Chalkbeat

Frey, Harris elected to Memphis-Shelby County school board

2026-08-07T03:11:27+00:00

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

Memphis voters have elected longtime lawyer Tanya Frey and anti-violence program leader T.L. Harris to serve on the Memphis-Shelby County school board, according to unofficial results from the August 6 election.

In the district’s first partisan school board election, Harris and Frey ran as Democrats in the Districts 6 and 8 races against independent challengers. Two Democratic incumbents — Michelle McKissack in District 1 and Joyce Dorse Coleman in District 9 — ran unopposed.

No Republicans were on the ballot.

New board members take office on Sept. 1 and will inherit a significant legal battle over control of the district. The local officers could be constrained by a nine-member oversight board that Tennessee Republicans appointed under a state takeover law passed this spring.

The state-appointed board is temporarily blocked by a federal court order pending a decision on a Memphis-Shelby County Schools lawsuit challenging the takeover law as unconstitutional.

If reinstated by the court, oversight board members would have final approval over MSCS budgets and vendor contracts. They could also choose a new superintendent and close local schools.

Harris won the District 6 Democratic primary in the spring by fewer than 200 votes. He’s lived in the Whitehaven neighborhood for more than 30 years and spent three years leading community centers for the Memphis Gun Down summer program.

Harris pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge in 2006 while working as a Memphis police officer. He served time in federal prison and later had his voting rights, and right to hold public office, restored. Harris said that background makes him more able to connect with local youth facing poverty and other hardships. Chalkbeat was unable to confirm his current place of employment.

Harris said literacy is the most important issue for the MSCS board to address, with less than a third of Memphis students passing state reading tests.

He will replace District 6 incumbent Keith Williams on the board.

Frey runs Terra Firma Consulting, an organization that advises nonprofits on leadership decisions. She worked as a lawyer for 21 years for companies including Autozone and ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

She said she’ll be focused on improving board governance during a year when the district has to respond to state audit findings that revealed ineffective operations and potential spending abuse.

Frey will replace current board member Amber Huett-Garcia, who was elected on Thursday to serve on the Shelby County Commission.

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

Memphis’ first day of school by the numbers: enrollment improves, but teacher vacancies stagnate

2026-08-03T23:08:48+00:00

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

Everything looked business as usual for the first day of school at Hawkins Mill Elementary, a Memphis public school tucked in a woodsy Frayser neighborhood.

Students lined the halls wearing customary white and red. The garden out back sprouted almost ripe tomatoes and eggplants. Posters featuring the school mascot — a hawk, of course — decorated the walls.

But the environment was new to some students, who were rezoned to Hawkins after their neighborhood school closed in the spring. Five Memphis-Shelby County schools shut down at the end of last year, sending over 1,200 students to new buildings on Monday.

Hawkins Mill was the third stop on Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s first-day tour, which also included Westwood High, newly expanded to include students from the closed Chickasaw Middle, and Kirby Middle School, which returned to district control this year from the failed state-run Achievement School District.

“We want to make sure those schools are off to a good start,” Richmond said Monday.

MSCS leaders are facing increased scrutiny this year as the state takeover of Tennessee’s largest public school district continues to play out in federal court. If the takeover is upheld by the judge, a nine-member oversight board appointed by Tennessee Republicans would be charged with improving academic performance and district operations by seizing control of key decisions like budgeting and school closures.

Superintendent Roderick Richmond toured four MSCS schools on Monday to kick off the 2026-27 academic year.

Richmond plans to shutter up to 10 more schools in the next two years, citing high building repair costs and chronic underenrollment as the driving factors. MSCS enrollment declined by over 9% in the past decade, far outpacing state trends.

Kirby and Hillcrest, the district’s two newest additions, have not yet reached enrollment capacity. Kirby has 346 students registered out of 425 seats, while Hillcrest has 311 students registered out of 420 seats, Stacey Davis, the district’s enrollment manager, said.

But MSCS’ overall enrollment is slightly higher this year, at nearly 106,000 as of Monday morning. That’s a couple thousand more than last year’s early number of just over 103,000 but below the district’s projections for this year, Richmond said.

Teacher vacancies stayed relatively steady from the beginning of last school year to this year. Richmond said Monday that around 300 teaching positions are empty, with offers out for 70 of those roles. That leaves about 230 vacancies without pending offers, compared with 226 last August.

“So if we start to add and subtract, I think we’re on pace where we’d like to be,” Richmond said, despite missing his goal of having fewer than 100 vacancies by the start of this year.

As it did last year, the district is filling teacher vacancies with virtual instructors hired through a $4.7 million contract with Proximity Learning. The contract, reapproved in May, paid for close to 100 virtual instructors in the 2025-26 school year, according to district documents.

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

State takeover, an audit and more school closures: Five Memphis stories to watch as classes begin

2026-07-30T12:00:00+00:00

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

Memphis students return to class Monday as the question of who will lead district operations this year continues to play out in federal court.

Tennessee Republicans are fighting to establish a state-appointed oversight board to take control of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, which could bring significant changes to the district curriculum and budget. The board would be tasked with improving key district metrics including chronic absenteeism and state reading and math test proficiency.

MSCS leaders have also committed to addressing those two issues, while likely ushering in a new wave of school closures and responding to a state-ordered forensic audit. The final results found $53 million of potential waste or abuse spending from 2021 to 2024.

Here are five important storylines to watch as the 2026-27 school year begins.

The MSCS state takeover saga continues

At the end of June, a federal judge temporarily blocked the state takeover of MSCS the day before nine oversight board members were set to take office.

It was an early win for the Memphis schools and local government officials who filed a lawsuit challenging the takeover as unconstitutional and against the federal Civil Rights Act. But there isn’t a court date, so MSCS’ leadership remains in limbo going into the school year.

Two local parent advocacy groups, Memphis Lift and the new Together4Students, are pushing for MSCS to drop the lawsuit and spend the $200,000 allocated by the Shelby County Commission for legal counsel on students instead.

If reinstated, the oversight board would gain sweeping authority over the district, stripping power from the local school board. State members would have final say over charter school approvals and school closures and could appoint a new superintendent. They would also need to approve any district spending over $50,000.

Takeover advocates and oversight members have long upheld Houston’s 2023 school intervention as a model for Memphis. There, teachers had to reapply for their jobs, and students faced a new curriculum. Test scores and school performance improved slightly, though some Memphis experts argue Houston’s metrics for success are not the same as in Memphis.

More school closures are likely

Some MSCS students will report to new schools next week after the district shuttered five buildings at the end of last school year: Frayser-Corning, Georgian Hills, and Lucy Elementary; Chickasaw Middle; and Ida B. Wells Academy.

Those decisions were met with backlash from Memphis families and educators, which caused the district to transfer Ida B. Wells programming into a different building instead of getting rid of it entirely.

District leaders cited chronic underenrollment and high facility repair costs as reasons for closing those schools. But the problems are far more pervasive than a handful of specific schools. In the past decade, MSCS enrollment has dropped by more than 9%. The district’s building repair costs are estimated at over $1.6 billion for the next 10 years.

In December, Superintendent Roderick Richmond said he plans to close up to 10 more schools in the next two years. It’s unclear which schools will be shut down, and the district hasn’t responded to questions about how this year’s closures have affected displaced teachers and staff.

State takeovers have historically meant more school closures. Dorsey Hopson, a former MSCS superintendent and current oversight board member, closed 17 schools during his six year tenure, and proposed 28 more the month before leaving his position in 2019.

How will MSCS respond to state forensic audit results?

Superintendent Richmond has until late August to present a corrective action plan responding to the state forensic audit results, according to a policy adopted by MSCS board members this spring.

The final results from outside firm CliftonLarsonAllen, or CLA, identified over $54 million in MSCS spending as evidence of potential fraud, waste, or abuse. Most of that spending is related to a single custodial contract in 2022 that the district has since canceled.

After looking into claims that a former chief of business operations accepted “kickbacks” from the contract decision, MSCS leaders forwarded the case to the FBI. CLA couldn’t verify the results from that investigation but did say the district officer resigned shortly after a whistleblower came forward.

CLA also identified more than $65 million in spending that violated district policies while highlighting fragmented recordkeeping systems and internal control deficiencies across multiple departments.

In April, Richmond pledged to strengthen district accountability measures and modernize document systems. According to a live tracking website, most of his goals are in progress or haven’t been started yet.

During a July 21 presentation, Richmond told board members that the district has sent a letter with expectations to each vendor identified in the audit and hosted principal training to ensure consistency in district practices.

“We welcome this scrutiny,” he said. “We intend to use every page of (the audit) to make this district stronger.”

Low reading and math scores bring double state intervention

MSCS is facing state intervention from a new law that requires accountability hearings for schools earning a D or F on the state’s report card for two or more years in a row. Under the law, districts with repeated underperformance have to implement corrective measures approved by the Tennessee Department of Education.

This spring, Memphis had 14 schools on that list. In March, MSCS leaders testified to the Tennessee State Board of Education that more than half of the teachers at those schools are working on conditional or emergency licenses.

State board members were supposed to approve corrective actions for the underperforming schools in May, triggering a collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Education to implement recommended changes. It’s unclear what those recommendations are.

But the district informed the State Board in March it had begun implementing standardized, scripted lesson plans at those schools and sending regional superintendents to do classroom checks on whether curriculum is being followed.

MSCS students are improving on standardized reading tests year over year, but continue to fall behind statewide proficiency rates. And the district struggles with math, especially in middle school. Last year, only 15.7% of MSCS sixth graders passed the math TCAP.

Chief Academics Officer Angela Whitelaw said the district will spread techniques it used to boost high school math rates to lower grades this year. That includes creating standardized lesson plans, investing in teacher training, and concentrating academic coaches in struggling schools.

Those are similar strategies used by local charter schools, which have seen significant gains in math achievement since the COVID-19 pandemic.

MSCS absenteeism is down, but the work isn’t done

Alongside academic underperformance, MSCS’ history of high chronic absenteeism is one of four criteria that triggered the controversial state takeover. Just over 30% of MSCS students were chronically absent in the 2024-25 school year, meaning they missed 18 or more days of school. Statewide, 18.3% of students hit that mark.

But Memphis school leaders say they’re confident that chronic absenteeism rates dropped last year for the first time since 2017. Stacey Davis, MSCS’ attendance officer, attributes that success to a neighborhood door-knocking campaign that allows staff to speak directly to parents.

