbook commission simply to develop library guidance for schools, were more measured about approving any legislation that could ignite a wave of book removals. The Senate and House ultimately approved a compromise bill to establish the appeals process, without requiring schools to submit lists of their library books to the state.

“I think these appeals to the state will be rare,” Sen. Mike Bell, a Riceville Republican, said at the time. “I can’t imagine it being more than a handful – five a year, 10 a year.”

To help with the appeals process, the commission hired its first full-time staff — an executive director, staff attorney, and administrative assistant.

Cash, the chairperson who lobbied for state funding to staff up, said the administrative help was needed and overdue, regardless of whether the commission received book appeals.

Linda Cash, who chairs the Tennessee Textbook Commission, is also director of Bradley County Schools and the state's 2025 Superintendent of the Year.

The unpaid, all-volunteer, 13-member textbook panel still has its core responsibilities of approving state textbooks and instructional materials and establishing contracts with publishers to guarantee availability to schools at the lowest price. (The body just completed the latest textbook adoption cycle to align classroom materials with Tennessee’s science standards. The panel will look next at textbooks for career and technical education, then social studies.)

As also required under the 2022 law, the commission last year issued library guidance, not only for itself as the state’s appellate body, but for school districts and charter schools to follow to make the local review process more consistent.

Cash, who is also the chief of Bradley County Schools, never expected the commission to receive a flood of library book appeals. But she anticipated the state panel would have acted on at least some after two years.

Instead, book banning action escalated at the local level after lawmakers voted this spring to expand the governor’s “age-appropriate” library law to prohibit materials that offend conservative sensibilities, especially related to sexual content and LGBTQ issues. The law now includes a broad checklist of the kinds of content deemed unsuitable, including nudity, descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, and excess violence.

As a result, at least 1,100 books were removed locally during the first few months of the academic year, according to a statewide survey of members of the Tennessee Association of School Librarians. Hundreds more have been pulled since the survey was conducted. Leaders with the librarians group believe those numbers are conservative.

The vast majority of the removals were handled preemptively by school officials and librarians without going through local complaint processes that had been in place for years. Those processes generally allowed students, parents, or educators to flag their concern with a school librarian and eventually take unresolved matters to the local school board that took into consideration a recommendation by an ad hoc review committee of educators and parents.

“I think that’s unfortunate,” Cash said of some unilateral book removals under the stricter library law.

The commission’s library guidance, issued in 2023, called for local schools to adopt and follow a thoughtful process for receiving feedback about library materials.

“We have professional librarians who do an excellent job of looking at books and bringing concerns before committees of educators and parents to screen them,” Cash said.

On the other hand, Cash believes the library laws have made school officials and librarians more attentive to the concerns of parents and increased scrutiny of book collections for age-appropriateness.

“Parents want to be heard and listened to,” she said. “When we don’t do that, I think that’s when we begin to have issues.”

Former Sen. Jon Lundberg, who co-sponsored the bill that ultimately opened the door to statewide book bans, said he’s not surprised that the textbook commission has yet to hear its first challenge of a local library decision.

“It wasn’t that bad decisions were being made about library books,” said the Bristol Republican. “We just decided to establish a process, in case there ever was a need.”

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

When will we know what Memphis schools are due to close? Superintendent says timeline underway.

2024-12-06T03:10:29+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins said Thursday she does not have a date set to share what schools are under consideration for closure or consolidation.

The new superintendent has been tight-lipped about how she will address this big issue for the district, which owns many aging buildings and has limited funds to fix them. But a timeline is coming, she said Thursday at a press conference.

“So there are just some obvious things that have to be done to certain spaces,” Feagins said during the press conference. “But then there’s some flexibility in other areas that we don’t have to have, you know, a deep commitment to.”

Chalkbeat reported earlier this year that a draft plan showed 21 buildings that would close and 50 that would receive investments. But no final decisions had been made by MSCS at that time.

The district created complete assessments of all MSCS’ school buildings that include details on conditions and costs for repairs, The Daily Memphian reported in October, but Feagins has not released the reports. Feagins did present a real estate plan to the district board Tuesday that showcased vacant facilities and land, with decisions pending until next summer on whether the buildings will be sold or demolished.

With the new assessments of all buildings, Feagins said she aims to create a website listing each building under consideration for closure, publicizing the status of the facility, the projected recommendations, and the decision for the campus.

The superintendent said transparency is important and that “nothing will be done without the community.”

With hopes of leaving the work for the current superintendent, interim Superintendent Toni Williams assembled committees in 2023 to help create a building strategy to include school closures and consolidations.

The district enlisted several community partners for these committees to gain input on plans and ensure the community feels involved in the decisions.

An initial draft proposal from the fall of 2023 included plans to repurpose 20 academic buildings and consolidate administrative offices, Chalkbeat reported, in an effort to save MSCS more than $200 million.

The draft plan Chalkbeat reported on in January indicated the district intended to reassign students from closed or consolidated schools to facilities MSCS would invest in.

This building strategy aims to address several problem areas in the district, including academic struggles, persistent funding shortages, enrollment shifts and high maintenance costs for aging buildings.

Tennessee K-12 school building costs escalate amid competing political priorities for education

2024-11-21T01:12:56+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Tennessee needs to spend about $9.8 billion on repairs, upgrades, or construction to keep its K-12 public school buildings safe and conducive to learning, according to a new state report.

That’s an average of about $6,557 per student over five years, to complement the minimum of $7,075 that Tennessee spends annually per pupil to cover the cost of their education.

And while Tennessee’s nearly 1,700 traditional school campuses are generally in good or excellent condition, the report says more than half of the state’s 95 counties need to prioritize at least one costly capital project for their students, whether it’s building a new school, adding classroom space to an existing campus, or making upgrades across a district — things like new roofs, plumbing, and heating and cooling systems.

The findings, published Wednesday by the education research arm of the state comptroller’s office, aren’t surprising. They’re consistent with previous assessments of the state’s public infrastructure needs, including the most recent inventory conducted in 2022, which ranked education behind transportation and utilities as Tennessee’s costliest needs.

But the latest review by the comptroller’s office, which was requested by House Education Committee Chairman Mark White of Memphis, comes amid competing priorities for educating Tennessee students.

With rising construction costs, momentum has been building among state lawmakers to identify a new revenue source to help local governments and taxpayers shoulder the costs of school maintenance and construction. Those needs escalated in September when flooding from Hurricane Helene caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to roads, bridges, utilities, and schools in northeast Tennessee.

But the GOP-controlled legislature, which is responsible for passing an annual state budget, is facing pressure from Republican Gov. Bill Lee to create a statewide school voucher program. Lee’s Education Freedom Act would give tens of millions of dollars in public funding annually to families who want to send their children to private schools.

Lee’s latest private school voucher bill includes proposed new money for public school infrastructure, an attempt to gain support from public school advocates. In addition to giving a one-time bonus of $2,000 for Tennessee’s public school teachers, the bill would redirect 80% of tax revenues from Tennessee’s sports betting industry toward school building needs, especially for emergencies and the nearly 40 rural counties designated as distressed or at risk.

Meanwhile, state economists’ project declining or stagnant revenues next fiscal year, because Lee’s administration pushed through a $1.9 billion tax cut for businesses this spring.

Building needs are acute in Memphis and Nashville

In its separate infrastructure report released in January, the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations identified 18 school buildings, including 11 in Nashville, that are in poor condition.

This week’s comptroller’s report said it would cost $2.3 billion just to upgrade schools from poor or fair condition to good or excellent condition.

The needs are acute in Memphis, which has some of the state’s oldest school buildings. Leaders there are struggling under the weight of a long list of maintenance and construction projects.

While no buildings in Memphis-Shelby County Schools are rated in poor condition, 45 are considered in fair condition. That means they are structurally sound but require maintenance or repairs to meet building code or functional upgrades to improve their use.

In addition, the Memphis district is trying to build two new high schools in Frayser and Cordova, but the $385 million price tag for both projects may put at least one of them in jeopardy.

“We can’t afford two new high schools right now,” school board member Amber Huett-Garcia said Tuesday night during a workshop where Superintendent Marie Feagins fielded questions about their status.

Huett-Garcia said the district is operating in a “fiscally constrained environment” that recently required leaders to reallocate $94 million for operational expenses that originally was intended for school maintenance.

“Our buildings are worsening,” she added, “and so my fear is that we end up with two half-built high schools.”

District seeks a new funding source for infrastructure

Whether it’s air conditioning problems in the summer, heating issues in the winter, or water fountains and intercom systems that don’t work in any season, Memphis school leaders say a new long-term funding source is imperative for addressing those needs.

Next month, the board is expected to include state infrastructure funding among its legislative priorities ahead of the Tennessee General Assembly session that begins Jan. 14 in Nashville.

To help defray school building costs, the board wants lawmakers to look into redirecting revenues from sales, use, and excise taxes; lottery revenue; or proceeds from the sale and use of state lands.

Feagins said Tuesday that her administration recently completed a yearlong, districtwide building assessment, which will be used for prioritizing all future capital projects.

Tennessee doesn’t set aside revenue for school facilities, as five neighbors do

The state already provides some funding for K-12 capital projects, including facility funding for charter schools, infrastructure stipends for fast-growing districts, and grants to improve building security and energy efficiency.

White, the Memphis lawmaker who asked for the comptroller’s review, also requested a rundown of how other states help local governments pay for school building projects.

Analysts cited three main ways: appropriations, financing assistance, and dedicated revenues.

“Tennessee leverages appropriations and financing assistance but does not specifically dedicate revenues to K-12 capital expenditures,” the report said.

Possible revenue sources include sales and use taxes; tax levies on the purchase of alcohol, nicotine products, and marijuana; as well as proceeds from lotteries or use taxes on timber logging, oil and gas extraction, and public land sales.

According to the Education Commission of the States, 19 states dedicate revenues for school-related capital projects. Five of those states — Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia — border Tennessee.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Federal review of Memphis school district cites dozens of cases of alleged sexual harassment and assault

2024-08-30T19:17:13+00:00

Memphis-Shelby County Schools violated federal civil rights law by not adequately responding to complaints of sexual harassment and assault of students over a three-year period, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights announced on Friday.

The office said that the state’s largest school district has agreed to a number of corrective steps to resolve the office’s compliance review, which began in March 2020.

According to the agency, district documents reflect reports that teachers or substitute teachers sexually assaulted students in seven incidents across three school years at all school levels in the district: elementary, middle, and high school. District documents reflect 53 more cases of reported staff-to-student sexual harassment, not including sexual assault, as well as a total of 88 cases of student-to-student sexual harassment during the same time period, the OCR said.

The violations occurred over three years starting in 2017-18, according to the OCR’s letter to Superintendent Marie Feagins, who took the helm of the district earlier this year.

Those records and witness interviews “reflect clear district violations” of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools that receive federal funding, and raise “serious concerns” about the district’s response, which is subject to the same law, the OCR said.

“Students in the Memphis-Shelby County School District deserve the safety and freedom from discrimination that Congress promised them in Title IX, and the District now commits to fulfill its Title IX obligations to these students,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said in a statement. “The Office for Civil Rights will monitor the school district in the coming years to be sure it complies with Title IX.”

A statement issued later Friday by the MSCS media relations department said the district is “committed to ensuring the safety, dignity, and equal educational opportunities for all students” and recognizes the importance of Title IX compliance. The administration is addressing issues identified by OCR while “actively collaborating to establish corrective actions regarding past reports,” it said.