She also said attendance liaisons are key to that success, making daily phone calls when a student is absent and tracking attendance data. This year, MSCS’ 69 attendance specialists will be sent to low-performing schools full-time, she said, instead of being split among multiple buildings.

Davis said she hopes that targeted support will reduce absenteeism in schools with particularly high rates, especially high school, where 40% of students were on track to be chronically absent in February.

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

Facing state scrutiny, Memphis schools intensify efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism

2026-07-23T21:56:32+00:00

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

On an early Thursday morning in July, around 150 Memphis school leaders and attendance staff convened in front of the district administration building, clutching handheld fans and wearing matching visors.

The group, decked out in matching “Recruit, Retain & Reclaim” T-shirts, was heading to northwest Memphis to knock on doors and encourage families to enroll their students in Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

It was the sixth excursion since April for the district’s Greatness At Your Door attendance campaign, this time focused on students displaced by the closure of Lucy Elementary.

MSCS enrollment has suffered in the past decade, declining by over 9%, compared with a 2.5% drop statewide. But the district doesn’t just struggle to get students in the door, it also has trouble keeping them in their seats day after day.

Just over 30% of MSCS students were considered chronically absent in the 2024-25 school year, meaning they missed 18 or more days of school. Statewide, 18.3% of students hit that mark.

The district’s history of high chronic absenteeism is one of four criteria that induced the controversial state takeover of MSCS, which a federal court temporarily blocked at the end of June. Members of the new state-appointed oversight board would be tasked with reducing chronic absenteeism as part of their directive to improve overall district performance.

Students who are chronically absent are less likely to read on grade level by third grade and more likely to drop out of high school.

Final state data for last school year won’t be released until December. But Memphis officials believe, based on internal data, that the district improved its chronic absenteeism rate for the first time in nearly a decade. The rate increased from 13% in 2017 to last year’s decade high.

MSCS has seen the most improvement in reducing absenteeism in younger grades, said Stacey Davis, the district’s director of enrollment and attendance. But high school remains a challenge. In February, nearly 40% of Memphis high schoolers were on track to be chronically absent by the end of the year.

“A lot of our high school students are responsible for the younger siblings because their parents work,” Davis said. “A lot of our high school students need mental health breaks. We’re trying to help them to understand that we’re going to support your needs, but we still need you to come to school.”

The door-knocking campaign is one of the strategies MSCS is bringing back this year to boost enrollment and attendance.

“Putting a face to the name matters,” Eboni Williams, an attendance liaison at Raleigh-Bartlett Meadows Elementary, told Chalkbeat Thursday. “It significantly improves the community’s perspective of us.”

Davis said the team typically targets neighborhoods with low registration and high chronic absenteeism, such as Orange Mound and Frayser. Last year, Greatness At Your Door yielded mixed results across neighborhoods.

Over 1,000 previously unregistered students enrolled in MSCS after three rounds of the initiative. Daily attendance rates increased by around 5 percentage points in Frayser and South Memphis. But in Orange Mound, the rate fell from 78% to 63%.

At a board meeting last Tuesday, MSCS leaders said the daily attendance rate for the district increased by half a percentage point this year to 91.9%. That fell short of their 93.4% goal.

But Cathy Mumphrey, an attendance liaison at Cummings Elementary, said going door to door helps ease parents’ anxieties and identify specific barriers.

“We’re trying to make a connection with those parents,” she told Chalkbeat Thursday. “We’re trying to be that person they can rely on.”

Mumphrey said the staff come equipped with extra uniforms and public transportation vouchers to address barriers that keep students from attending school. They also pass out information about food pantries and mental health services.

During the school year, attendance liaisons are responsible for bridging those gaps in resources and access in real time. Last year, the attendance specialists split their time across multiple schools to cover the entire district.

This year, each of the 69 liaisons will work full time at one of MSCS’ lowest-performing schools or schools with the highest chronic absenteeism rates.

“We realized that we needed full time support at those particular schools,” Davis said.

Attendance liaisons make daily phone calls for absent students, track attendance data and trends, and hold family meetings for students on the cusp of missing 10% of the school year. MSCS charter schools that have had the most success in reducing absenteeism use the same strategy, though they often have more than one person dedicated to the job.

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.

Memphis students improve on state reading tests but struggle in math

2026-06-24T19:14:41+00:00

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

Memphis students continue to improve on state reading tests, but struggle to achieve proficiency in math — especially in middle school.

Preliminary results from this year’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP, show the biggest literacy gains for third graders. Just under 32% achieved reading proficiency this year, up from 29.2% last year. Those who don’t pass face significant state interventions, including being held back for a year.

The overall reading proficiency rate in Memphis-Shelby County Schools increased by 1 percentage point to 25.7%, a growth rate on pace with recent years. That still lags behind the state average, with nearly 45% of students across Tennessee achieving proficiency this year.

“We’re trying to make sure that students are ready for third grade, because that’s when we switch: you learn to read K-2, then you read to learn,” said Angela Whitelaw, MSCS’ chief of academics. “We’re not where we want to be. But we’re proud of our teachers for the work that they keep doing year after year.”

These results are preliminary, said Bill White, MSCS’ accountability officer. The final TCAP data, which is adjusted to include alternate tests and exempt students, won’t be released for a few months. White said MSCS’ proficiency rates typically increase slightly in those final numbers. That’s also when individual school and student subgroup data will be available.

Academic performance in MSCS is under heightened scrutiny as a state-appointed takeover board assumes control of the district on July 1. Those nine oversight board members have the ability to alter curriculum and overhaul teaching staff, as happened in Houston’s 2023 state takeover.

District leaders say they’ve been focusing heavily on early literacy this past year, investing in staff for small-group lessons and after-school tutoring. Meanwhile, most elementary and middle school grades saw slight dips in math proficiency.

The biggest drop came among MSCS sixth graders, where 15.7% of students passed the math TCAP — down 4 percentage points from last year.

“When you put a focus on any one area, you will see improvement immediately,” Whitelaw said. “We see high schools are moving; we see the elementary, we have some bright spots. But we know as a district, six through eight, that’s where we’re going to have to spend some time.”

Whitelaw said high school math used to be the district’s “Achilles’ heel.” But MSCS high school students significantly improved on TCAP math tests this year, gaining more than 7 percentage points in geometry proficiency.

Whitelaw said three main changes this year contributed to that rise: The district created standardized lesson plans for teachers, invested in more professional development, and adopted a regional model that allowed academic coordinators more opportunities to coach high school teachers.

“The academic coordinators are like our lynchpin between curriculum and instruction in the classroom,” Whitelaw said. “They take the strategies that we showed them at the central office level and they make sure that it gets inside of those classrooms.”

Now that MSCS knows those strategies work, Whitelaw said leaders will focus on improving those models for middle school educators, such as seeking teacher feedback on standardized lesson plans. They’re partnering with the Council of Great City Schools to support that work and launching “lesson plan champions,” principal-selected teachers who can mentor their peers on instructional strategies.

Plus, the district received a five-year grant from national curriculum nonprofit TNTP to improve middle school literacy, receiving $90,000 annually.

“Instructional coherence is going to be big this year,” Whitelaw said. That means ensuring that what’s taught in classrooms is replicated in small group sessions and afterschool tutoring, she said.

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.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools sue Tennessee over state takeover

2026-06-19T13:05:57+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 school leaders are suing top Tennessee Republicans in an effort to stop a new takeover law from diverting power away from the locally elected school board to a new board of political appointees.

The district, alongside the Shelby County Commission and all nine individual MSCS board members, filed a lawsuit in federal court late Thursday night – hours after the Republican-appointed oversight board met for the first time in Nashville.

Gov. Bill Lee, who’s named directly in the lawsuit, signed the takeover legislation into law in late May.

“Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed, and throughout the Lee Administration, we’ve made significant investments to ensure students in Shelby County receive a quality education,” a Lee spokesperson said Friday. “Gov. Lee remains committed to strengthening outcomes and expanding pathways to success for students and families.”

With the law in effect, top Republican lawmakers appointed a nine-member oversight board that will seize control of key district decisions. That intervention “dismantles” local education systems and strips the county government of its authority to approve school budgets, MSCS argues in the lawsuit.

It also violates the Fourteenth Amendment and the Tennessee Constitution, according to the new filing. Local leaders are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the takeover board from making any decisions once their term starts in less than two weeks.

“Once the Oversight Board is constituted and acts, the consequences cannot be undone,” the lawsuit says. “The democratic right of Shelby County’s voters to elect representatives who actually govern cannot be restored through damages or retrospective relief.”

House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, who chose the other four oversight board members, are also named in the lawsuit, alongside the state education commissioner.

Board members and local residents have criticized the MSCS takeover for usurping power from the local school board elected by Memphis voters. The new oversight board will have final say over superintendent and staff contracts, along with MSCS’ annual budget.

The local board approved a $1.7 billion budget draft in late May, but it’s unclear whether that will be subjected to the oversight board’s intervention. The new oversight board plans to meet again in less than three weeks, and they’re waiting for full results from a billion-dollar forensic audit that may guide their initial decisions in the district.

Not all Memphians are opposed to the state takeover. Intervention advocates cite years of academic underperformance and leadership instability in the district, which some say came to head after the local school board suddenly fired former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January 2025.

MSCS has had four superintendents in the past five years. And while the district has earned the highest score in state measures of student growth for the past four years, over 75% of Memphis students failed to achieve proficiency in reading and math last year.

Some community members told Chalkbeat they are doubtful a lawsuit will succeed in reversing the takeover legislation, a sentiment echoed by GOP lawmakers who sponsored the effort. The Shelby County Commission will front the cost of the lawsuit because of a law passed in late April that prevents the school district from funding a lawsuit against state accountability measures.

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

Former Memphis-Shelby County school board chair will lead new oversight board

2026-06-18T17:41:40+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 chair Billy Orgel will chair the new Memphis schools oversight board as it prepares to take over most major decisions from the locally elected school board.

The oversight board met for the first time at the state Capitol in Nashville on Thursday to elect officers and form standing committees. The board’s work officially begins on July 1, marking a new era in Tennessee public education where political appointees will control budgets, leadership, and broad academic controls in certain underperforming school districts.

Orgel said Thursday the new oversight board can demand change from the school system, which “will have to answer to us.”

“We answer to the students of this community and our responsibility to them,” Orgel, who served on the MSCS board between 2011 and 2022, said.

Memphis, the state’s largest school district, will now operate under two governing bodies, the new oversight board and the existing, elected school board. But the oversight board has the authority to essentially overrule the elected board on most major decisions, in addition to exerting control over the superintendent’s contract and other staffing decisions.

Though the first meeting was largely procedural, Orgel signaled the board may consider accelerating school closures in the district, noting underenrolled schools are limited at what they can offer their students.

Current Superintendent Roderick Richmond has spearheaded an ongoing plan to close 15 schools by 2028.

“That’ll be up to us to decide if that’s quick enough,” Orgel said.

Richmond’s plan is a more conservative approach to underenrollment and languishing facilities issues than some district leaders, including new oversight board member Dorsey Hopson, have recommended. Hopson, who served as superintendent of the district while Orgel was on the school board, recommended the district close almost 30 schools. That plan was never implemented after Hopson left the district.

Two recent state takeovers in Texas, which Tennessee proponents have often said they want to use as models for MSCS, led to early school closures.

The new board will soon have a comprehensive plan to make needed changes in the district, according to Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower. The Tennessee-funded external audit of district finances and governance is nearly finished, Mumpower said Thursday, and he expects the full 700-page audit to be released in the coming weeks.

Mumpower and Republican lawmakers released interim findings this spring from the ongoing audit, in part to accelerate the pending state legislation that established the new oversight board.

The audit, which was only 25% complete when the interim results were released in April, found more than $1.1 million in contract and payroll transactions that auditors say are “consistent with waste or abuse.” Another $1.7 million in transactions violated district policies but did not rise to the level of waste or abuse, according to the comptroller’s office.

That total is less than 1% of the Memphis district’s operating budget over the three-year period the audit covered.

A lingering question for the new oversight board is whether it is considered a state board or a local board, which will affect certain rules around meetings. State officials did not have an answer at Thursday’s meeting, though it mirrored a state board meeting in a Tennessee Capitol conference room.

Supporters of the new board, including Lee and other Republican lawmakers, have argued the new board represents local intervention into the state’s largest school system. All but one of the new board members are longtime Memphis residents, and at least four members have teaching or administrative experience within the school system.

The oversight board members can be removed from the board at any time, for any reason, by the governor and two legislative speakers. The governor and lieutenant governor are both leaving office next year.

The board committed to holding future meetings in Memphis, making them more accessible to MSCS families. It is eyeing July 7 as the next meeting date, though the board has several large administrative tasks to tackle to become fully operational.

The board has the authority to hold its meetings in the MSCS district office building. Nisha Powers, who was named the board secretary, questioned if it was “appropriate” to begin meetings on district property, a nod at potential tensions between the new board and an elected school board that has vowed to sue over the takeover.

Still, the new oversight board was applauded on Thursday by several community groups including parent advocacy organization Memphis Lift .

“Y’all are going to have to get rid of some folks, point blank,” Memphis Lift Executive Director Sarah Carpenter said. “Y’all need to know the community is going to cover y’all.”

The new oversight board members are:

Chair Billy Orgel, a local developer and former Memphis-Shelby County school board member.
Vice-Chair Shanea McKinney of Cigna, who is a member of the University of Tennessee’s board of trustees.
Secretary Nisha Powers, who leads a Memphis civil engineering firm and has served on the Tennessee board of regents.
Dorsey Hopson, a former district superintendent.
Dedrick Brittenum Jr., a Memphis lawyer and former councilman.
Beverly Robertson, a marketing executive and former president and CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.
Tyrone Burroughs, a Memphis CEO who sits on the Tennessee Lottery Commission and the Youth Villages board of directors.
David Mansouri, the sole board member who is not a Shelby County resident. Mansouri is the Nashville-based leader of one of Tennessee’s most influential education advocacy organizations.
Karen Vogelsang, a former Memphis teacher and 2014 Tennessee Teacher of the Year who now runs a literacy nonprofit.

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

Former Teacher of the Year tapped for Memphis schools takeover board ahead of first meeting

2026-06-16T20:15:11+00:00

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

Former Tennessee Teacher of the Year Karen Vogelsang was appointed Tuesday to the final seat on the incoming Memphis schools oversight board, which will soon wield sweeping authority over the state’s largest school district for the next four years.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton selected Vogelsang, a former mortgage banker turned educator, two days before the board is scheduled to hold its first meeting Thursday.

Vogelsang received the state’s top teacher honor in 2014, when she was teaching at Keystone Elementary School. She taught in Memphis-Shelby County elementary schools for 15 years, ending her tenure in 2018.

“The first time I had the opportunity to teach it was electrifying; I knew then I had made the right decision to become a teacher,” Vogelsang told Chalkbeat in 2015.

She now works as a self-employed early childhood literacy consultant and served as director of the Memphis tutoring nonprofit ARISE2Read in 2024.

Vogelsang is the third appointee to the board that has direct experience working with Memphis-Shelby County Schools in the classroom or at the administrative level.

The nine-member board, appointed by the state’s top Republican lawmakers, will soon take decision-making power from the locally elected school board on district issues ranging from the superintendent’s contract and overall budget to curriculum decisions.

The oversight board also includes:

Billy Orgel, a local developer and former Memphis-Shelby County school board member.
Dorsey Hopson, a former district superintendent.
Dedrick Brittenum Jr., a Memphis lawyer and former councilman.
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.
Tyrone Burroughs, a Memphis CEO who sits on the Tennessee Lottery Commission and the Youth Villages board of directors.
David Mansouri, the sole board member who is not a Shelby County resident. Mansouri is the Nashville-based leader of one of Tennessee’s most influential education advocacy organizations.

All but one of the appointees live in Shelby County, as required under the law Tennessee General Assembly Republicans passed this year creating oversight boards for districts with academic performance and administrative issues.

Republican supporters of the plan have argued it is not a state takeover of the local school district because most of the board’s members are local residents. Still, lawmakers have repeatedly pointed to Houston’s state takeover as a model for Memphis.

The Memphis-Shelby County school board earlier this year vowed to sue the state over the effort. Opponents argue the General Assembly has unfairly targeted Memphis by seizing authority from local elected leaders to give to political appointees.

Republican lawmakers say they hope to solve Memphis’ low academic achievement with the takeover. Last year, over 75% of Memphis students failed to achieve proficiency in reading and math, though the district earned high marks in academic growth, a measure of improvement over time.

One of the oversight board’s first responsibilities will be conducting a comprehensive assessment of MSCS staff, students, and buildings to develop a transformation plan. It’s unclear whether the new board will have any control over the 2026-27 budget, which has been approved by the school board but has not been finalized by the Shelby County Commission.

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

Memphis charter students are bucking district math trends. Here’s what’s guiding their growth.

2026-06-04T10:00:01+00:00

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

In examining post-pandemic learning loss, officials at Leadership Preparatory Charter School came to a realization: Teachers were following scripted math curriculum a bit too closely.

“We were expecting teachers to make changes” to cater to students’ needs, said Valissia Allen, founder of the Southeast Memphis K-8 school. “But they were scared.”

So in 2022, the school partnered with national organization Teach Like A Champion to adapt scripted state-approved curriculum. Now, the school provides more flexibility in teaching and plugs material into a structured schedule, starting with a “do now” activity and rote review exercises. Allen calls it “teacher autonomy with guardrails.”

Leadership Prep is seeing booming results. Last year, nearly 44% of students scored as proficient on state standardized math tests – up over 20 percentage points from 2021, school leaders said. That’s more than double last year’s district-wide average for math proficiency.

The uptick mirrors growth in math performance in charter schools across Memphis. A Chalkbeat analysis found that charter students are bouncing back from pandemic-era math losses faster than their traditional school peers and are now outperforming them on state tests.

Nearly one-quarter of Memphis charter students scored proficient in math on last year’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program – up from 2% in 2021, a year after the pandemic struck. That big leap lifted charter math proficiency above pre-pandemic levels.

Traditional school students recovered, as well, but not as quickly: Just under 22% of traditional public school students passed the math TCAP last year, up from 6.9% in 2021. That lagged behind traditional schools students’ pre-pandemic math proficiency.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools did not respond to a request for comment about Chalkbeat’s findings.

That data is backed up by a new report from Tennessee education nonprofit SCORE, where staff spent the past year visiting local charters that showed significant growth on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP.

“Their growth was the equivalent of if they had had 47 more days of learning in a year,” said Emma McWeeney, SCORE’s senior director of charter initiatives.

These trends carry weight on the eve of a state takeover of MSCS. Nashville Republicans cite years of academic underperformance in the district as justification for taking away local control of education decisions, including charter authorization. House Speaker Cameron Sexton appointed SCORE CEO David Mansouri to the impending state oversight board last week.

Mansouri will now have a direct hand in shaping critical levers like MSCS curriculum and staffing. Experts also say that state takeovers of school districts often lead to the expansion of charter options in the area.

SCORE’s report, which included analysis of state-run charters alongside MSCS charters, revealed consistent practices that boosted charter math performance, including daily data analysis and teacher training. But McWeeney said the key driver of success was development of a “school-wide vision” for how math lessons should be run across all grade levels.

“We walked into a kindergarten classroom, a fourth grade classroom, an eighth grade classroom, they were doing very different math skills, but there was a consistent flow and model,” she said.

Teaching with guardrails: The Leadership Prep math model

Corliss James, a former Leadership Prep teacher who is now a principal at the school, said the flexibility to alter state-approved curriculum helps teachers prepare students more directly for TCAP.

“With the scripted curriculum, some of the questions weren’t as rigorous,” she said. “And then when we would see the state test, they weren’t aligned even though they were saying they were.”

Most curricula also focused too heavily on “conceptual” math that explains why certain equations are used instead of the procedural skills necessary for a timed standardized test, Allen added.

A typical math class at Leadership Prep looks like this: Students start with a short quiz, then move into timed basic equations like multiplication. Teachers then review relevant vocabulary for the day’s lesson, and walk through errors from the previous day’s assignments.

Then, they employ classic “gradual release” techniques for new problems: teachers solve an equation, then the class solves one together, and then students complete one on their own. And each class period ends with a short quiz reviewing the new material to gauge student comprehension.

James said a good number of teachers “wanted to revolt” when Leadership Prep first introduced the new lesson model because of the increased workload in crafting daily lesson plans. Some wound up quitting. That first year, the school held three weeks of professional development in the summer, plus a usual hour-per-month session and eight hours each month for Teach Like A Champion training.

But Allen says the teachers who stayed have become partners in enhancing the school’s curriculum every day.