The school board, meanwhile, is in transition and without a chairperson as four new members were sworn in on Thursday.

“Any time a person is violated, the school board is very concerned,” Stephanie Love, who was reelected to the board this month, said Friday. “I want to talk to the superintendent and our general counsel to see what we can do to right the ship.”

The Office of Civil Rights, which according to its letter to the district began its investigation in March 2020, determined that the district violated Title IX by:

Not having a designated Title IX coordinator for substantial portions of the office’s compliance review period.
Not coordinating its response to reports of sexual harassment, including sexual assault, through its Title IX coordinator as required during the time that a coordinator was designated.
Not involving the Title IX coordinator in the majority of sexual harassment files reviewed for the investigation, including not involving a Title IX coordinator in any of the incidents involving staff.
Not maintaining a nondiscrimination statement and harassment policies that comply with Title IX.
Not fulfilling the Title IX obligation to maintain records sufficient for the district or for the Office of Civil Rights to make compliance determinations, including inconsistent reporting to the office for its Civil Rights Data Collection and for the compliance review itself.

The OCR’s 20-page letter to the district says files generally showed that staff members overseeing employee relations approached the cases primarily as personnel matters, focusing on whether the accused employee violated a school board ethics rule or engaged in conduct that implicated state laws regarding education, rather than on whether there was a potential Title IX violation.

The OCR spotlighted one case in particular involving an elementary school teacher who was ultimately convicted of soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor and who was reported to have encouraged boys and girls to touch each other inappropriately during class, in addition to other alleged misconduct.

The agency said the record does not reflect any involvement of the Title IX coordinator in investigating the teacher’s conduct, any support provided by the district to affected students to ensure their equal access to education, or any notice to the parties regarding any district determination under Title IX.

The resolution agreement requires the school district to take a number of steps, including: to adopt and publish a compliant notice of nondiscrimination; revise its policies; review all sexual assault cases from the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years to make sure each were resolved or, if not, take steps to do so; conduct district staff training; survey parents and students on how sexual harassment in schools is handled; and “designate, train, and publicize the contact information” for its Title IX coordinator.

The district has taken some steps already. In the budget for the 2024-25 school year, the district general counsel’s list of priorities start with two bullet points.

One is to “establish a strong team” to handle Title IX issues and revise policies and workflows as appropriate.

The second: to implement training in student and employee civil rights “to ensure compliance with duties to respond to, investigate, and decide complaints” concerning federal laws.

Eric Gorski is Chalkbeat’s managing editor for local news. You can reach him at egorski@chalkbeat.org.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school leaders grapple with school safety, air conditioning issues

2024-08-21T03:07:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

The superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools wants to allay concerns about safety in the new school year after narrowly avoiding a walkout by school resource officers last week and accepting the resignation of the district’s new security chief just days after he started.

“I give you assurance … that our district is fine,” Marie Feagins told school board members Tuesday evening after a tumultuous week in which she and the board agreed to give the district’s 125-plus officers significant raises.

Feagins also reported that air conditioning problems that caused a dozen schools to close early on Aug. 5, the first day of classes, also impacted student health as the heat index climbed to 106 degrees.

“We have had some asthma-related incidents and a couple of seizures,” she said. “And so that still remains at the top of mind for us.”

Feagins added that technicians have completed a third of the 1,393 work orders received in August to troubleshoot air conditioning issues across the district’s 165 buildings.

But the maintenance issues are severe, she said of the $1 billion backlog in Tennessee’s largest school system, and the district’s building maintenance division is short-staffed. The district recently increased pay for its technicians, partly because of workforce competition from Ford Motor Co.’s electric truck assembly plant under construction in nearby Haywood County.

The troubling reports came amid sometimes tense exchanges between the district’s new leader and school board members in one of their final meetings before four new members are scheduled to be seated in September following this month’s elections.

But they agreed about the importance of completing Whitehaven High School’s $9.5 million STEM lab, as the board unanimously approved $2.3 million for the job. The construction project, which broke ground in April and also is funded with private dollars, has been delayed three months because of a lag in disbursing money that had been promised earlier by the district’s interim leader, Toni Williams.

The vote to disburse $1.3 million that previously had been approved, plus another $1 million to cover the cost of a storm shelter required by building codes, prompted cheers from Whitehaven teachers and community members, some of whom spoke during the meeting.

“This is a slam dunk; we should have already done this,” said Wayne Hawkins, a teacher at Whitehaven.

Board members also voted unanimously to have the school system’s attorney report from now on to the elected board instead of to the superintendent — a change in organizational structure they said is needed to maintain independence and avoid conflicts of interest.

School safety was front and center last week as school resource officers threatened to walk off the job just days before the district’s annual football jamboree. Last year, gunfire broke out during two games.

But Feagins reported that no major incidents occurred during this year’s three-day jamboree that featured 67 middle and high school teams and attracted more than 6,000 spectators.

She and other board members thanked officers for ensuring a safe environment. A week earlier, they settled their dispute with SROS over pay and other issues.

But Feagins acknowledged missteps in hiring George Harris as her executive director of safety and security without conducting a more thorough background check.

Harris was recruited from Detroit Public Schools Community District, where Feagins previously was an administrator and he was a lieutenant in the department of patrol operations. After school board member Stephanie Love emailed Feagins and other board members on Aug. 16 about allegations that Harris had misappropriated funds during his time in Detroit, Harris resigned from his new job the next day, citing “personal reasons.”

“I own that I made the offer to the individual based on the information that I had,” Feagins told the board.

She said she’s open to policy changes to strengthen the background check process for filling such jobs as she looks to replace Harris in what she called “a very important role.”

Love responded: “I agree we need to strengthen policies so this will never happen again.”

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Five things we’re watching as Memphis students head back to school for 2024-25

2024-08-05T10:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

This week, more than 100,000 students in Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the state’s largest school district, are putting summer break behind them and marching into a new academic year.

And a lot of new awaits them.

There’s new leadership for the district, including the superintendent, Marie Feagins, beginning her first full school year, and a school board that will have four new members, following last week’s elections.

New budget priorities — and realities — will create changes in the district’s workforce and in the classroom, reflecting the end of federal pandemic relief funds.

And expect more pressure from state officials to change the way education is delivered to children in Memphis, including the creation of a university-led school district and a renewed push for universal school vouchers.

Here are five things to watch for in 2024-25.

Superintendent Marie Feagins begins her first full year

Marie Feagins, who took over as superintendent in April after a nearly two-year search process, has made sweeping changes already to direct more of the district’s resources into the classroom. One of them was cutting more than 1,100 non-classroom positions and creating opportunities for those employees to apply for school-based jobs to help alleviate a teacher shortage. The goal, she said, is to get more student support housed directly in schools, not dropping in occasionally from the central office.

Look for more shakeups as Feagins leads MSCS in adapting to the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds and implementing more academic accountability measures. Her team is working on a strategic plan that incorporates efforts to improve the district’s academic performance and students’ learning environments.

Feagins has laid out plans to revamp school turnaround work and hired a longtime administrator to oversee the district’s lowest performing schools.

Meanwhile, she has tried to tackle cost inefficiencies that siphon money out of the classroom, including an “abuse” of overtime that she said has cost the district $1 million.

Feagins told the school board last week to expect air-conditioning issues in schools as students return. “As we know, we have incredibly aged buildings,” she said.

As for teacher shortages, the district has held 10 hiring blitzes attended by more than a thousand people in recent months. As of last week, its 250 instructional vacancies were “significantly lower than we were as a district last year,” Feagins said. Most are for special education and English language learners.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools board will get new members

Four new members will soon join the nine-member MSCS board after elections for five seats on Aug. 1.

Leaving soon is Chairperson Althea Greene, who lost her bid for reelection to Natalie McKinney. Choosing a new chairperson will be the new board’s first order of business.

Here’s what winners of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board election told us about their vision

The board will be charged with navigating changes under the leadership of the new superintendent, and holding her accountable. Already, members have pushed Feagins for better communication about her initiatives, including the job cuts.

The board is in the process of rebuilding relationships and public trust after a protracted superintendent search exposed divisions and ignited conflicts among board members.

Money in place to improve facilities and student outcomes

Feagins’ $1.8 billion budget, approved by the board in June, prioritized alleviating the teacher shortage. But it also included key items aimed at improving academic performance in a district where many students struggle with economic challenges and are forced to learn in aging, dilapidated buildings. The potential impact of that spending will become clearer this year.

The budget includes $96 million to improve facilities to create safer learning spaces for students, and $14.6 million to expand after-school programs and activities. Bus routes for afterschool activities are also included — an important step in a city where the public bus system regularly faces cutbacks. Around 8,000 students are expected to participate.

The spending plan also includes $21.8 million for targeted coaching and tutoring services to help students improve on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, known as TCAP, and end-of-course tests.

MSCS students’ TCAP performance improved in 2024, with 22.4% of students meeting or exceeding expectations on the reading test, compared with 20.7% in 2023. In 2021, the figure was just 13%.

The percentage of third, fourth, and fifth graders who scored proficient in reading increased from 23.3% in 2023 to 26% in 2024. The improvement in those levels is important, because third grade is when students face the prospect of being held back or sent to summer school if they don’t meet or show significant progress toward meeting TCAP reading standards.

State forces more changes in Memphis education

In March, state Rep. Mark White, a Memphis Republican who chairs the House Education Administration Committee, said he would file legislation to allow Gov. Bill Lee to appoint up to six members to the MSCS board. That plan was shelved in the face of community opposition.

But lawmakers and state officials continue to pursue policies that extend the state’s influence over Memphis schools.

A new law allowed the University of Memphis, which enrolls around 1,050 students in its University Schools, to carve out its own K-12 school district from the public schools that it has operated under a long-running contract with MSCS.

That change will affect MSCS, because the students who attend the University Schools have regularly posted some of the district’s highest test scores.

The state also changed the criteria for its first-ever A-F grades for schools, emphasizing academic proficiency over growth, dismissing opposition from many local public school leaders. In December 2023, of the 5% of Tennessee schools that received F’s, half were in MSCS — where most of the students are low-income and struggling academically. We’re watching to see how the schools fare in 2024.

Expanded school voucher proposal will be back

This year, Gov. Bill Lee’s efforts to pass a universal school voucher law failed in the legislature due to opposition from rural lawmakers in his own party. He has vowed to revive the fight next year, and the recent primary elections delivered a mix of wins and losses for voucher supporters.

Some Memphis families already have access to vouchers under the state’s existing Education Savings Account voucher program, which is available in three urban areas. Lee wants to expand voucher access statewide, regardless of family income.

But the benefits of private school vouchers are still unclear. Results from the Education Savings Account program showed that most students who participated in 2022-23 posted lower scores on state tests than their counterparts in public schools. This year, recipients in three counties made modest gains, but their performance still trailed their peers in public schools.

Tonyaa Weathersbee is the former bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach her at tonyaaweathersbee@yahoo.com.

Here’s what winners of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board election told us about their vision

2024-08-02T16:19:37+00:00

Memphis-Shelby County Schools has a newly elected school board following the Aug. 1 election, just in time for the upcoming school year.

In Tennessee’s largest school district, five of the nine seats on the school board — in Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 — were up for election. It was the first election since board members selected former Detroit schools administrator Marie Feagins as superintendent, ending a drawn-out process that shook public confidence in the board.