“They’re constantly coming to us like, ‘Hey, I saw this. Can I try this in the classroom?’” she said. “They’re champions. This work does not exist without their tireless efforts in the push to change.”

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story showed a graph that was off by one year, identifying 2024-25 math scores as 2025-26 data.

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

Tennessee SCORE president to join Memphis schools oversight board

2026-05-26T20:48:19+00:00

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

The Nashville-based leader of one of Tennessee’s most influential education advocacy organizations will soon have a significant role in guiding the state’s largest school district.

David Mansouri, president and chief executive at Tennessee SCORE, has been appointed to the new nine-person oversight board that will seize control of Memphis-Shelby County Schools in a state-led takeover.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton appointed Mansouri to the board on Tuesday, one of the speaker’s two appointees on the board. Sexton has not announced his final pick.

Mansouri will be the only member of the new board who is not a Shelby County resident after Sexton negotiated for the opportunity to appoint a non-resident when Republicans passed the takeover legislation earlier this spring.

“This is an opportunity to take a comprehensive look at the public education system and make certain it delivers what every student and family in Memphis deserves: a world-class education, strong outcomes, and a clear path to success,” Mansouri said in a statement to Chalkbeat.

He joined SCORE soon after it was founded by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in 2009. The organization has significant influence with policy makers and is often credited for producing a roadmap for school improvement when Tennessee schools ranked among the worst in the nation.

The top elected Republicans in the state are appointing the new oversight board, which will control key district decisions for the next four years. Both Gov. Bill Lee and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally announced their appointments in recent days.

The oversight board also includes:

Billy Orgel, a local developer and former Memphis-Shelby County school board member.
Dedrick Brittenum Jr., a Memphis lawyer and former councilman.
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.
Tyrone Burroughs, a Memphis CEO who sits on the Tennessee Lottery Commission and the Youth Villages board of directors.

Under the state takeover bill signed into law last week by 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, which will significantly dilute the authority of the locally elected board.

Republican lawmakers have argued the oversight board does not amount to a state takeover of Tennessee’s largest school district, because the majority of the board will be local residents. However, the political appointees will serve at-will terms and can be removed and replaced at any time, for any reason.

Lawmakers frequently pointed to a state takeover of Houston schools as a model for Memphis success.

Bill sponsors hope to solve Memphis’ low academic achievement with the takeover. Last year, over 75% of Memphis students failed to achieve proficiency in reading and math.

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

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 elected school 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.

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

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.

Gov. Bill Lee taps former superintendent, UT trustee for Memphis schools takeover board

2026-05-22T18:14:33+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 announced his five appointees for a new Memphis schools oversight board that will have sweeping authority over Tennessee’s largest school district for the next four years.

The choices came on Friday just after Lee signed the oversight board legislation into law, which authorizes the governor and the top two Republicans in the General Assembly to appoint the nine-person board.

The governor’s appointees include at least one member with intimate knowledge of the district’s inner workings: Dorsey Hopson, who served as Memphis superintendent from 2013 to early 2019. Hopson is now 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.

The 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.

The board will have nearly unlimited power to dive into district records, from teacher evaluations to curriculum reviews. It also will control the district’s largest financial decisions, the operating budget, and superintendent’s contract. Its power even extends to the Shelby County Commission, which will be blocked from approving the MSCS annual budget until the oversight board gives its approval.

The oversight board must begin its work by July 1, per the new law. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton, both Republicans, get two picks each in addition to Lee’s appointments.

A spokesperson for McNally said he planned to make his appointments in “the very near future.”

Eight of the nine oversight board members must be Shelby County residents under the law. However, Sexton negotiated an arrangement that the House speaker can appoint one oversight board member who does not reside in Shelby County, as long as they live in the state. Political leaders can remove and rename board members at any time, for any reason.

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

Tennessee governor signs Memphis schools takeover into law

2026-05-22T15:58:09+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 has signed legislation that will give political appointees sweeping authority over Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

The new law is an unprecedented effort to seize local control of Tennessee’s largest public school district through a nine-person oversight board appointed by the state’s top three Republicans, including the governor.

Lee announced his appointments shortly after signing the legislation, tapping five Shelby County residents, many of whom already sit on Tennessee governing boards.

The governor’s appointees include at least one member with intimate knowledge of the district’s inner workings: Dorsey Hopson, who served as Memphis superintendent from 2013 to early 2019.

The takeover effort now goes into effect just weeks after Memphis voters cast their ballots in the 2026 school board primary, an election for four contested board seats that now have significantly less power. And expected legal challenges to the takeover will also collide with another Republican supermajority effort to seize Tennessee’s last Democratic congressional district through a controversial redistricting measure that now significantly dilutes Memphians’ voting power.

The takeover oversight board has been tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of the district’s academic challenges. Republican supporters of the takeover have argued that progress is unacceptably stagnant after years of academic underperformance in the district that serves more than 100,000 students.

Last year, more than 75% of Memphis students failed to achieve proficiency in reading and math based on state standardized tests. However, Memphis schools earned the highest possible score in academic growth, or student improvement on state tests, for the fourth year in a row.

Opponents of the takeover have pointed to systemic socioeconomic issues in Shelby County as an inextricable factor in MSCS academic performance. Democrats have also argued the district has been harmed by the whiplash of state-imposed policies over the years, such as the failed Achievement School District, a previous state takeover of Memphis’ lowest performing schools.

The new oversight board will have nearly unlimited power to dive into district records, from teacher evaluations to curriculum reviews. It also will control the district’s largest financial decisions, the operating budget, and superintendent’s contract. Its power even extends to the Shelby County Commission, which will be blocked from approving the MSCS annual budget until the oversight board gives its approval.

The effective takeover of the district comes amid increasing tensions between Tennessee Republicans, a majority-white party with supermajority power in the state, and local leaders in Memphis, a longtime Democratic stronghold with a majority-Black population. Last year, Republicans imposed a state and federal law enforcement surge because of immigration and crime concerns, and GOP lawmakers in May rushed to split the county’s congressional district to better favor Republican candidates.

A Memphis school board member in April called the oversight law “racist” as Tennessee Republicans, all of whom are white, will seize control from the locally elected school board, the majority of whom are Black. Memphis parents have expressed concern about funding and support for a predominantly Black school district.

The school board is considering its legal options to challenge the takeover and a companion law that effectively blocks them from using district funds to pay for legal action.

Not all Memphians are opposed to an oversight board after years of academic underperformance and leadership instability, which some say came to head after the local school board suddenly fired former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January 2025. There have been four MSCS superintendents in the last five years.

The school board last month finalized a permanent contract for then-interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond, potentially saddling the district with a nearly half-million dollar payout if he is fired without cause, often a first step in district takeovers.

But the oversight board law may provide the new board a loophole to avoid a payout. The oversight board can fire MSCS’ superintendent and appoint a new one with up to a four-year contract if they find any example of him contributing to “deficiencies in the management, accounting, or internal controls” of the district.

Per the new law, the oversight board must begin its work by July 1. The governor will appoint five board members, the majority of the board. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton, both Republicans, will get two picks each.

A spokesperson for McNally said he planned to make his appointments in “the very near future.”

Under the law, political leaders can remove and rename board members at any time, for any reason.

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.

As Memphis schools takeover looms, city faces further voting power struggle

2026-05-08T21:52:33+00:00

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

The Tennessee supermajority’s redrawing of its Congressional districts to siphon Memphis Democrats into Republican seats came days before the Memphis-Shelby County school system takeover is expected to be signed into law. It’s an unprecedented confluence that could dilute the voting power of Tennessee’s largest majority-Black city.

This week, Memphis Democrats decried an onslaught of Republican measures they say are aimed at Black Memphians, who will see their locally elected school board neutered by GOP political appointees just as they lose a Memphis-centered Congressional district aimed at protecting minority voting power.

Senate Democratic Caucus Chair London Lamar, a Memphis Democrat, called the sweeping effort “an absolute power grab.”

“You didn’t like our school board, you took that over,” Lamar said Thursday prior to the redistricting vote. “You didn’t like our airport authority. You took that over. And now, you don’t like the way Memphis votes. You’re going to take that away from us, too. You cannot claim local control while stripping Memphis voters from meaningful representation. You cannot claim to respect democracy while changing the rules.”

Now, one of the main architects of the Memphis-Shelby County schools takeover wants to capitalize on the redistricting effort.

Sen. Brent Taylor, the Memphis Republican who sponsored the Senate version of the takeover, announced Thursday he would run in the redrawn 9th Congressional District just minutes after the redistricting effort was signed into law. Taylor and other Republicans have denied the effort was tied to Memphis’ racial makeup but say they’re now able to further consolidate Republican power in Tennessee due to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

“This is about allowing Tennessee to maximize its partisan advantage,” said Sen. John Stevens, a Republican from Huntingdon, in a Senate debate this week.

Taylor’s partner in the schools takeover, Memphis Republican Rep. Mark White, was one of the few Republicans who did not support the redistricting effort. White opted to not cast a vote in favor or against the measure alongside a handful of other Republicans who serve in more competitive districts in Shelby and Knox counties.

The state takeover legislation awaits Gov. Bill Lee’s signature to become law.

The law would shift control of the state’s largest public school district to a nine-person oversight board appointed by Tennessee’s top three Republicans, including the governor. The new board will diminish the authority of the local school board, which is in the middle of an election cycle that drew the largest voter turnout in over two decades for county-wide May 5 primary elections.

Takeover advocates argue years of academic underperformance and district management drama necessitated the intervention, which accelerated after the school board in 2025 quickly fired a new superintendent.

It also follows years of rising tensions between Tennessee Republicans, a majority-white party with supermajority power, and local leaders in Memphis, a longtime Democratic stronghold with a majority-Black population. Last year, Republicans imposed a state and federal law enforcement surge because of immigration and crime concerns.

The Republican supermajority has given the oversight board nearly unlimited power to dive into district records, from teacher evaluations to curriculum reviews, and control the district’s largest financial decisions.

It will also have final say over the district’s operating budget and superintendent contract. Its power even extends in part to the Shelby County Commission, the county’s local governing body, which will be blocked from signing off on the MSCS annual budget until the oversight board gives its approval.

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

Shelby County Commission votes to fund MSCS takeover lawsuit

2026-05-04T23:07:03+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 Monday to set aside $200,000 for a lawsuit challenging the state takeover of Memphis schools.

The local school board unanimously voted two weeks ago to hire a lawyer for the same purpose. The next day, Tennessee Republicans passed their bill to appoint a nine-member oversight board that will seize control of key district decisions.

But a law signed by Gov. Bill Lee on April 21, hours before the school board litigation vote, prevents the district from using public dollars to sue the state over accountability measures, which could include the state takeover. Memphis Rep. Mark White, one of the takeover bill sponsors, told Chalkbeat Monday that the commission is looking for a loophole by using money not strictly set aside for education purposes.

Instead, the $200,000 is from the county’s general fund and being designated to use in legal action.

But White said he’s confident the takeover bill is legal and constitutional. A lawsuit now would be “a waste of time and a waste of money,” he said.

“We feel very confident that we’re on solid ground,” White said. “My goal is we all get on the same team now that we passed the bill.”

Some community members also told Chalkbeat they are doubtful a lawsuit will succeed in reversing the takeover legislation. But during Monday’s special call meeting, Commissioner Charlie Caswell said this isn’t the time to give up on a fight.

“This is just a door opening to many other things that’s to follow,” he said. “And if we don’t stand on something we’re going to fall for any and everything.”

Eight commissioners voted to approve the lawsuit funding, including Michael Whaley, who was absent for a vote last week that failed to put the investment on a general meeting agenda. Commissioner Britney Thornton once again crossed party lines to reject the proposal alongside her Republican colleagues Amber Mills and Mick Wright.

The county government’s resolution, sponsored by Commissioners Mickell Lowery and Matthew Szalaj, accuses state lawmakers of imposing the oversight board on MSCS without consent from Shelby County voters or elected leaders. It also says local taxpayers will foot the bill for the oversight board members “to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, and likely a million dollars or more over four years.”

It’s unclear when MSCS will file its lawsuit or whether it will file joint action with the county commission. District leaders have said they’re waiting until the takeover bill is signed into law to make any official moves.

White told Chalkbeat that he expects Lee to sign the takeover bill into law this week. Oversight board members will be named “pretty much immediately” after that, he said.

Opponents to the lawsuit funding said during Monday’s meeting that local leadership hasn’t improved the district or student outcomes for years.The county commission issued a vote of no confidence against the MSCS board in January 2025, after the controversial firing of then-Superintendent Marie Feagins.

“We’re pulling money from nowhere, money we don’t have by the way … to assist a school system that has blatantly failed our kids,” Commissioner Wright said. “And we’ve had how many months of this chamber filled with parents who are desperate for something to change?”

Mayor Lee Harris, who spoke in support of funding the MSCS lawsuit Monday, said the county has flexibility to delay some ongoing projects in order to free up money for the district’s legal action.

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

Can the GOP Memphis schools takeover be stopped? Local leaders weigh the district’s options.

2026-04-28T20:10:59+00:00

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

Memphis mom Shelby Pearson said she knew the state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools was inevitable once the school board voted to fire former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January 2025.

Now Pearson, who has a 5-year-old son at Idlewild Elementary, said she’s worried about giving control of a majority-Black school district to an all-white group of Republican lawmakers, who will soon handpick a new oversight board with sweeping authority over the state’s largest school district.

The new board could nullify MSCS contracts with Black-owned businesses, she said, or cut funding for local after-school programs.

“How will our kids be protected?” Pearson said. “How will our kids still have the funding that they need?”

Despite public rallies and protests held last year over the issue, community pushback was noticeably muted this spring as Tennessee Republicans officially passed a bill to take over Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The nine oversight board members will be appointed by top Republican leaders, likely in the next couple of weeks after Gov. Bill Lee officially signs the measure into law.

The new board will have the authority to fire newly appointed Superintendent Roderick Richmond. It will also have final say over the district’s budget and school closure decisions.

State Republicans, including takeover bill sponsors Sen. Brent Taylor and Rep. Mark White, say the intervention is necessary to combat fiscal mismanagement in MSCS and improve academic underperformance. District leaders have criticized the takeover, and they are advocating for a more-collaborative approach to fixing local education issues.

Joseph Kyles leads the Rainbow PUSH Coalition Memphis, one of the local nonprofits heavily involved in last year’s takeover protests. He said the community is reacting differently this time, including by increasing early voting.

Four local school board seats are up for election this year. As of Saturday, almost 29,000 people had voted in the May 5 primary, up by 8,000 votes from the same point in 2018. But residents may be casting votes for a new school board that will hold significantly less power than in years past.

“[Memphians] understand that the state has made up their mind,” Kyles said. “And it’s not a time for making arguments at this point, it’s a legal question about whether or not you can have taxation without representation.”

But Pearson said she doesn’t think there’s anything the district can do now to challenge state intervention.

The Republican-appointed oversight board is “going to strip the funding, send the funding to the suburbs, and then our kids will be the ones that are left with nothing,” she said.

“Now, we’re going to have children that are already failing in school and don’t have adequate funding,” Pearson said. “They’re going to suffer even more.”

The Memphis school board voted last week to hire a lawyer to challenge the impending state takeover. But the district’s hands might be tied because of a Republican-backed law signed by Lee hours before that vote that blocks the district from using public funds to pay for the lawsuit.

Kyles said that law is blatantly unconstitutional and should be challenged. But if it is upheld by courts, he said, “then the resources are going to come from the people.”

“And I believe that is quietly being organized,” Kyles said.

Two Shelby County Commissioners attempted to put a $200,000 investment in MSCS legal action on the local government’s agenda Monday, the Daily Memphian reported. But the commissioners narrowly voted down that measure.

Justin Bailey, MSCS’ general counsel, said the district is waiting for Lee to sign the takeover bill into law before advancing any legal action. But Luke Cymbal, vice president of the Shelby County Republicans, said he’s confident a lawsuit against the state takeover will fail in court anyway.

Cymbal says the oversight board needs to have all-encompassing authority over the district in order to “turn around the school system.” He says Tennessee leaders are modeling their aggressive approach after the 2023 takeover of Houston’s public school district, where Mike Miles is the state-appointed superintendent.

“When I met in Nashville with the superintendent of the Houston school district, he said, ‘You have got to be strong on the legislation,’” Cymbal said. “‘If you do not give it teeth, if you do not give authority to the board of managers, then nothing will change.’”

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

Federal judge orders immediate release of Memphis high school student detained by ICE

2026-04-24T18:31:45+00:00

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

Yasser Jose Lopez Soza has spent his weeks in the West Tennessee Detention Center working seven-hour kitchen shifts to stay busy.

The 18-year-old Memphis high school student has been held in ICE detention since his arrest on Feb. 20 on the way to a school soccer game. He said he misses his mom and friends and wishes he were back in his classes at Memphis Business Academy.

“I feel like I’m dying of loneliness, nostalgia and sadness,” Lopez Soza wrote in Spanish in an April 9 letter to Chalkbeat. “School was my happy place where I spent the majority of my time. I miss my teachers and my friends.”

On April 23, a federal judge ordered Lopez Soza’s immediate release from the detention center. According to the court decision, detaining the high school junior without bond violated his rights to due process.

Mauricio Calvo, director of Latino Memphis who has worked closely with Lopez Soza’s case, said he was released from the detention center just before 1 p.m. April 24.

Lopez Soza was in the car with teammates on the way to a soccer game on Feb. 20, his lawyer told Chalkbeat, when the driver was pulled over. Details of that arrest, including why the car was pulled over, are still unclear even to the judge reviewing the habeas petition, according to the court document.

Jay Fearnley, the teenager’s lawyer, filed a petition for habeas corpus on March 11. The Department of Homeland Security argued Lopez Soza can be held without bond because he is considered “an ‘applicant for admission’ who is treated, for constitutional purposes, as if stopped at the border,” the court document says. But that’s based on a recent ICE policy decision, not the “plain text” of the law, the judge says.

Lopez Soza has been living in Memphis for three years, since arriving from Nicaragua in December 2022. The then-15-year-old and his mother arrived in Arizona without documentation and were briefly detained, the court decision says. In June 2025, he and his mom were ordered to be deported for failing to appear in immigration court. But in August, a judge dismissed that order and reopened his immigration case.

Lopez Soza is expected to graduate from Memphis Business Academy in May 2027. According to the court, that means he isn’t considered an applicant for admission under existing law. And with no existing criminal history, he cannot be denied a bond hearing, according to the Thursday court ruling.

“Bond hearings were designed to prevent prolonged detention during removal proceedings, which are often lengthy,” the decision says. “Therefore, denying Lopez Soza the chance to obtain relief simply because he did not file an appeal may force him ‘to endure six months or more of potentially unlawful detention and thus would cause him great hardship.’”

Lopez Soza misses schoolwork, peers in ICE detention

During his once-a-week visiting hour on April 18, Lopez Soza sat at a table in a crowded room with Memphis Democrat Representative Gabby Salinas and a Memphis Business Academy teacher.

Lopez Soza spoke quietly, his hands often covering his mouth, about missing his girlfriend and how expensive it is to call his mom every night. It costs 5 cents per minute, he said, and 35 cents for an international call to his sister in Nicaragua.

Lopez Soza makes $3 per shift working in the detention center kitchen. Other than that, he spends his time drawing and listening to Radiohead on a tablet that also costs 5 cents per minute to use.

“Sometimes you have to sleep a lot, because there aren’t many things to do here,” he wrote in the April 9 letter.

Salinas said she hasn’t been able to bring Lopez Soza any schoolwork in the detention center. During the Saturday visit, he said he’s worried about missing ACT and SAT testing. He needs those scores to apply for college next year.

Lopez Soza said he wants to play soccer at his future university, and talked excitedly about seeing a recent game on TV at the detention center. Real Madrid, he says, is the best team.

“I hope my life can change, and I can get out of here,” he wrote on April 9. “I hope God helps me get out of here very soon.”

This story has been updated with the time Lopez Soza was officially released from the detention center.

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

Tennessee Republicans vote to take over Memphis-Shelby County schools

2026-04-23T00:13:59+00:00

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

Tennessee Republicans have passed an unprecedented intervention of the Memphis-Shelby County school system that gives political appointees sweeping authority over the locally elected school board and the state’s largest school district.

The appointed oversight board will have four years to address what Republicans argue is untenable academic underperformance and administrative instability in the district, which serves more than 100,000 students.

The new law gives the oversight board, which could be appointed at any time and must convene for the first time before July, broad latitude to set performance metrics for the district. It could also control everything from firing and hiring a superintendent to textbooks and classroom curriculum. The new body would have final say over the district’s $1.7 billion budget and major decisions like school closures and zoning.