Two incumbents lost their seats, including board Chair Althea Greene, who played a prominent role in the superintendent search. Natalie McKinney will replace Greene in District 2, while Sable Otey will replace board member Mauricio Calvo in District 5.

Tamarques Porter won the open seat in District 4, while Towanna Murphy is set to take the open seat in District 7. The incumbents did not run for re-election in those districts.

Stephanie Love, the longtime District 3 representative, is the only incumbent returning to the board.

Newly elected board members will oversee the district as it navigates a number of challenges, including the end of federal pandemic relief funds, budget cuts that will affect staff and programs, aging school buildings and possible closures, and the state’s new letter-grade school accountability system.

In our voter guide, Chalkbeat asked the 2024 board candidates about their vision for the district. We’ve compiled the answers below from Thursday’s election winners.

Chalkbeat lightly edited and condensed the submitted bios for clarity, but not their responses, other than adjusting the formatting to improve readability.

Memphis-Shelby County school board candidates discuss Superintendent Marie Feagins’ strategic plan

2024-07-16T21:03:04+00:00

Early voting has kicked off in Memphis, and five of the nine seats on Memphis-Shelby County Schools board are on the ballot in the Aug. 1 election. Twenty candidates are vying for board seats in Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.

Marie Feagins, the new Memphis superintendent, officially started leading Tennessee’s largest school district in April. Because one of the board’s main responsibilities is to hire, manage, and evaluate the district’s top leader, Feagins’ actions are especially relevant this election cycle.

As the school board awaits Feagins’ first strategic plan for the district, candidates to serve on the board have different definitions of what a successful blueprint would look like.

We asked candidates: Feagins expects to have a new district strategic plan in place by September 2024. Describe a successful strategic plan, and how you’d use the plan to evaluate the district’s progress and budget recommendations as a board member.

Their responses are below. Chalkbeat lightly edited and condensed the candidates’ bios for clarity, but not their responses, other than adjusting the formatting to improve readability. (Alvin Crook for District 4 and Chavez Donelson for District 7 did not respond to our voter guide questions). Find candidate responses on more topics — like chronic absenteeism and struggling school buildings — in our in-depth voter guide for the Memphis-Shelby County school board race.

District 2 Memphis-Shelby County Schools board candidates

Althea Greene

I look forward to reviewing Supt. Feagins strategic plan for the district. I believe any strong strategic plan should have a clear academic strategy for growth with a budget that is aligned for academic advancement.

Natalie McKinney

A successful strategic plan requires effective strategic planning. Effective strategic planning includes taking the time to determine the goals necessary to reach our stated vision and mission, while staying true to our core values (which we must determine). Given our district’s vision and mission, the Board, Superintendent, and all stakeholders would need to invest the time to set our core values that will drive our work towards each of our goals. Those goals should include academic proficiency and preparedness, effective and efficient business operations, strategic infrastructure investment (facilities, teachers and staff), safety, strategic systems alignment, and fiscal sustainability. We must then clearly understand our district’s capacity, be open and honest, include all relevant stakeholders to provide input and feedback, prioritize, and provide an implementation plan that includes the activities/programs/tactics to meet the stated goals, expected outcomes and impact, SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), set metrics, benchmarks, a timeline, and cost projections. Clear expectations, processes, metrics, and evaluation provide us with data to inform how we allocate district resources and address challenges. As one of nine Board members, it is our collective responsibility to hold the superintendent responsible for implementing, with fidelity and demonstrated progress, the strategic plan; develop, approve and monitor a budget aligned to the district’s strategic plan; through policy, set, follow, and hold ourselves, and others, accountable to the parameters for governance and the strategic plan; and advocate for local, state and federal policies and sustainable resources to successfully implement the strategic plan.

Watch Chalkbeat’s Memphis school board forum: Boosting literacy, ending teacher shortages top candidates’ priorities

District 3 Memphis-Shelby County Schools board candidates

Jesse Jeff

A successful strategic plan would be the blueprint or schematic. It should include an academic, safety and security, fair compensation, facility maintenance, constituent inclusion, and effective educator deployment components. The way I would use the plan to evaluate the district’s progress and budget recommendations boils down to a simple matrix. I would ask the two specific questions. Did you follow your blueprint to the letter? Were you able to achieve your plan within the allotted budget? The answer to these questions would inform my opinion of success or failure.

Stephanie Love

Supt. Feagins has not shared a plan with the school board yet. A successful plan will be one that addresses growth in academics and strategies around obtaining additional funding resources that we need for our school district.

Ozell Pace Jr.

A successful strategic plan should have a mission, vision, core, and goals.

The mission and vision must be clear, concise, and attainable. It should be one that the entire board, administrators, teachers, staff, students, and community can truly buy into.

The goals should focus on -

Maintenance & Upgrades of Facilities
Staff Recruitment & Retention - Student Readiness & Holistic Well Being
Community Engagement & Partnerships

I believe in Dr. Feagin and will fully support her.

Angela Rogers

A successful strategic plan is one that has scoped out and assessed the needs of the target population and put a plan in place to address the needs. A successful strategic plan shows well thought through strengths and capacities to meet the needs and has identified the barriers that provide opportunities to partner for the success of the mission and goals. Our superintendent is spot on with her plan from what I have seen. I trust it. I am ready to lock in, partnering with her and holding her accountable for the follow through.

District 4 Memphis-Shelby County Schools board candidates

James Q. Bacchus

From my experience, the superintendent strategic plan should align first with the goals that the Board has set for the district. Secondly, the plan should provide a clear snapshots of the district current standing related to those set goals with outcomes with a minimum of a three year trend data. Finally, the superintendent will prioritize goals that she will address in the first three years that will include the who will do it, what it will look like, when it will be done, how it will be done, and what cost, and there should be an aggressive timeline to demonstrate the urgency of the plan. Finally, it should provide clear communication on how each division, department and school strategic will be connected to the district’s plan. Also, if there are budget concerns, the plan must show what you will stop doing, how or if what you stop will impact the district and how the funds will be redirected to cover the new initiatives cost. This structure of a strategic plan will ensure alignment of the Board’s goals, proven clear data driven picture, prioritized, timely, and financially responsible. As a board, the ability to forecast from the plan should lead to making a budget decision to move forward as is or with recommendations to consider.

Eric Harris

A successful strategic plan for MSCS will clearly communicate the priorities and goals of the district and detail how the district plans to achieve them within a set timeframe. It should be a guiding document for the school and larger Memphis community about how the district can respond to critical needs while always prioritizing positive benefits for our students. Once adopted, the board (and therefore public) should receive quarterly updates on the district’s progress to review which policies and programs are helping us reach our intended results. Similarly, budget considerations must also be weighed on how they further the district’s ability to meet our stated priorities and goals in the strategic plan.

Tamarques Porter

A successful strategic plan for the district would prioritize safety, academic excellence, mental health, and community engagement. In light of new laws such as guns in classrooms and the correlation between third-grade reading levels and prison bed projections, the plan must include robust safety protocols and targeted literacy programs. Student feedback would be integral to the planning process, ensuring the plan reflects their needs and experiences.

As a board member, I would use the strategic plan to evaluate progress through regular assessments and quarterly reviews in each department, including sanitation and safety. Ensuring a secure and clean learning environment is foundational to student well-being and academic success. The plan should also encompass mental health support, expanding the number of counselors and resources to address students’ emotional needs.

Parental involvement is another critical component. I would advocate for programs that educate and empower parents to support their children’s learning at home, reinforcing the connection between school and home environments. Healthy food programs must be part of the plan, ensuring students have access to nutritious meals that fuel their academic performance.

By setting clear goals and metrics, the strategic plan will guide budget recommendations, ensuring resources are allocated effectively to meet these priorities. Quarterly reviews will be essential to ensure that each department is meeting its goals and addressing any emerging issues promptly. This comprehensive approach will help create a thriving educational environment where every student can succeed. Regular evaluations and adjustments based on data and feedback will keep the district on track, ensuring we are not failing our students.

Anecia Washington

A successful strategic plan would focus on the following strategic framework as defined by the Chief Counsel of State School Officials (CCSSO) as it is implemented in the MSCS community:

Response & recovery
Equity, access & critical infrastructure
Modernizing the education system

These standards address many of the issues that plague school districts today, including literacy, digital access, and updated assessment models. Every decision and dollar should be accountable to the people of this great community.

District 5 Memphis-Shelby County Schools board candidates

Mauricio Calvo

Any organization or corporation that owns facilities should have a regular assessment and a plan to make decisions about those buildings (we have about 200 facilities). Is this in the best interest of students? Is the facility adequate, safe, and effective? Can we properly sustain it? A successful plan will include a building assessment of its condition and repair needs. The plan will also look at the under-over student capacity of the school, the classes and activities offered, and our ability to adequately staff teachers. Parental and student input is another consideration; however, I will make decisions based on the data and in the best interest of current students.

Audrey Elion

A successful strategic plan for the district should include clear, measurable goals, evidence-based strategies, and a detailed implementation timeline. It should prioritize academic achievement, equity, community engagement, and the well-being of students and staff. Key components of this plan should include:

Specific targets for improving literacy and numeracy, graduation, and college and career readiness.

Initiatives to close achievement gaps, provide resources for underserved communities, and promote inclusive practices.

Strategies to enhance communication with parents, students, and community partners, ensuring their input shapes decision-making.

Programs to support mental health, reduce bullying, and ensure safe, supportive learning environments.

Plans for efficient use of financial and human resources to support educational goals. As a member, I would use the strategic plan to set benchmarks and evaluate progress by regularly reviewing performance metrics tied to each goal. This would include analyzing data on student achievement, equity indicators, and feedback from community surveys. By comparing these metrics against the strategic plan’s benchmarks, I could identify areas of success and those needing improvement. Additionally, implementing a system for routine monitoring of progress reports to track performance against the benchmarks. When making budget recommendations, I would ensure that funding priorities align with the strategic plan. For instance, if the plan highlights the need for more mental health resources, I would advocate for budget allocations to support this area. Regular progress reports from the superintendent and district staff would be essential to maintain transparency and accountability, ensuring that the strategic plan drives meaningful improvements across the district.

Sable Otey

As a school board member, a successful strategic plan must be comprehensive, data-driven, and community-focused. My platform centers on transparency, equity, and student success, which aligns with best practices in strategic planning. A successful strategic plan involves clear goals, measurable objectives, and specific actions that address the needs of all students.

For our district, I envision a strategic plan with three key pillars: academic excellence, community engagement, and resource optimization. Academic excellence focuses on enhancing curriculum, investing in teacher development, and supporting diverse learning needs. Community engagement ensures that parents, students, and local stakeholders have a voice in decision-making processes. Resource optimization aims at maximizing budget efficiency, investing in essential programs, and ensuring equitable resource distribution.

To evaluate the district’s progress, I would use a continuous improvement model. This involves setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals and regularly reviewing performance data. For example, we might set a goal to improve reading proficiency by 10% over two years. Regular assessments and data analysis would help us track progress, identify areas needing attention, and adjust strategies accordingly.

Budget recommendations would be closely tied to our strategic goals. For instance, if data shows that reading intervention programs are highly effective, we would prioritize funding for these initiatives. Regular budget reviews and community feedback sessions would ensure transparency and accountability.