Tennessee Senate and House Republicans voted on the measure Wednesday. Gov. Bill Lee must sign the legislation into law before oversight board members can be appointed.

A Memphis school board member on Tuesday called the law “racist” because Tennessee Republicans, all of whom are white, will seize control from the locally elected school board in a majority Black and Democratic county.

The school board is considering its legal options, though Memphis Republicans pushed a new law to block school districts from funding lawsuits against accountability measures.

Takeover advocates argue intervention is needed to move the needle on Memphis test scores. Last year, more than 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.

Democrats argue academic underperformance is affected by systemic socioeconomic realities of MSCS students and the whiplash of district changes over the years, like the failed Achievement School District enforced by the state.

Though Memphis takeover advocates say the new law is aimed squarely at MSCS, it could affect other Tennessee school districts down the line. The law will apply to any schools that meet four of six criteria: academic underperformance, chronic absenteeism, D or F school grades, and priority school status, financial mismanagement as determined by the Tennessee education commissioner, and leadership instability.

Officials from the Tennessee Department of Education this week testified 80% of Tennessee schools already meet two of the academic underperformance standards, with less than 50% of students scoring proficient or higher on state English and math tests.

In addition to MSCS, six other school districts meet three out of the six criteria, including two school districts operated by the state.

“This bill is not about any one district, any one city or county,” Memphis Republican Rep. Mark White, the bill sponsor, said. “It’s an important component in our statewide accountability framework that applies uniformly to every local education agency in the state of Tennessee.”

For now, only MSCS meets the leadership instability and financial mismanagement criteria, in large part due to an ongoing state-funded audit that hasn’t yet been completed.

A legal challenge of the bill will likely hinge in part on these provisions. House Democrats on Wednesday argued the targeted legislation violates the Tennessee Constitution.

“While this bill is written like it applies broadly, in fact it narrows and narrows until it lands on Memphis-Shelby County schools. It is targeted application,” Memphis Democratic Rep. Antonio Parkinson said.

Parkinson proposed a pared-back advisory board that would maintain local governance while providing an accountability structure, though it was voted down by Republicans. Parkinson called the politically appointed oversight board “complete unchecked power.”

Before the vote Wednesday night, MSCS General Counsel Justin Bailey said the district was waiting for a final bill decision to move forward with a lawsuit.

Bailey said the law that prevents the district from using its own funds to legally challenge state-imposed accountability measures doesn’t clearly define “accountability” — so the parameters it applies to are unclear.

Bri Hatch contributed to this report. Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.

5 key takeaways from the Memphis schools takeover bill

2026-04-21T22:54:37+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 Schools takeover legislation is expected to get its final sign off from Tennessee Republican leaders on Wednesday, ushering in a state-appointed oversight board to control the district.

After two years of deliberation, state lawmakers advanced a unified plan Monday to create an MSCS board of managers that would control local budget and staffing decisions. Memphis school board members voted unanimously Tuesday to hire a lawyer to challenge that legislation.

But it’s unclear whether their effort will be stumped by a pending bill that would prevent districts from using public funds to sue over state accountability measures.

The takeover bill could ensnare other Tennessee school districts in state interventions. But right now, MSCS is the only local district that meets all six of the bill’s criteria focused on academic underperformance and management issues.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate leader Randy McNally need to approve the drafted legislation before it can go to the governor’s desk for signing.

In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about the takeover bill:

Oversight board would have sweeping power over district

The politically appointed oversight board would have sweeping authority over practically every aspect of Tennessee’s largest school district, from school building to textbook and curriculum issues.

It also could access student disciplinary records, annual teacher evaluations, and employment contracts.

The board could close or consolidate schools and would have final say over charter school decisions.

Lawmakers want the board to conduct a “comprehensive needs assessment” that would include evaluating district textbooks, curriculum and other teaching materials. This assessment would be used to set performance goals, which the legislation does not explicitly set for the board.

The oversight board would also have veto power over the district budget and the ability to craft its own budget for the district under certain circumstance.

Board members could shift with political winds

The legislation currently allows Tennessee’s top three elected Republicans to choose the entire board. Gov. Bill Lee would appoint five members of the board, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally would appoint two members, and House Speaker Cameron Sexton would appoint two members.

But those appointments are tied to the political offices, not the politicians themselves. Lee and McNally are both in their final months of office, with McNally retiring and term-limited Lee leaving office.

A new governor and lieutenant governor could decide to make their own appointments. The legislation allows board members to be replaced at any time for any reason.

New board could be appointed immediately

The oversight board could be appointed almost immediately.

In 2023, lawmakers vacated the Tennessee State University board of trustees over financial mismanagement concerns. Within hours of signing the legislation into law, Gov. Bill Lee appointed a new board.

A similar timeline could play out in Memphis, which could muddy ongoing school board races as voters determine who will hold exactly what power over Memphis-Shelby County schools. Early voting is ongoing in four school board district primaries ahead of the May 5 election day.

Lawmakers this week indicated they already have a list of board members in mind.

While lawmakers initially required all oversight board members to reside in Shelby County, that is no longer the case.

House sponsor Rep. Mark White requested that Sexton get an exception for one of his picks. While eight members of the board must be residents of Shelby County, Sexton would get to appoint one member from anywhere in the state of Tennessee.

White argued Sexton needed the flexibility to appoint outside of Shelby County in case there was an expertise gap to fill.

Superintendent Richmond’s contract could be on the line

The takeover bill gives the oversight members the power to fire MSCS’ superintendent with or without cause and appoint a new one with up to a four-year contract. That was the first step taken by state education leaders in Houston, a 2023 school takeover that Tennessee Republicans have frequently cited as a model.

Superintendent Roderick Richmond earned a three-year contract from the current school board on March 31. If he is fired without cause, MSCS would be forced to pay him nearly half a million dollars.

But the takeover legislation would make it easier for the oversight board to fire Richmond with cause, nullifying any required payout. The board could cite as cause for termination any refusal to follow their directives, or any example of him contributing to “deficiencies in the management, accounting, or internal controls of the LEA.”

State control could last up to six years

According to the takeover legislation, the state-appointed oversight board would be established by July 1.

Republican Governor Bill Lee would appoint five of the nine members, with the House and Senate speakers choosing two members each. An amendment added during the conference committee Monday allows one of those members to be a non-Shelby County resident, contradicting previous claims from takeover advocates that the oversight board would be made up of only district residents.

Those nine members will hold district authority for four years. But the takeover bill says that if MSCS continues to meet four or more of the criteria for intervention, lawmakers will choose a new set of nine representatives to lead MSCS for two more years.

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

Tennessee Republicans push for significant last-minute ESA voucher expansion

2026-04-21T17:07:57+00:00

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

Tennessee Republicans want to drop all enrollment caps and expand eligibility to the state’s initial voucher program, effectively merging Tennessee’s two voucher programs as Gov. Bill Lee pushes lawmakers to provide state dollars to all families who applied to the Education Freedom Scholarships program this year.

A last-minute amendment tacked on to House Bill 1881 would substantially alter the Education Savings Account program, the state’s initial voucher program that is currently available to 12,500 income-capped families in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton counties.

House lawmakers are expected to consider the new amendment on Tuesday. If a majority approves the new language, it will mark the second time in two weeks that the Republican majority has made major last-minute changes to Tennessee’s voucher programs.

The House floor amendments have allowed voucher-friendly Republicans to push forward significant changes in tight votes while bypassing a thornier committee process, where amendments are debated at length and require multiple voting rounds to advance.

If finalized, the ESA bill changes would usher in a monumental shift to Tennessee’s school choice policies. Last year, lawmakers were assured the state’s universal EFS program was tightly controlled from expansion, limited to just 5,000 new students a year.

Now, voucher proponents in the Republican supermajority have blown past that cap to expand the EFS program to 35,000 students and are attempting to drop all enrollment caps to the ESA program in Tennessee’s most populous counties.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons criticized the last-minute amendment Tuesday morning.

“At the eleventh hour, Gov. Bill Lee and Republicans are attempting to put the final dagger in our public schools and blow up our state budget by eliminating all caps on the voucher scams and removing any accountability whatsoever,” Clemmons said.

The new amendment would include Knox County in the ESA program, opening it up to as many eligible students in the four counties as possible. The bill would also significantly roll back accountability measures and testing requirements on the ESA program.

Republicans also look to expand eligibility by increasing the income eligibility cap from 200% of the federal free and reduced price lunch threshold to 400%. This would be about $171,600 for a family of four, under the federal guidelines for the upcoming school year, well above Tennessee’s median family income.

The ESA program provides up to $9,787 per student this school year, nearly $2,000 more than the EFS voucher.

The ESA program has been historically underused, in part due to its testing requirements that require participating private schools to administer Tennessee state tests to ESA students.The testing requirement was a crucial reason the program passed the legislature by a single vote in 2018, as many lawmakers argued an apples-to-apples comparison was needed to determine student academic progress. But many private schools do not want to offer the state tests.

Now, some Republicans want to drop those testing requirements, which would likely encourage more private schools to participate in the ESA. Participating schools could either offer a “nationally norm-referenced” test, which can vary widely in their content, or offer the state standardized tests.

The new amendment also aims to stop requiring annual audits of the ESA program and drops the requirement that the state measure academic growth in the program with the same TVAAS scoring metrics public schools are held to.

Republicans backing the measure say ESA testing requirements need to be aligned with the EFS, and that private schools should have the flexibility to choose a test that aligns with their curriculum.

But the effort follows a Tennessee Comptroller report from last winter that found ESA recipients continue to trail their public school peers in academic achievement, with some exceptions in Memphis-Shelby County schools.

With the testing changes, it will not be possible to accurately compare and contrast academic progress among Tennessee students, Democrats opposed to the measure argue.

The House is expected to vote on the amendment on Tuesday, April 21, though schedules are shifting quickly as the General Assembly looks to wrap up its session this week. The Senate could take up its version at any time.

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

Memphis schools takeover push could target other Tennessee districts

2026-04-20T19:11:13+00:00

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

Tennessee Republicans took one step closer to seizing major controls from the Memphis-Shelby County school district on Monday in a takeover effort that could eventually affect other school systems across the state.

The legislation would install a politically appointed oversight board in any Tennessee school district that meets four of six criteria of academic underperformance and management instability.

Republicans on Monday approved a conference committee bill, which will now move to full House and Senate votes this week.

The nine-person oversight board would be empowered to fire any district employee, including the superintendent, with or without cause. It would also have veto power over the district budget.