By aligning our strategic plan with budget decisions and continuously evaluating our progress, we can create a dynamic and responsive educational environment that fosters student success and community trust.

District 7 Memphis-Shelby County Schools board candidates

Danielle Huggins

When elected this is how I envision Superintendent Feagins new district plan. First the plan should have measurable goals and objectives to target. Focus on expanding access to early childhood education, additional support services for students, and strengthening partnerships with community stakeholders. I would use the plan to evaluate the district budget by the priorities outlined in the plan. Lastly, the plan may need to be adjusted or adapted over time in response to the needs of the district. With Superintendent Feagins and administration I will revisit the plan periodically and make necessary revisions.

Frank Johnson

Towanna Murphy

A course of action that outlines the steps needed to achieve a specific goal. This plan should be clear, measurable, purpose-driven goals, and full team working together to collaborate on a plan and budget. This plan and budget should be consistent and doable for all involved. I can’t give you a precise plan until I get in office, speak with the Superintendent and the fellow school board members in order to come up with a direct, proficient, successful acceptable plan.

Jason Sharif

A successful strategic plan will clearly communicate the District’s priorities and goals. Key priorities I would like to see in the strategic plan are strengthing family and community engagement, improving academic success, and improving our public school facilities. A successful strategic plan will include specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time based goals that I would use as a Board member to evaluate the District’s progress and make budget recommendations based on the data collected on each strategic plan benchmark.

MSCS board approves $1.8 billion budget for 2024-25, with money for higher teacher salaries

2024-06-26T19:32:42+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

With a July 1 deadline looming, the Memphis-Shelby County school board approved a $1.8 billion budget for 2024-25 that includes more money for teachers, and job cuts for many other district employees.

The budget — cobbled together as federal pandemic relief funds are drying up — prioritizes reducing teacher shortages through a $28.4 million investment in higher salaries.

MSCS currently has 463 teacher vacancies, Superintendent Marie Feagins told the board at Tuesday’s special-called meeting. The district’s goal is to whittle those vacancies to 300 this year.

Feagins is also trying to address that shortage through offering employees whose jobs are set to be eliminated a chance to apply for school-based jobs. Of the 1,100 positions designated for cuts, about 500 or so are vacant, while 600 aren’t.

“I’ve shared since the beginning that everyone who wants a job can have a job,” Feagins told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting.

“It may have a different title, and it may be in a different location, a location that happens to be directly in the classroom, or closer to the classroom, which is where the resources are necessary.”

Earlier Tuesday, the administration held a job fair to allow many of the employees whose jobs might be eliminated or restructured to apply for those openings.

Feagins’ budget didn’t come together without controversy. Earlier this month, her plans to eliminate hundreds of jobs caught board members and district staffers — many of whom received layoff notices on June 10 — by surprise.

It led the board to pass a resolution the next day to force Feagins to pause on the layoffs, and she was criticized for her failure to communicate her plans to the board and the public.

Feagins, who took over as superintendent in April, later acknowledged that she should have communicated better, but she stood by her decision. On Tuesday, eight of the nine board members voted to approve her budget, while Maurcio Calvo, who represents District 5, did not.

Calvo said he voted no because he wasn’t clear on why the district was eliminating positions, while also holding job fairs to fill positions.

“My concern is that I don’t have clear data, and I can’t make this decision, in good conscience, without having the data,” Calvo told reporters after the meeting.

Board Chair Althea Greene, however, said the board had to make a tough call.

“I think we struggled tonight,” Greene said. “You see our hard work in trying to approve a budget. People have dedicated their lives to Memphis-Shelby County Schools, and my prayer is that we will continue to get jobs for these people … .”

“At the end of the day, it’s about the 110,000 children being able to have teachers inside the classroom with them,” she said.

Efforts to address those concerns and more are included in the 2024-25 budget. Here are a few of the line items:

$21.8 million for targeted coaching and tutoring to boost students’ performance on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program and end-of-course tests.
$14.6 million to expand afterschool programs, add bus routes for afterschool activities, and provide comprehensive afterschool activities. This is expected to affect nearly 8,000 students.
$2.9 million to improve attendance.
$96.7 million to revitalize facilities and create safer spaces for learning
$1.5 million to fund more graduation coaches in struggling schools

Bureau Chief Tonyaa Weathersbee oversees Chalkbeat Tennessee’s education coverage. Reach her at tweathersbee@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis’ iZone school turnaround program appears to be on the way out

2024-06-10T02:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

A longtime turnaround program that supports the Memphis district’s lowest-performing schools appears to be winding down, and it’s not yet clear what will replace it.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ Innovation Zone, known as the iZone, will no longer offer schools an extended hour of instructional time each day, Superintendent Marie Feagins recently told staff. The reduction in hours is likely to end the additional compensation teachers in those schools received for their time. That would remove two key pillars of a program that received national attention in its early years for outpacing efforts of the state-run school takeover model, the Achievement School District.

Some of those gains stalled as the Memphis program expanded — and as it struggled to maintain funding — illustrating the challenges of improving multiple chronically low-performing schools.

The changes at MSCS coincide with an upheaval in Tennessee’s school turnaround efforts, leaving major questions about how the lowest performing schools will be prioritized. Tennessee was once considered a turnaround pioneer, thanks in part to a $500 million award in 2010 from the federal Race to the Top competition to implement various education reforms.

But a new hire in Memphis, announced late Friday, suggests new plans for improvement could be on the way after all. Feagins selected Roderick Richmond, a career education administrator in Memphis, to oversee the district’s lowest performing schools.

She recently laid out her plans to reorganize the district’s schools into three new categories based on their state letter grades, which were assigned to schools for the first time last fall under a new formula that stresses achievement more than growth.

In recent years, Memphis' iZone program has absorbed returning schools from the Achievement School District, the state-run turnaround district.

Richmond, an architect of the iZone, will take on D and F schools in his new role as Transformation Officer. The schools are now in the “Supe” category, short for superintendent. Schools with C grades will be called “Ignite” schools, and A and B schools will be called “Soar” schools. The categories could help determine how resources are allocated to schools and offer what Feagins says will be more appealing labels than letter grades.

“It’s tough when your school has been branded and labeled as an ‘F,’” Feagins told board members during a May meeting.

While the district’s budget proposals have suggested additional staff will be available to the Supe schools, they haven’t been specific about how the offerings will compare with existing iZone resources.

The Supe category comprises more than 70 schools, Feagins said, or about double the iZone’s current 36 schools.

The iZone started out with just eight schools, and by 2019, it had grown to 23. At that time, researchers found that gains for the iZone and the ASD had stalled, and pointed to high teacher turnover and the struggle to recruit top teachers as replacements as possible challenges. The model wasn’t necessarily unsuccessful, the researchers said, but they raised concerns about being able to replicate its features at a large scale.

Even so, in recent years, the iZone has continued growing, absorbing schools that languished in the state’s ASD. At least one of those schools, Whitney Elementary, has since moved off of the list of the state’s lowest performing schools since returning to the district. More ASD schools and students are coming back to MSCS as the state takeover district continues to unwind.

Reflecting on Tennessee’s turnaround programs in 2021, Richmond told Chalkbeat that more collaboration among communities, the district, and the state could have improved outcomes for struggling schools.

Schools have struggled to add learning time after COVID. Here’s how one district did it.

It isn’t clear what Feagins believes any new turnaround model should include. Asked by Chalkbeat if removing the extra hour of instruction would effectively end the so-called iZone program, Feagins struggled to respond.

Tito Langston, the district’s chief financial officer, said at the time that MSCS will continue to receive the federal funds it receives for its lowest-performing schools. But those funds are disbursed based on a federal accountability system that separated from the state’s system when Tennessee leaders revamped the letter grade formula. That means that not all D and F “Supe” schools will have access to additional federal dollars.

The district did not respond to questions seeking clarification in time for the publication of this story.

Changes for the upcoming academic year are expected to be final once the school board votes on its budget later this month. The meeting has yet to be scheduled. Look to the school board’s website for a date.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

As budget cuts loom, Memphis raises minimum teacher pay to $50,000

2024-05-01T18:09:33+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools is raising its minimum teacher salary to $50,811 under a new agreement with its two teachers unions, delivering on their salary goals despite a $150 million budget shortfall next year.

The pay bumps are an early win for Superintendent Marie Feagins, and could make teaching positions more attractive for central office staffers whose jobs are on the line because of the expected budget cuts.

But the vote on the new agreement spotlighted concerns over one board member’s potential conflicts of interest. Keith Williams, who represents District 6, is also executive director of one of Memphis’ teachers unions. He was one of the seven board members who voted to approve the agreement at Tuesday’s meeting. (Two board members were not present.)

Keith Williams, shown here at a 2022 hearing, voted as a school board member Tuesday to approve an agreement with unions to raise teacher salaries. The vote spotlighted concerns about conflicts of interest for Williams, who heads one of those unions, the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association.

Williams told Chalkbeat after the meeting that a state attorney general opinion “cleared” him to participate in such votes. He did not cite any of the specific analyses given in the opinion.

The opinion calls for recusals when a school board member who is also a union leader has conflicting interests on a matter such as employment contracts.

Teachers, administrators, and board members, meanwhile, cheered the agreement, which raises the district’s starting salary by 8% for teachers with undergraduate degrees and ensures that veteran teachers receive raises once they have hit the top of the district’s 19-step salary scale.

In practice, the pay increases are likely to be even higher in percentage terms when the agreement takes effect in July. Employees who would have received a raise by advancing to the next “step” of the scale will also benefit from the increased salaries on the new scale.

“Teachers make magic happen daily in our classrooms, and it is my intention to continue to find ways to show our appreciation for their work,” Feagins said in a statement following the meeting. She said during the meeting that the raises were an early priority.

“I think that was probably the first thing I said when we sat down in February,” she said, referring to a meeting with MSCS’ chief financial officer, Tito Langston. “‘Get me to 50.’”

School districts across Tennessee are raising salaries to keep in line with the minimums championed by Gov. Bill Lee, which aim to get teacher pay to $50,000 by 2026-27. Memphis has historically paid more than the state minimum, as it competes for staff to fill teacher vacancies. About 10% of the district’s 5,800 teaching positions are vacant.

The current contract for Memphis teachers offers union representatives a chance to bargain over certain items each January, but district officials and teachers didn’t return to the table until April, when Feagins’ term as superintendent officially began.

Leaders of both unions praised the district and school board in public comments ahead of the meeting Tuesday.

“We were able to achieve our goal in such a short time,” said Danette Stokes, president of the United Education Association of Shelby County. Addressing Feagins and her administration, she continued: “I want to express my gratitude for your leadership and your dedication to making MSCS a competitive and an attractive place for educators.”

Anntriniece Napper, president of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, called the new salary schedule “magnificent.”

The new schedule is available online. District officials say it will cost an additional $28.4 million to implement the new salary schedule. Meanwhile, district leaders are working to cut $150 million in spending from next year’s budget to account for the expiration of federal COVID relief funding for education, which amounted to $776 million since 2020.

Williams told Chalkbeat that he saw no reason to recuse himself from the vote to approve the agreement with the union he heads, noting that he was not part of the committee that negotiated it.

“I am a citizen of this city and I am a retired teacher of 40 years. And I know what I’m doing and how to do it. I’m not violating any policies … because it doesn’t benefit me. It benefits my profession, that I gave my life to. So, I’m good,” he said.

The attorney general’s opinion he cited, issued in February 2023, suggests that because teacher unions and boards of education enter agreements on teacher employment, “it is foreseeable — and indeed likely” that a person in Williams’ position would face conflicts of interest and conflicting fiduciary duties. The opinion says that recusal is appropriate when obligations to the teachers union and to the school board arise.

Williams did not cite any particular analyses of the opinion to explain his participation in the vote.

Toni Williams, former interim superintendent for Memphis-Shelby County Schools, will return to the district as a financial consultant.

The board Tuesday also approved a consulting agreement for former interim superintendent Toni Williams, who will advise the district on budget matters for the next year.

Documents show Williams will earn $187,272 for her consulting services, an amount equivalent to her annual pay as chief financial officer before she became interim superintendent in August 2022. She will also receive funds for COBRA health benefits.

The consulting agreement was an expected benefit outlined in Williams’ interim superintendent contracts.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

Gov. Bill Lee says he’ll sign bill to let some Tennessee teachers and staff carry guns in schools

2024-04-26T01:34:18+00:00

Gov. Bill Lee said Thursday he will sign legislation to let some teachers and staff go armed in Tennessee public schools.

“Districts have the option to choose,” Lee told reporters after the legislature adjourned for the year. Some school systems, he added, need that option.

His decision comes despite calls from teacher and gun control groups for the governor to veto the bill, as well as concern that parents won’t be notified if their child’s teacher is armed. In nearly six years as governor, Lee has advocated for parental rights on education matters such as curriculum and library materials.

The impending law becomes one of the most significant public safety actions in Tennessee since an intruder shot and killed three students and three staff members a year ago at a private Christian school in Nashville.

Partisan votes in the GOP-controlled legislature advanced the bill this month despite mass protests at the state Capitol seeking stricter gun laws in the wake of the massacre at The Covenant School.

Since Tuesday’s dramatic House vote sent the bill to the governor’s desk, many of the state’s largest districts, including in its four urban counties, have announced they will not use the option if the bill becomes law. They say their campuses generally have a trained law enforcement officer on duty.

“I think meeting … general threats to an environment with another threat to an environment is not something that we want to participate in,” said Marie Feagins, the new superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Rural districts, where it’s more difficult to hire school resource officers for every school, are more likely to use the option, according to Rep. Ryan Williams of Cookeville and Sen. Paul Bailey of Sparta, the bill’s sponsors.

Under the legislation, carrying a gun would be voluntary, and allowed only if the local school district and law enforcement agencies agree to the policy. The school employee carrying the gun would have to possess an enhanced permit, complete 40 hours of certified training in school policing at their own expense, and pass a mental health evaluation and FBI background check.

Meanwhile, the bill’s passage has put Tennessee in the national spotlight, drawing criticism from gun control groups such as Brady, the nation’s oldest gun violence prevention organization, and Sandy Hook Promise, founded by family members of the 20 children and six adults killed in a 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

“The Tennessee legislature has just dishonored all who were killed at the Covenant School shooting last year by choosing to promote the proliferation of firearms in classrooms,” said Kris Brown, the president of Brady, after the House vote. “There is no evidence to suggest that arming teachers will keep children safe from gun violence. Multiple teachers were armed at Covenant Day School, yet that was not enough to stop six children and school employees from being murdered.”

Tennessee Democrats, who voted against the bill, expressed disappointment that the governor plans to sign the bill.

“This legislation is an affront to every parent, to every Tennessean,” Sen. Raumesh Akbari, of Memphis. “We appropriated a record amount of dollars to fund SROs in every school. But instead we’re leaning into this type of policy.”

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Superintendent Marie Feagins selects team to develop MSCS strategic plan

2024-04-25T21:04:22+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

Superintendent Marie Feagins said Thursday that she has assembled a 63-person team of Memphis leaders and educators to help develop and execute a new strategic plan for Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the first such plan since 2021.

The new strategic plan is part of Feagins’ 100-day plan published online, where she is logging progress on dozens of initiatives.

Feagins has said she expects the school board to approve a new strategic plan in September, after the Aug. 1 school board election, in which five seats are on the ballot.

“It is important for me to hit the ground running and see results fast where possible,” Feagins said in a statement announcing the team Thursday. “I know my vision is strong and will yield positive outcomes. But the ‘how’ is equally important to the ‘what.’ These seasoned educators, students, and community and business leaders will share their journeys and provide sharp recommendations for solutions.”

Here’s who will guide Marie Feagins as she takes on new superintendent role in Memphis

The district and board have faced pressure to specifically communicate their priorities and goals, as stakeholders particularly want to see improved academic results and a comprehensive plan for school buildings.

Board members recently offered to provide such a plan to state Rep. Mark White, a Memphis Republican, in response to his proposal to expand the Memphis school board with state appointed members. White ultimately set the proposal aside.

Feagins’ team is divided into five committees, which each have roughly a dozen people. (You can find the full list on the district’s website.) The group will receive support from a smaller transition team that includes former and current superintendents.

Among the co-chairs for a new team developing a strategic plan for Memphis-Shelby County Schools are district officials Angela Whitelaw and Tito Langston, pictured here sitting on either side of Superintendent Marie Feagins.

Memphis City Council Chairman JB Smiley Jr. is co-chairing Feagins’ new, expanded team alongside Stefani Everson-Phillips, a longtime communications official with the school district.

Smiley’s presence is notable. Memphis-Shelby County Schools has been more vocal in the past year about wanting to reestablish a relationship with the City of Memphis. The city has not had a funding relationship to the district since the old Memphis City Schools merged with the county school system.

Among the committee co-chairs are two current members of the MSCS cabinet: Angela Whitelaw, the top academics official, and Tito Langston, the district’s chief financial officer.

The team also includes elected and government officials, business and philanthropic leaders, and representatives from local colleges, but not the University of Memphis. Directors of local education organizations and other educators complete the group. Some are former district employees.

It was not immediately clear if the meetings would be open to the public.

There are no students on the team. In Feagins’ 100-day plan, she lists a series of three meetings in May with a “student transition team.” It is unclear whether that group is involved with the team working on the strategic plan.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

Tennessee’s at-risk youth could see a new education option under charter school bill

2024-04-10T14:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

A proposal to create new education options for at-risk youth in Tennessee is drawing interest from charter school networks, both inside and outside the state.

Labeled “opportunity” charter schools, the campuses would serve middle and high schoolers dealing with a range of challenges, such as substance abuse and juvenile crime, chronic absenteeism, teen pregnancy, getting held back in several grades, or being at risk of dropping out.

“We’re very interested in the proposal, because it’s directed at a lot of students we already serve,” said Jocquell Rodgers, executive director of Green Dot Public Schools in Memphis, which views the network’s Hillcrest High School campus as a good candidate to become an opportunity charter school. Green Dot’s charter contract to run Hillcrest ends in 2026 under the state’s Achievement School District, or ASD, which appears to be on its way out.

Rodgers likes that the Republican-sponsored bill calls for the state education department to develop different expectations for opportunity charter schools. Those measures likely would focus on college and career readiness instead of academic proficiency.

“It’s very hard to get some of our students to proficiency, which was the promise of the ASD. But we can give them job training and workforce development and make sure they’re on track to graduate, get a job, or go to college or a trade school,” Rodgers said.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools views alternative education programs — for students who are struggling to attend and succeed in traditional public schools — as a growth area for the sector, especially if accountability expectations are adjusted. Nationally, charter schools already serve 42% of students who are enrolled in alternative education campuses.

Under the legislation by House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Sen. Ferrell Haile of Gallatin, enrolling in an opportunity charter school would be a matter of choice. At least 75% of the school’s students would have to be classified as at risk, and the school also could include a residential setting.

That would be significantly different from most of Tennessee’s current alternative education schools, which were created as mandatory short-term learning programs for students who were suspended or expelled from their traditional public school.

“It has worked in some other states,” Sexton told reporters recently about his charter school proposal. “We think it gives us another public option that could help kids in bad situations.”

Not everyone is on board with the idea.

Even some Republicans are wary of the prospect of opening the door to residential charter schools — a new type of publicly funded but independently run school of choice — or the potential of commingling at-risk student populations on one campus.

And leaders of traditional public schools say they’d prefer to meet the needs of at-risk students in existing local settings. They just need additional money to hire more teachers, counselors, behavior specialists, and social workers, they say, not new programs that divert funding from their school systems.

“We’ve said time and again that districts want to provide our students with more behavioral and mental health supports,” said Gary Lilly, executive director of the state superintendents organization.

Despite those tensions, the opportunity charter school legislation has advanced quickly since sponsors introduced it last month.

Last week, it passed the full Senate 19-7 along mostly partisan lines. It’s scheduled to be taken up Wednesday by the House’s finance subcommittee.

Sexton’s bill is narrower in scope than his 2023 charter proposal

A longtime charter school advocate, Sexton introduced a much broader charter bill last year that riled up the home school community and quickly stalled. That legislation proposed charter schools to serve home school students, in addition to a charter boarding school component.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican from Crossville, answers reporters questions on April 4, 2024, at the state Capitol.

It also would have allowed operators to apply directly to the state-appointed charter commission without going through local school boards, prompting pushback from leaders of traditional public schools.

This year, Sexton’s proposal removed any reference to home schools. And operators would have to apply directly to the local district for authorization. As under current law, they could appeal to the state charter commission if their application is rejected locally.

“We’re hopeful,” Sexton said last week when asked about the prospects for this year’s bill. “We tried to pass it last year. We had some opposition. We worked through some issues, and I think now we’re in a pretty good place on the House side.”

Proposal goes beyond temporary placement

Tennessee already has hundreds of alternative education schools and programs, mostly through local public school systems.

State law requires at least one alternative school or program for grades 7-12 in each district to serve students who are suspended or expelled, until they can return to a regular school setting. School systems have the option of creating alternative programs for students in grades 1-6. And some districts also have choice-based schools or programs to provide an alternative path for students who, for whatever reason, don’t fit well into a traditional school environment.

Sexton’s opportunity school legislation takes cues from charter school laws in dozens of other states, including California, Florida, New York, and Texas.

“It’s not a temporary placement like under Tennessee law, where students are mandated to attend for a period of time. It’s a choice, where the school becomes a student’s new home school to try to go and learn,” said Greg Lippman, a former California charter leader who recently founded the New York-based Groundswell Network to support local work on alternative education models across the nation.

Last fall, Lippman was in Memphis to talk with educators and nonprofit and community groups during a gathering organized by Bobby White, founder and CEO of the Frayser Community Schools charter network.

And next month, Groundswell will convene a national conversation at Nashville’s Belmont University to discuss school models to serve youths who are overaged and undereducated, involved in the juvenile justice system, foster kids, or facing other educational barriers.

Lippman said that his group is not the source of Sexton’s legislation but that he supports it, as does the Tennessee Charter School Center.

“Many states have a more expansive definition of alternative schools than under Tennessee’s current model,” he said. “It’s not surprising that the speaker’s office would find interested partners with expertise in this area.”

Funding would come through TISA

Under the bill, opportunity charter schools would receive funding through Tennessee’s new K-12 education formula known as the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, or TISA. The formula allocates more funding for students with higher needs, and the money follows the student to the school where they’re enrolled.

That’s a concern for the bill’s detractors, who say that dividing a finite amount of funding and resources for the same population of students won’t lead to better outcomes.