The bill would become law immediately if passed, meaning Tennessee Republicans could appoint an oversight board amid ongoing school board elections in Memphis.

Memphis takeover advocates have argued intervention is needed due to consistent academic underperformance in the state’s largest school district. But Tennessee Department of Education officials testified on Monday that a majority of school districts meet the same academic underperformance criteria, and seven school districts meet three of four performance standards.

Those districts include Campbell, Cocke, Madison, Lewis, and Shelby counties, in addition to the state-run Achievement School District and the Tennessee Public Charter School district.

Under draft legislation proposed by a conference committee this week, the state could install an oversight board in 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.

Rep. Mark White, a Memphis Republican who is co-sponsoring the effort to intervene in Memphis schools, noted MSCS is the only state district that meets all of those criteria.

The final two designations include the commissioner of education, a political appointee, determining whether an audit shows deficiencies in district management, and whether the local board of education has employed more than two superintendents or directors of schools in the last four years.

Memphis is the only district in the state with an ongoing state-funded forensic audit managed by the Tennessee’s Comptroller audit, though school districts are routinely examined in lower-profile audits.

“It highlights that this legislation was written very surgically to apply only to Memphis and Shelby County schools,” said Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat who called the intervention effort “heavy-handed.”

Takeover or intervention?

Memphis Republicans pushing for intervention argue the effort is not a state takeover of Tennessee’s largest district, as lawmakers or the Department of Education would not directly control decisions within the district. The majority of the oversight board members must be residents of Shelby County.

However, the new legislation gives elected Republicans in Tennessee broad authority to craft or even trigger an oversight board, given the commissioner of education authority included in the legislation. The governor would appoint five oversight board members, and the House and Senate speakers would get two appointees each.

The oversight board would seize major financial controls from the Memphis-Shelby County school board, whose primary authority is to set the district’s operating budget and manage the district’s superintendent.

Under the draft legislation, the school board would have to submit its proposed budget to the oversight body for approval. The oversight body could veto any or all line items in the budget.

The oversight board could even rewrite the entire district’s budget under certain circumstances, if the school board doesn’t meet the oversight board’s timeline for revising the budget.

The draft legislation also inserts some control over the local legislative body, which in Memphis’ case would be the Shelby County Board of Commissioners. It would block the local body from signing off on the district’s budget without the oversight board’s approval.

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.

The current MSCS board unanimously approved a three-year permanent contract for Superintendent Roderick Richmond on March 31. That contract puts the district on the hook for a nearly half-million dollar payout if the new state board decides to fire Richmond without cause.

But the new bill would make it easier for the oversight board to fire Richmond with cause. The board could cite as cause for termination any refusal of the superintendent to follow their directives, or contributing to “deficiencies in the management, accounting, or internal controls of the LEA.”

The legislation calls for the oversight board to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment that would essentially audit teacher staffing levels, including reviewing results of annual teacher evaluations. The board would be authorized to review any and all records from the district, including teacher evaluation records and student disciplinary reports.

The oversight board would then be tasked with developing a “transformation plan that identifies performance and operational goals” in the district.

The board could hire a contractor to draw up those assessments and plans.

The oversight board would be subject to Tennessee’s open meetings and public records law. No other criteria are outlined in the draft legislation. Oversight board members could be removed by the governor and legislative leaders at any time, for any reason.

Oversight board members must be compensated at the same rate as school board members under the legislation. They can hire up to three staff members total, in addition to reassigning a staff member from the district office. The district must pay for those salaries, but they can petition the Department of Education for some funding.

“It would almost be like you’re paying for two school boards,” Akbari said.

Costs rise for audit, intervention model

Intervention advocates, led by Memphis Republicans and party leaders like House Speaker Cameron Sexton, have funneled even more state dollars into the audit effort. Gov. Bill Lee is directing another $1.7 million to complete the audit in next year’s budget, which grows the total price tag of the audit to $8.7 million.

And it’s possible lawmakers could direct another $1 million to help fund a new oversight board.

The nearly $10 million in state funds far outpaces the potential fraud and waste findings revealed by the audit thus far. The ongoing financial audit, which covers a three-year period, revealed around $1.1 million in funds that auditors said could be potential waste and abuse. Another $1.7 million was flagged as spending misaligned with district policies that didn’t rise to waste and abuse thresholds.

That amounts to less than 1% of the district’s operating budget over the three-year period being audited.

Tennessee Republican leaders suggested the early findings were among the worst audit findings they had ever seen, pointing to mismanagement of employee paperwork and alleged cooperation issues with district officials.

Democrats on Monday pushed back on these assertions. Akbari, the Memphis Democrat, pointed to previous school audits in Maury and Polk counties, which found millions in mismanaged funds and major control failures. Neither of those audits triggered a state-funded forensic audit or state intervention.

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

Voter guide: Here are the Democratic Memphis school board candidates running in District 6

2026-04-16T22:57:40+00:00

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

Five candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination for the District 6 seat on Memphis-Shelby County’s school board this May, as state lawmakers continue to push for a district takeover that would usurp local authority.

All are running to fill the seat held by former teachers union leader Keith Williams since 2022. Five candidates will compete in the district’s first political primary on May 5. The winner of that race will go up against independent candidate Frederick Dewayne Tappan, a longtime pastor at Eureka Truevine Baptist Church, in the Aug. 6 general election.

Early voting in the primary begins on April 15.

Marinda A-Williams is a former private school and Germantown teacher who has experience in state-level politics. Juliette Eskridge taught in MSCS for 20 years, and Stacey Kelly works as a college advisor for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. T.L. Harris, who served prison time for a felony drug conviction, led a youth violence prevention program for three years and now advocates for cameras in MSCS classrooms. Contessa Humphrey, the final candidate, did not respond to Chalkbeat’s survey.

District 6 covers 28 schools and around 12,000 students in Southwest Memphis, a region that MSCS leaders say will likely be targeted for school closures in the next few years due to chronic underenrollment and aging buildings.

At most schools, Black students make up more than 95% of the student population, and almost 70% of students are considered economically disadvantaged.

Students in District 6, which includes Whitehaven High School and Havenview Middle School, test slightly below MSCS’ districtwide averages on state reading and math tests. That ranges from a 60% proficiency rate for both subjects at John P. Freeman Optional to a 6% proficiency rate at Geeter K-8.

Use our interactive map to see if you’ll be voting in this district based on your home address. And read full responses from District 6 candidates to a Chalkbeat survey here:

Marinda A-Williams

A-Williams is a former teacher assistant and educator in local private schools and the Germantown suburban school district. She represented Memphis on the Tennessee Democratic State Executive Committee when she was 23 years old, setting policies and goals to manage local parties.

A-Williams ran for a position on the Memphis City Council in 2019, but did not win the seat. She believes there should be a third option between a state takeover of MSCS and complete local control. Her collaborative governance model mirrors a local accountability plan passed by current board members in March.

“The state should allow potentially newly elected leadership the opportunity to demonstrate improvement and reconsider any takeover after elections so the community has a voice in the future of its schools,” A-Williams said.

She also believes the district should expand its career and technical education programs to boost student attendance by establishing a connection between school and future jobs.

Most important MSCS issue to address: Literacy and public trust

“Too many students are not reading at grade level, and families are concerned about transparency, contract oversight, and the responsible use of resources. I would prioritize evidence-based literacy instruction starting in early grades, expand tutoring and targeted support, and align curriculum investments with proven learning science. At the governance level, the board must enforce strong financial transparency and contract oversight.”

Juliette Eskridge

Eskridge taught in MSCS for around 20 years, serving as a teacher and project manager for multiple schools including Hamilton Elementary and Mitchell High.

She now works at Project STAND, a school-based mentoring program for at-risk students established in 2017 that operates in MSCS.

“I’m such a team person,” Eskridge said. “My ambition would be (the board) as a team, and being cohesive and wanting to work through whatever our challenges are.”

Eskridge says she wants the board to be proactive in seeking feedback from parents and the community before making decisions and be more transparent about issues early on.

Most important MSCS issue to address: State takeover

“The most important thing right now, and I think that’s being missed from the state level, are the students. That’s what this needs to be about: making sure our children are equipped. I haven’t really heard any deep concern or details about our students. And I’m concerned because the state has had opportunities to take over our schools before, and they sent them back to us. And they didn’t really improve anything.”

T.L. Harris

Harris has lived in the Whitehaven neighborhood for over 30 years. Federal court records show that in 2006, he pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge while working as a Memphis police officer. He’s since qualified to run for office after having his civil rights restored.

For three years, Harris led five community centers for the Memphis Gun Down summer program in neighborhoods such as Frayser and Raleigh. He was in charge of providing the entertainment and security for those gathering places in an effort to reduce youth crime rates.

“I know what it feels like to not have anything. I understand the mindset of those individuals,” Harris said. “You have to have a candidate that’s not afraid to walk in some of the roughest parts of Memphis and go there with intention to say, ‘Let’s pull these children out. Let’s give them an opportunity.’”

Harris previously told Chalkbeat that he works as the chief financial officer of Wallhaven Family Healthcare. But that business does not have an online presence, and Chalkbeat has been unable to locate any related records.

Harris wants to pilot putting cameras in MSCS classrooms to increase school security and identify “blind spots” in teaching practices.

“Why wouldn’t you have a camera in the classroom if you want to know what’s really going on?” he said. “Because fights do happen in classrooms. We all know this. People get hurt in classrooms; people steal stuff.”

Most important MSCS issue to address: Literacy

“Too many children are leaving third grade without strong reading skills, and when students cannot read well, every subject becomes harder. To address this, I support strengthening early literacy instruction, expanding tutoring and intervention programs, and providing teachers with the resources and training they need to help struggling readers.”

Contessa Humphrey

Humphrey did not return Chalkbeat’s candidate survey in time for publication.

Stacey Kelly

Kelly has nearly 14 years of experience working in the corporate sector for First Tennessee Bank and another 14 years working as a third-party partner in MSCS schools.

She served as project manager for RISE Memphis, facilitating financial education classes for middle and high school students across five local schools. Then she became a college advisor at Overton High School, her alma mater, to help students with FAFSAs and applications through the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, work she still does.

“Working within the school system for 14 years, I’ve been able to see the gaps,” Kelly told Chalkbeat. “I’ve been able to see things that students may need, that the faculty and staff due to budgeting are not having.”

Kelly said she’s also seen the need for more transparency between school system leadership and staff, plus the community at large.