“Diverting funds to charter schools only rips funding from educational institutions that are constantly exploring ways to meet the needs of all students,” said Mary Jo Holmes, board president for the Tennessee Alternative Education Association.

“What will a charter school do that is better serving than current practices?” she asked, noting that Tennessee’s alternative education approach is based on collaboration among parents, educators, and disciplinarians.

“It is a team decision, not a menu item,” Holmes said.

Connor Grady, a spokesman for Sexton, said that, in addition to TISA funding, opportunity charter operators could partner with philanthropists or apply for federal grants, just as traditional schools and districts can.

Asked for examples of potential opportunity charter operators, Grady listed Goodwill’s Excel Center and groups in Colorado and Massachusetts.

Haile, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, has said he doesn’t expect many opportunity charter operators to create residential schools due to the cost of such an endeavor. But it’s an option under the bill.

For Rodgers, the Green Dot charter operator in Memphis, the goal is to continue to do “transformation work” in a city with a large number of at-risk youth.

“Memphis-Shelby County Schools doesn’t have enough alternative schools to serve its own population, so maybe this could be a win-win,” Rodgers said. “It’s an opportunity for us to work together to address a big challenge in our community.”

You can track the bill’s status on the General Assembly’s website.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

University of Memphis district wouldn’t lead to school takeovers, supporters pledge

2024-03-26T21:44:52+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

Supporters of a proposal in the legislature to recognize the University of Memphis as its own K-12 school district say the move wouldn’t lead to takeovers of schools in the surrounding Memphis-Shelby County system.

That’s critical reassurance for Memphians and district leaders concerned about the troubled legacy of state intervention in the city’s schools, from failed turnaround efforts under state takeovers of low-performing schools to a law that forced Memphis-Shelby County schools to give up control of several school buildings.

But there are still some lingering concerns about the proposal. For one thing, it threatens to disrupt the university’s existing agreement with MSCS to operate the campus schools, which runs through 2026. Others have questions about what the new district’s enrollment policies would be, and whether it would draw students and resources away from MSCS.

The MSCS board is divided on the legislation.

The proposed University Schools district would become the 10th public school operator in Shelby County, alongside MSCS, two state-run charter districts, and six smaller municipal districts.

“I have fears that this could lead to others wanting to do the same thing,” Joyce Dorse-Coleman, vice chair of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board, told Chalkbeat.

Dorse-Coleman also questioned whether the schools now overseen by the university serve enough of the neediest families of Orange Mound, a historically Black neighborhood that borders the University area.

White sees opportunity to ‘expand what’s working’

Since its introduction earlier this month, the legislation has sailed through early hearings and become a “high priority” item for state Rep. Mark White, the East Memphis Republican who chairs the House Education Administration Committee. Sen. Brent Taylor, a Republican representing suburban Shelby County, is the Senate sponsor.

Supporters say the bill would allow the university to expand its model and offer improved educational experiences to more students. The university’s training or laboratory schools produce some of the best student test scores in the city. Students from low income families make up a small share of the enrollment, compared with other MSCS schools, but they perform better than their peers at many other schools in Memphis, according to state data.

“We just wanted to expand what’s working, and not take over anything,” White told Chalkbeat.

White removed a provision that would have allowed the university to authorize charter schools but said that could change in the future. (White told Chalkbeat he is likely setting aside another Memphis education bill that would have expanded the school board with appointed members.)

MSCS board member Mauricio Calvo thinks the legislation could be beneficial to the district.

“Our district quite frankly is way too big, whether it’s by design or by default,” Calvo told Chalkbeat. “It’s almost impossible to manage so much. So if somebody can help us, by all means do it.”

School board Chair Althea Greene also supports the bill.

University schools leader pledges a ‘slow growth’ approach

The University of Memphis’ Campus School first opened more than 100 years ago. It has more recently added early childhood education centers, a middle school, and a high school.

Sally Parish, the university official who oversees its K-12 school programming, said that the proposed University Schools district would take a “slow growth” approach that takes community needs into account.

The current contract between MSCS and the university sets a 1,050 enrollment cap for the university’s schools. It is not clear how many students they could accommodate in their current buildings if that cap were lifted.

“We are not interested in any takeovers,” Parish told lawmakers last week during a Senate Education Committee hearing. “We are not interested in opening a school next to an existing school and trying to put anyone out of business.”

Memphis-Shelby County Schools and the University of Memphis signed a new contract in 2021, when the school board approved plans to add high school grades on campus. Its elementary school has been on campus for more than a century.

The goal, Parish said, is to “meet a local need — to be able to evolve with the needs of the community.”

She likened the school’s current admissions process to those of Memphis’ optional schools, but without any academic requirements for students who apply. Those requirements were removed from a proposed enrollment process after the MSCS school board wanted the university to diversify its K-12 student body.

In an email last week, a university spokesperson said that if the schools become part of their own district, they plan to adjust enrollment rules “with the goal of increased access for all students.”

Legislation would conflict with existing contract

MSCS and the university signed a new contract in 2021, when the school board approved plans to add high school grades on campus. The contact runs through fall 2026.

Some lawmakers and MSCS representatives are concerned that the legislation — which would allow University Schools to operate as its own district in time for the 2024-25 school year — would disrupt that agreement.

Tony Thompson, a lobbyist for Memphis-Shelby County Schools, acknowledged that relations between the district and university have worsened recently but said overriding the contract with legislation would be unconstitutional. “We should be in a partnership situation,” Thompson told lawmakers.

He pointed to comments by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Gardenhire ultimately voted for the legislation in the education committee last week, but said, “We don’t pass laws here that are retroactive. We cannot undo a contract that’s been signed before we pass a law.”

Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat who voted “present” on the proposal in the education committee hearing, said “it would ease a lot of minds” if the legislation took effect after the contract expired.

District status could bring buildings funds

Making University Schools its own district would not materially change funding levels for student instruction, said Michael Whaley, a Shelby County Commissioner and advisory member for the University of Memphis’ K-12 schools. Under the current structure, the university schools receive their allocation of state and local per-pupil funding through the contract with the Memphis school district.

“The funds follow the students, and they would continue to do so,” Whaley told Chalkbeat. “The county would simply route the funds directly” to the new school district.

But capital funds — for building improvements and construction projects — are a different matter, Whaley said.

As a designated district, University Schools would likely be eligible, alongside MSCS and the other school districts, for a proportional share of capital funds from the county. The change would elevate a University of Memphis K-12 schools district as another competitor for funds that MSCS has lobbied for to pay for its effort to close or upgrade aging schools and to build new ones.

Currently, the Memphis district’s needs often dictate the total amount of money set aside for school building projects across Shelby County’s districts. While the university has sought funds for improving its K-12 school buildings, MSCS hasn’t brought those requests to the county, Whaley said.

White, the bill’s House sponsor, said last week he was still clarifying how capital funding would work.

You can track the legislation on the General Assembly’s website. It still would need votes from both the full House and Senate and the governor’s signature to become law.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

University of Memphis could become its own K-12 school district under new legislation

2024-03-11T23:26:06+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

The University of Memphis, which operates three high-performing schools for K-12 students on its campus, could become its own school district under new legislation from two Republican lawmakers from Memphis.

Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor want the elementary, middle, and high schools on the college campus to come under the supervision of a university-led district and shift out of the purview of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the state’s largest school system.

Under their proposal, the university also could create more schools, including using charter operators, without having to go through MSCS, with which the university has a contractual arrangement. Those new schools could be located throughout Greater Memphis.

White, who plans to introduce the proposal Tuesday in the House K-12 education subcommittee, said he wants to give the university authority to replicate school models that are generating some of the best academic results in Tennessee. While none of the schools have an academic requirement for entry, all three recently received A grades and reward-school designations from the state for student growth.

But a statement Monday from Memphis-Shelby County Schools suggested the district wants to keep its current arrangement.

“We value our longstanding partnership with the University of Memphis and believe Campus School, University Middle School, and University High School are important parts of the district’s educational options,” the statement said. “We look forward to continuing our partnership.”

Proposal envisions a new university-led governance system

The legislation, called the Innovative School District Act, seeks to introduce a new school governance model using public universities to scale up proven innovations in K-12 teaching and learning. The new pathway would remove oversight by traditionally elected school board members who represent the community’s voice in public education. The measure could have statewide implications if other universities pursue the same track.

Under the legislation, Tennessee’s education commissioner could approve a university-based K-12 school system. School governance would be handled by the university’s board of trustees, which also could appoint several of its members as a committee to perform the functions of a school board.

Not just any higher education institution could seek to become a school district, though. The university would be required to have a comprehensive doctoral program and operate a collection of training schools that offer clinical teaching experiences and mentoring for future educators beginning with pre-kindergarten. Such institutions also typically conduct and publish research on effective teaching techniques.

Currently, the University of Memphis, which serves students from pre-K through high school, is the state’s only public university that meets that standard. In addition to its three campus schools, the university partners with Porter-Leath, one of the city’s largest providers of preschool services, to operate an early childhood academy in the city’s Orange Mound neighborhood. Several other Tennessee universities operate training or laboratory schools, but do not serve the full continuum of students from pre-K through graduation.

White, who chairs the House Education Administration Committee, has talked for years with leaders at the University of Memphis about ways to expand its K-12 work. After opening a high school in the fall of 2022, the university warmed to the idea.

“We did not pursue this legislation,” said Sally Parish, the university’s associate vice president for educational initiatives. “Chairman White approached us about scaling our academic model and our academic success to serve more children. We now have a full compendium of pre-K through 12th grade, and the timing feels right.”

Students concentrate on their classwork at Campus Elementary School, one of three schools operated by the University of Memphis on its campus near midtown Memphis.

Why the shift would matter for MSCS

If the legislation becomes law, the shift to a university-based school system would not be immediately noticeable. While Memphis-Shelby County Schools is their district of record, campus schools already contractually operate under the oversight of the university’s board of trustees. The university has its own policies and procedures, employs all of the schools’ teachers and staff, and provides classroom facilities.

But Memphis-Shelby County Schools, one of Tennessee’s lower-performing districts, would not be able to report the high-achieving campus schools’ scores as part of its own academic data.

Eventually, the university wants to expand beyond its ZIP code.

“One of our challenges is that we have more children on our waitlist than we have in our schools,” said Parish, who oversees the university’s campus schools. “We know there’s a local demand; we just haven’t been allowed to meet it. Our contract with the district caps enrollment at 1,050 students.”

The enrollment cap was part of the contract approved by Memphis’ school board in 2021 to allow the university to open a high school recently on campus to prepare students for college and career. The university’s elementary school opened in 1912 and serves over 400 students. University Middle was founded in 2019 as a project-based STEAM school and serves about 270 students.

School leader sees a chance to diversify enrollment

Campus school programs have faced criticism for not reflecting the diversity of Memphis, where 64% of residents are Black, and nearly a fourth are deemed impoverished. The student population of Memphis-Shelby County Schools is 93% Black and 57% economically disadvantaged.

According to the latest state data, Campus Elementary School’s student population is 24% Black and 7% economically disadvantaged, while students at University Middle School are 48% Black and 10% economically disadvantaged. The state’s demographic data is not yet available for University High School.

Parish believes that with more autonomy and the ability to recruit charter operators to open schools in other parts of the city, the university can diversify its K-12 population and create academic tracks that are more responsive to local workforce needs.

Currently, she said, about 20% of the schools’ students are the children of university faculty and staff; 30% are from families who live within a 2-mile radius of the university; and the rest from the larger Memphis community.

“We’re not shying away from serving a diverse community,” Parish said. “We serve children in every single local ZIP code, but we don’t provide transportation to get to the university, and that’s a barrier that we want to eliminate. Currently, we’re limited in how we can serve students based on what the district allows.”

Having the ability to authorize charter schools would help the university expand to other parts of Greater Memphis, she added.

Tennessee now has 141 traditional school systems operated as city, county, or special school districts. Any of them can authorize a charter school under a 2019 law that created the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.

The Tennessee Charter School Center, which advocates for charters, is not the driving force behind the new legislation but is consulting with its sponsors.

“What’s most important to TCSC is ensuring that any authorizer in Tennessee is high quality, follows national best practices, and is evaluated by the Tennessee State Board of Education,” said Elizabeth Fiveash, the group’s chief policy officer. “We are working with the sponsors to make sure that is reflected in their proposed language.”

You can track the legislation on the General Assembly’s website.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school board appointment bill on hold amid talks with state lawmakers

2024-03-01T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

A state lawmaker is giving the Memphis-Shelby County school board time to devise an improvement plan before pursuing legislation to empower Gov. Bill Lee to appoint up to six new members to the locally elected body.

Rep. Mark White said he has spoken with several current board members and the district’s incoming superintendent, Marie Feagins, since Chalkbeat reported in early February that he’s consulting with the state attorney general’s office on a school governance bill aimed at his home county.

“I’ve told them you’re going to have to manage the district better, and they indicated that they understood,” White said during a recent interview in his office at the state Capitol.

The Memphis Republican wants the board to deliver an action plan to him in March, before the legislature is expected to adjourn in April. The plan, he said, should include how district leaders are addressing challenges with literacy, truancy, graduation rates, teacher recruitment, underutilized school buildings, and a backlog of building maintenance needs, among other things.

MSCS building strategy is in the works. See which schools may be affected.

“Our city is begging for change when it comes to education, and I want to know that this school board has a plan,” said White, who chairs a House education committee.

If the board doesn’t deliver, White plans to file his legislation in the next few weeks.

Several board members have said White’s proposal smacks of state overreach — but they want to collaborate with the lawmaker, who is also locally elected, to advance the school district’s work. Still, there’s confusion about exactly what White wants and when he wants it.

“We do have to come up with those agreements or deliverables that he’s talking about,” said board member Mauricio Calvo, who tried unsuccessfully in January to get the board to set priorities for its next superintendent.

“It’s not just because he is saying that. It’s because we want to get to better outcomes for children, for students,” Calvo continued.

Althea Greene, the board’s chair, did not respond to Chalkbeat’s questions about the status of the talks. She sent a statement through the board’s external communications firm saying, in part, that “we are currently in the process of engaging our community with Rep. White regarding his plan.”

White has cited prolonged frustration with the board’s leadership. His legislation would keep the board’s current elected members, but add others through Lee’s appointments based on recommendations from local officials and stakeholders.

The East Memphis lawmaker met with six of the district’s nine school board members, including Greene and Calvo, during a previously scheduled Feb. 14 meeting at the Capitol, which he called “very productive.”

Six school board members for Memphis-Shelby County Schools pose with Rep. Mark White and Sens. Raumesh Akbari and Brent Taylor during a meeting at the Capitol on February 14, 2024.

Days after, White spoke by phone with Feagins, a Detroit school leader picked by the board in February to be the next leader of the state’s largest school system. Her selection came in spite of White’s 11th-hour request that the board keep interim Superintendent Toni Williams and delay hiring a leader for a second time.

Michelle McKissack, another school board member at the Capitol meeting, is hopeful for more discussions with state officials that include Feagins. More specifically, she wants to understand White’s expectations.

“I would love to have a meaningful meeting with Rep. White,” she told Chalkbeat Thursday, “but I have no idea what his plans are.”

Feagins, who is scheduled to start her new job by July 1, impressed board members during interviews with booklets that included her review of the Memphis district. (Chalkbeat’s request for these public records has not yet been filled.)

Though she does not yet have a contract, Feagins was introduced at Tuesday’s board meeting and has been meeting this week with Memphis leaders. She is also building a plan for her first 100 days on the job, according to a press release from the board’s communications firm.

White has emphasized the need for urgency and expects to meet with Feagins next week to “get better communications.”

The Feb. 14 meeting with school board members included two other state lawmakers representing Memphis: Democratic Sen. Raumesh Akbari and Republican Sen. Brent Taylor. Taylor is listed as the Senate co-sponsor of White’s proposed legislation.

“We all want the same thing: for our kids to read and write and compete on a national and international level,” Akbari said.

“But the elephant in the room was the pending legislation,” she continued, “and I suggested that we set that aside because I don’t think it’s necessary. School board members are elected by the people, and their constituents should hold them responsible.”

White agrees.

“The best fix would be if the citizens of Memphis elect some strong school board members,” he told Chalkbeat. “Five seats are up [for election] this year. We shall see.”

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school board selects Marie Feagins as superintendent

2024-02-10T01:14:07+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

Marie Feagins is the school board’s choice to be the next superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools and the first outside leader to direct Tennessee’s largest school district since it was created through a merger a decade ago.

In a meeting Friday, school board members ended the Memphis superintendent search with a vote to select Feagins for the role. With successful contract negotiations, Feagins will join the district from her current position as chief of leadership and high schools for Detroit Public Schools Community District.

The board’s search went well into a second year and included no shortage of twists, turns, and disputes. Ultimately, the board rebooted the application process last fall and narrowed the finalist pool to three out-of-state candidates who returned to Memphis earlier this month for a final round of public interviews.

As the new superintendent, Feagins will oversee a district of 100,000 students at a pivotal time. Students have made some progress since the pandemic but have yet to totally rebound to scores that have historically lagged behind state averages. And, like other districts, Memphis is projecting a large budget gap as federal pandemic relief funds expire, leaving leaders to decide which academic programs and personnel they can afford to cut or keep. Plus, the current administration has launched a major facilities overhaul that could involve school consolidations and closures.

The new leader will also have to deal with direct challenges to local control from state leaders and lawmakers, who have stepped up the pressure on public school systems. A new proposal would specifically target Memphis by expanding the school board with additional members appointed by state officials.

Community member Tikeila Rucker (middle) celebrates during a Feb. 9 Memphis-Shelby County Schools board meeting where Marie Feagins was chosen as the school system’s new superintendent.

Eleventh-hour letters from Rep. Mark White, the Memphis Republican who plans to sponsor the proposal, as well as from Shelby County Commission Chair Miska Clay-Bibbs, also a former school board chair, urged the Memphis board to take no action Friday.

Said MSCS board Chair Althea Greene: “While we are interested in hearing from state legislators and other elected and business leaders, the time for critical input and action has passed.”

Board member Michelle McKissack nominated Feagins as a “visionary changemaker” the district needs.

In a statement issued by the school district, Feagins said she is honored and grateful to become the next superintendent.

“I am committed to doing whatever it takes to move us from good to phenomenal because that is what OUR city and county deserve,” Feagins said. “Together, we will defy the odds and become a national model of bold, transformational education.”

Feagins was in competition with Yolonda Brown, chief academic officer in Atlanta Public Schools and Cheryl Proctor, deputy superintendent of instruction and school communities for Portland Public Schools in Oregon. The Memphis board worked with outside search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates to solicit applications.

Feagins is expected to start by July 1.

She will follow in the steps of interim Superintendent Toni Williams, whose contract allows her to retain a role with the district through the next year. Williams, the district’s former finance chief, has had an active interim tenure, negotiating plans and financing for new school buildings, embarking on a plan for all of the district’s facilities, and reorganizing the district’s procurement and finance departments.

In August 2022, Williams was the single nominee for interim leader while the board committed to a national search for a successor to former Superintendent Joris Ray, who agreed to resign from the post in a cloud of scandal.

Feagins shined for ability to endear teachers, Memphians

Tomeka Hart Wigginton, part of the Memphis school board during its last superintendent search more than a decade ago, worked with the board on the rebooted search this summer and then helped evaluate the candidates.

Feagins received resounding support from the teachers surveyed, according to feedback presented by Hart Wigginton. Of the three candidates, Feagins was also the finalist who garnered the most support from board members as an appropriate fit for the district. On that point, community members who attended the interviews ranked Feagins similarly. Of the three finalists, Feagins had the smallest gap between how the board and interview audience evaluated her fit for Memphis.

Brown and Proctor received strong feedback about their academic experiences, but constituents weren’t convinced either finalist had a strong vision specific to Memphis, according to Hart Wigginton. Feagins, however, shined for her leadership and communication style – although there were some concerns about whether she has the experience necessary to deliver.

Hart Wigginton stressed that the presentation was not scientific, but a comprehensive review of the materials collected by the interview process that was meant to help guide the board’s discussion — not make the decision for them.

“You have three candidates with varied levels of strength. … Now you just have to be articulate and clear about what you need and which candidate matches that for you,” she said.

Each of the candidates received nominations from board members Friday, and it took board members two rounds of voting to arrive at the six required votes to select Feagins. Board members Amber Huett-Garcia and Mauricio Calvo, who cast votes for Brown, and Keith Williams, who voted only present, agreed to update their votes for Feagins in an effort to show a united front of support.

In an email to Chalkbeat Friday, Brown thanked the board and wished them success “as they continue the journey to ensure that all students ‘see the future.’” Proctor didn’t respond to Chalkbeat’s invitation for comment.

What to know about new Memphis school superintendent Marie Feagins

Feagins works in Detroit’s public school district with high school academic programming, and acts as a liaison for the district with the mayor’s office and state education department, she wrote in her application. Before coming to Detroit, she was a principal in Cleveland, and started her education career in Alabama.

“The right leader at the right place at the right time changes everything,” she told MSCS board members in December.

Feagins told board members in February that she increased the number of students who were on track to graduate in Detroit by monitoring data regularly and introducing a competition among schools.

Of managing teachers, she said: “People are okay with being responsible for the things that they can directly contribute to and own … I think that when you tell people what to do, you get robots. And when you empower them, then you get the type of creative leaders that we need in our spaces. And that’s how we get the results that we’re ultimately seeking.”

Feagins explained her approach to leading Memphis public schools like this: “I want people to get to know me first, and so that you know that the heart of the decisions are good, they’re pure, the intent is right. But you also know that I honor that the impact is what is felt most, and is what matters most ... and that’s where the leadership begins.”

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

Tennessee lawmaker to file legislation to add appointed members to Memphis school board

2024-02-07T01:40:58+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

A Tennessee lawmaker said he plans to introduce legislation giving Gov. Bill Lee’s administration the power to appoint up to six new members to the board of Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Rep. Mark White of Memphis cited prolonged frustration with the board’s locally elected leadership when explaining his plans to Chalkbeat on Tuesday.

The nine members currently on the board of the state’s largest school district would remain in office under the proposal.

And the additional members would be appointed later this year based on recommendations from local officials and stakeholders, said White, a Republican who represents parts of East Memphis and the suburb of Germantown.

“I’m very concerned about the district’s direction, and I just can’t sit back any longer. I think we’re at a critical juncture,” said White, who chairs a powerful education committee in the House.

In a statement Tuesday, board Chair Althea Greene said White’s proposal is unnecessary.

“We may have had some challenges, but more interference from the General Assembly is not warranted at this time,” she said. “We have to stop experimenting with our children.”

White’s comments come as the school board is days from selecting a district superintendent to end a tortuous 18-month search process. All three finalists came from out of state last week for final public interviews.

The proposed bill also represents another attempted state foray into oversight of Memphis, spotlighting historic tensions rooted in race, politics, and power, in which both sides claim the moral high ground.

White said he is unhappy with the board’s handling of the superintendent search for a district where strong, stable, and timely leadership is especially critical. Most MSCS students are considered economically disadvantaged and continue to significantly trail state benchmarks in reading and math following devastating pandemic-related academic declines.

“I’m concerned about the three people they’ve whittled it down to, and I’m just not impressed,” said White, who did not specify the candidates’ shortcomings.

There are “highly qualified people in Memphis who know how to improve the system,” White added.

His criticisms echo recent frustrations from some local educators and community members at the prospect of an out-of-state candidate leading Memphis-Shelby County Schools. Some have called for a local candidate or for the board to permanently hire interim Superintendent Toni Williams, the district’s former finance chief.

Board member Michelle McKissack expressed surprise about White’s plan and his comments about the finalists. She praised their qualifications.

“This has been an extraordinarily robust search, and we have listened to all members of the community every way we know how to,” McKissack said.

Adding board members — particularly appointed candidates who don’t have constituents to answer to — would only complicate board governance, she said.

“It’s not going to make board operations any easier when you have a 15-person board,” McKissack said, pointing to the challenges of the previous 23-member body that oversaw the historic merger of the city and county school districts and created Memphis-Shelby County Schools a decade ago.

She added: “They think they have a problem now? Well then get ready.”

White and Sen. Brent Taylor, a Memphis Republican, expect to file their legislation this month and have been working with the state attorney general’s office “to get the language right,” White said.

The legislation could affect upcoming nonpartisan school board elections in which five seats are up for grabs. Greene is the only incumbent to have pulled a petition for the August election since the filing opened on Monday, according to Shelby County Election Commission officials.

White drew a distinction between his proposal and a 12-year-old state initiative to take over low-performing schools, mostly in Memphis, to place them with charter school operators under the oversight of the Tennessee Achievement School District.

“This is not about taking over schools. It’s about putting in place stronger governance over the elected bodies for low-performing districts,” he said.

The Memphis school board is responsible for hiring the superintendent, but also charting the direction for the district, often by prioritizing how to use the $1.2 billion it receives each year, plus the additional hundreds of millions in one-time federal funds. Board members also play a role in addressing issues of their community and educator constituents.

The board struggled with its first superintendent search for a successor to Joris Ray, who left in August 2022 amid a scandal over allegations that he abused his power and violated district policies. Last spring, board members were dissatisfied with the slate of final candidates and chose to scrap the list and reboot the selection process.

The board’s second search last fall generated 22 applicants, according to the search firm the board hired to oversee the process. Just one local candidate, Angela Whitelaw, the district’s top academics chief, was among the five finalists. Following the guidance of their own evaluations and the community’s input, the board selected three finalists:

Yolonda Brown, chief academic officer in Atlanta Public Schools
Marie Feagins, chief of leadership and high schools for Detroit Public Schools Community District
Cheryl Proctor, deputy superintendent of instruction and school communities for Portland Public Schools in Oregon

It’s not the first time that White has introduced bills to give the state the power to intercede in local matters.

He successfully sponsored legislation in 2022 that forced the Memphis district to cede four schools to several nearby suburban districts, including in Germantown, which serves mostly white and affluent students. The move reignited persistent criticisms that the decade-long tug-of-war over the valuable school properties was essentially about race and class. Ultimately, Shelby County commissioners increased taxes, in part to help pay for a new high school for the urban district’s mostly Black students from low-income families.

White also asked the Tennessee attorney general to weigh in last year about potential conflicts of interest for Keith Williams, the executive director of a local teacher union in Memphis who was elected to the board in 2022.

Memphians have long been wary of Tennessee lawmakers who have repeatedly singled out Memphis on education matters. For instance, a controversial 2019 law created a private school voucher program that only applied to Memphis and Nashville, even though local officials overwhelmingly opposed it.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach her at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

MSCS’ building strategy in the works: See which schools may be affected

2024-01-29T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.

Nearly 50 Memphis-Shelby County public schools would receive new investments for their physical buildings or their academic programming under an ambitious plan that district leaders are developing in an effort to improve learning experiences for children.

Another 21 school buildings could close under the plan, district documents show, meaning their students would have to go to school elsewhere.

In all, nearly half of the district’s buildings, and their communities, could be affected if the district follows through on the plan.

The facility plan is described in general terms in draft documents and maps compiled by Memphis-Shelby County Schools that Chalkbeat obtained through open-records requests. Chalkbeat used further research to identify the specific schools targeted for new investments or closure. (To learn more about how Chalkbeat reported this, see below.)

The broad plan has been shown to select community members convening for early rounds of input, along with maps showing the school locations, but the documents haven’t been shared in any public forum. Chalkbeat’s analysis of the documents provides the general public with the first look at which schools the district is considering for possible closure or consolidation, all identified by name.

The plan is still in the draft stage as district leaders collect feedback from some community partners. But as described in the documents, it represents an effort by district leaders to formulate a comprehensive strategy to tackle a complex set of problems: academic struggles that undermine faith in public schools, persistent funding shortages for capital projects, enrollment shifts, and the high cost of maintenance for aging buildings.

“I think it’s appropriate to have an investment discussion before you have a closure discussion,” interim Superintendent Toni Williams recently told a group gathered at Colonial Middle School to discuss the draft plan.

In touting their approach over the past year, school district leaders have said they want their infrastructure vision to stand out from previous ones in key ways: They want the community to feel involved in the decisions. They want to play a more active role in facilitating redevelopments when schools close, so that neighborhoods aren’t left with empty buildings.

And they want the plan to stick.

Community partners are helping to shape the facilities plan

In presentations in the fall and winter, officials have suggested that a first round of building changes would take place over the next five years, with more to come. Board policy describes a set of community meetings and reports that must take place by the end of February for any school to be closed by the following fall.

The district has been active in engaging community partners, and has convened one steering committee and nine neighborhood-based subcommittees to solicit input on the general draft plans. Many of the roughly 100 people across those committees — comprising school board members, other elected and government officials, plus business leaders, community leaders, parents, and students — have already received the district’s early proposals, which include the maps that show where major changes would take place.

The maps produced by the district use color-coded dots to show the locations of schools targeted for investment or possible closure, but the district documents don’t identify the schools by name. Using other public records, Chalkbeat was able to connect the dots with the school names to give Memphians a clearer picture of the proposals the school district is making.

Chalkbeat’s review did not include preschool locations or administrative buildings, which are also set for changes.

Chalkbeat gave the district an opportunity to review the matched data that it compiled based on the district’s documents, to check its accuracy, correct any discrepancies, and provide updates. District officials did not dispute the specific information we shared.

The district responded with a copy of a statement from Williams that was published to social media on Jan. 24 and distributed to district employees. The statement broadly dismissed any reporting about plans for Memphis school buildings.

“Any potential changes to our educational landscape will only be brought forth after thorough evaluation, community engagement, and formal board approval,” the statement said.

Several MSCS board members contacted by Chalkbeat said that figuring out how to deal with the district’s building issues is a critical step, but stressed that the plan is still being worked out with the community.

“We need probably fewer schools so we can offer more things to the schools that we have,” board member Mauricio Calvo said. He said he recalled a school visit where students without desks were seated on filing cabinets, and their librarian was wearing multiple scarves to stay warm.

He said that difficult conversations about how the district uses its resources can lead to better learning experiences but that any board decisions about closures are still months away.

Board member Michelle McKissack said, “It’s going to take an entire community” to figure out how to deal with the legacy of decades of deferred maintenance and declining conditions in school buildings. “So that’s where we are right now.”

In an email to Chalkbeat, board member Amber Huett-Garcia said she was concerned that publishing the names of schools that may close could be “destabilizing” to communities amid district efforts to “build a culture of trust, safety, and achievement.”

“Nothing is decided right now,” she wrote, “and words such as draft or pending community input can be lost.”

Board Chair Althea Greene, pointing to the community meetings that are underway, said in a statement: “Our goal is to continue to be transparent throughout this process.”

How the Memphis district is analyzing schools

To sort out which schools would be affected and how, the draft proposal looks at a combination of criteria describing a school’s academic performance, enrollment, capacity, and facility needs. The district has said it analyzed those factors alongside how the school fits into district feeder patterns — the set of schools that students in a particular community are assigned to — and other neighborhood zoning and development trends.

Selected slides from a Memphis Shelby County Schools presentation on infrastructure planning discussions. The presentation explains the criteria and process district officials will use to make decisions about buildings.

Some 80 district schools would not see changes, and the district’s draft plan does not directly affect buildings or academic programs at most charter schools, which are managed by their own operators.

Many of the schools that stand to receive investments under the draft plan are ones that could get new students from other schools targeted for closure or consolidation. That means that the plan envisions reassigning some students to different schools based on where they live.

Some of the proposed closures and consolidations shown on the district’s map are expected, including six school buildings the district has said it expects to replace or sell. Another four are former MSCS schools that are currently operating as charters as part of the state-run Achievement School District. Some of these schools could remain open if they successfully apply to continue as charter schools after their 10-year terms in the ASD expire.

Delano Head Start, a preschool building, and Raineswood Residential Center, which has most recently been a service hub for students with disabilities, could also be closed.

The district has two new high schools in progress, in Cordova and in Frayser. The draft plans suggest a new Treadwell K-8 school, as well as a new Orange Mound elementary school, similar to the proposals for new school buildings made by former Superintendent Joris Ray’s administration in 2021.

Story continues after the table.

Success of new facilities plan depends on sustained support, funding

Williams has talked about a comprehensive facilities plan for a year now, and has just months to go in her term as interim superintendent. For her vision to materialize, the facilities plan her team is working on will have to survive the transition to a new superintendent, who is expected to take over this summer. (Williams’ contract allows her to stay on as finance chief or a consultant for one year after her superintendent term ends.)

It would also have to transcend any changes in the composition of the school board after this August’s election, when five of nine board seats will be on the ballot.

In her recent visit to Colonial Middle School, Williams met with a subcommittee of people representing school board District 9′s Orange Mound and Parkway Village neighborhoods. The interim superintendent criticized past facility plans that looked only at numbers.

Those plans erred in not incorporating the community, she said, and inflamed tensions between the district and neighborhoods — and, in some cases, among neighbors themselves.

Williams acknowledged that the district has left neighborhoods with vacant school properties, and that when closures happened, officials neglected to invest in schools that would be gaining additional students.

Shelby County leaders have also been talking about a comprehensive facilities strategy for a long time, and even considered setting up a separate agency to oversee school building construction projects across the county.

Williams thinks her vision will help rewrite the current dynamic where the district continually appeals to county commissioners for “piecemeal” funding for specific projects, or makes large capital budget requests that commissioners have been reluctant to grant.

A comprehensive plan that pitches investments in schools alongside redevelopment of old school buildings, she has said, could even bring access to new, nontraditional funding streams.

To that end, the district has been working on the plan with More for Memphis, a $100 million community development initiative spearheaded by the education-focused nonprofit Seeding Success.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.