Most important MSCS issue to address: Academic achievement

“Too many of our students are not reading on grade level or performing at proficiency in math, which directly impacts graduation rates, college readiness, workforce development, and long-term economic stability in Memphis.”

Note: This story has been updated to include information about T.L. Harris’ 2006 federal drug conviction and inconsistent employment information.

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

Memphis school board candidate pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge 20 years ago, court records show

2026-04-16T22:26:57+00:00

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

A candidate for the Memphis school board was convicted on a felony drug charge while serving as a city police officer two decades ago, court records show.

T.L. Harris, who is running in the Democratic primary to represent District 6 on the Memphis-Shelby County School Board, pleaded guilty to attempting to possess with the intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine in 2006. Federal court records show that Harris, who was 32 at the time, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison.

The Shelby County Election Commission confirmed that Harris qualified to run for office after having his civil rights restored in a local court. Harris says he is a candidate dedicated to student safety with a history of working with at-risk youth at local nonprofit organizations.

“Every time I tell my story, I feel like I’m saving a young Black male or female,” Harris told Chalkbeat. “Because I’ve been in the belly of the beast, and I’ve come out of it, and that’s where I am now.”

Harris posted a video to social media this week discussing his criminal history after details of the federal case were posted on social media. While Harris told Chalkbeat he has long been open about his criminal history, he has not mentioned it in his campaign materials and called the resurfacing of his 2006 conviction a “campaign smear.”

Federal investigators began probing Harris’ financial records in 2004, when he was a Memphis Police officer, after receiving tips from Shelby County jail inmates about alleged narcotics trafficking, according to federal court records.

Harris was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts in February 2006 after being caught helping a federal informant deliver a cocaine purchase in a sting operation, court records say. In October 2006, Harris pleaded guilty to a single count of attempting to possess with the intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine after helping federal prosecutors build a case against another Memphis cop.

Federal court records show that Harris was sentenced in 2007 to serve 51 months in prison and 60 months on supervised release after his prison sentence. His supervised release term was terminated early in 2013 after a supportive report from probation officials, who said Harris posed “no identifiable risk to public safety,” according to court records.

Harris says that voters in his district “respect and understand redemption.” Since he’s been out of prison, Harris said, he’s dedicated his life to serving children who grew up in poverty and facing hardships like he did.

“I can speak to these kids that are thinking about committing crimes, or they have committed crimes, to say, ‘Let’s get you back on track with your life,’” Harris said. “Who else can talk about that?”

Chalkbeat reporting also revealed inconsistencies in information Harris has provided to media and voters about his professional background and campaign endorsements.

While Harris initially told Chalkbeat he works at Walhaven Family Healthcare, he has alternatively called the business Whitehaven Family Healthcare and Memphis Family Healthcare in interviews and campaign posts on social media.

On Wednesday, Harris declined to provide details about the community healthcare center he says he leads as the chief financial officer. Businesses by those names do not have an online presence, and Chalkbeat has been unable to locate any records. Harris has not responded to follow-up questions.

Harris’ campaign has been endorsed by the teachers group Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, city council member Pearl Eva Walker, and labor union Memphis AFSCME Local 1733.

Maurice Spivey, a senior staffer at the local union, told Chalkbeat that Harris did not discuss his criminal conviction in interviews with AFSCME before receiving the endorsement. Charlotte Fields, president of M-SCEA, said the same. Walker did not reply to Chalkbeat’s requests for comment.

Harris’ social media campaign accounts also cite an endorsement from Keith Williams, the incumbent District 6 board member who is not seeking reelection. In a video posted last week on Facebook, Williams called Harris his “successor” at a campaign event. But Williams told Chalkbeat in a call Thursday that he hasn’t endorsed any candidate in the race.

Chalkbeat Tennessee Bureau Chief Melissa Brown contributed to this story.

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

Early voting is underway for Memphis’ first partisan school board primary

2026-04-15T11:00:01+00:00

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

Memphis voters begin choosing today among 15 Democratic candidates vying for four open school board seats in the district’s first political primary.

Early voting has started for the May 5 primary race in Districts 1, 6, 8, and 9. No Republican candidates qualified to run this year, but two independents will challenge the Democratic nominee in Districts 6 and 8 in the Aug. 6 general election.

That means the Memphis-Shelby County Schools representative for Districts 1 and 9 will be decided by the Democratic primary. Both elections include incumbents who have been on the school board since 2018: Michelle McKissack and Joyce Dorse-Coleman, respectively.

The other candidates, ranging from seasoned MSCS teachers to a local lawyer and parents’ rights advocate, are joining the pool during a time of looming shifts in district leadership.

Senate Republicans are expected to take the next step in advancing their state takeover plans for MSCS in the coming days. Republican leadership appears set to adopt a version close to Rep. Mark White’s 2025 proposal that would create a board of managers that would take away key responsibilities from the local board, including budget and superintendent decisions.

Republican lawmakers launched the takeover effort last year after the controversial firing of former Superintendent Marie Feagins last January. Current board members voted unanimously to hire Roderick Richmond, a 30-year district employee, as the new permanent leader late last month.

Check out our interactive map tool to find out which MSCS board district you’ll be seeing on your ballot. And before casting a vote, read all about the candidates in our comprehensive profiles here:

With so much at stake, we want to hear from you about who you’re voting for and why. What do you think is important about these elections? What questions do you still have that we can help answer?

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

Voter guide: Here are the Democratic Memphis school board candidates running in District 8

2026-04-14T14:43:36+00:00

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

Two Democratic candidates will compete for the Memphis school board District 8 nomination in the first district political primary this spring.

Ayleem Connolly, a former MSCS teacher and language department chair, and Tanya Frey, who’s spent over 20 years as an employment and nonprofit lawyer, will appear on the May 5 primary ballot. A third independent candidate, MSCS school librarian Leigh Ann Scarbrough, will challenge the Democratic nominee in the Aug. 6 general election.

Early voting in the primary begins on April 15.

The District 8 seat will be vacated by Amber Huett-Garcia as she makes a bid for county commissioner. The winning candidate will likely face the effects of an impending state takeover led by Tennessee Republican lawmakers to strip the local school board of its main responsibilities.

District 8 covers 10 schools, including the White Station and Kate Bond buildings, that serve around 9,500 students. Less than half of those students come from low income families, which is a rarity in Memphis-Shelby County Schools, and less than 60% are Black.

The region is split in two, encompassing East Memphis and Shelby Farms along with the Northeast corner of the county above Bartlett and Lakeland. Its schools significantly outperform district averages in reading and math proficiency at around 40% proficient for each. Only one school, the Dexter School, falls below the district proficiency averages by a few percentage points.

Use our interactive map to see if you’ll be voting in this district based on your home address. And read full responses from District 8 candidates to a Chalkbeat survey here:

Ayleem Connolly

Connolly taught in MSCS from 2015 through 2023 as a Spanish teacher in Oakhaven, Trezevant, and East high schools. She served as East High’s language department chair for two years.

As someone who grew up in the Dominican Republic before moving to Memphis in 2014, Connolly is passionate about expanding access to postsecondary education, especially for immigrant students and families.

“A lot of students approached me as a teacher looking for secondary education, but because they were undocumented, they didn’t have access to it,” she said.

Connolly wants to make a comprehensive guide listing scholarships and programs that support immigrant families. She also wants to invest more in student support services, including mental health interventions, and expand paid parental leave for teachers from six to 12 weeks.

“It personally affected my family. It put financial constraints,” she said. “You need to use your sick days and disability to cover for the remaining time.”

Most important MSCS issue to address: Student well-being

“I would focus on serving the children: improving children’s personal well-being, including nutrition, mental health services, and protection from overzealous federal law enforcement. Teachers cannot teach a child who is in distress — and psychological distress is all too common today.”

Tanya Frey

Frey has worked as a Memphis-based lawyer for 21 years, with time spent at Autozone and ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

She now runs Terra Firma Consulting, an organization that advises nonprofits on leadership decisions. That means she advises boards in her daily role.

“And I’m advising CEOs on how to hold members of boards accountable, build their boards to make them better,” she said. “Those are skills that matter when you are serving on a board, particularly of this capacity.”

Frey has three sons who went to Richland Elementary school, one of whom is a junior at East High. The eldest graduated from Middle College High School, and the youngest attends a Germantown public school called Houston High.

She says it’s important for the school board to set clear academic goals and funnel money into the classroom.

“Every decision should come back to one question: Does this lead to better outcomes for students?” Frey said.

Most important MSCS issue to address: Board governance

“We have strong educators and real progress, but not enough clarity or consistency across the system. The board’s role is to set clear priorities, align resources, and stay focused on what

improves results for students.That’s the work I do every day — helping boards stay focused, make clear decisions, and staying accountable to the organizations they serve.”

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

Voter guide: Here are the Memphis school board candidates running in District 9

2026-04-14T14:43:27+00:00

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

The five candidates running for Memphis’ District 9 school board seat range from a longtime incumbent and former board chair to the sole state takeover advocate on the 2026 ballot.

All are running in the district’s first school board Democratic primary on May 5 to fill the seat held by current vice chair Joyse Dorse Coleman since 2018. This election comes as state lawmakers are moving to create a board of managers that could take away local authority and key board functions.

Early voting begins on April 15.

The five District 9 candidates include Coleman, a former board chair, and Damon Curry Morris, a vocal parent advocate and pro-state takeover candidate. Jonathan Carroll is a local Democratic party leader running as a school system outsider, and Louis Morganfield is the building engineer at Ida B. Wells Academy. Tamara Jordan has more than a decade of experience teaching in and leading local charter schools.

District 9 covers around 12,000 students and their families living between Memphis’ Cooper Young neighborhood and Germantown. The 24 schools, including Overton High and Colonial Middle, educate a student group that is 60% economically disadvantaged. Around one in three students is Hispanic, and 65% are Black.

Elementary students in District 9 slightly exceeded MSCS average math proficiency rates on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP, last year. But they lagged behind the district average for literacy by a few percentage points.

Use our interactive map to see if you’ll be voting in this district based on your home address. And read full responses from District 9 candidates to a Chalkbeat survey here:

Jonathan Carroll

Carroll has served on the executive committees of the Shelby County and Tennessee Democratic Party since 2013 and 2022 respectively. He’s the four-year president of the neighborhood association in Normal Station, where he’s lived since 1995, and works for an apartment safety nonprofit called SafeWays.

Carroll doesn’t have any ties to MSCS, a distinction that he says separates him from his running mates.

“I have never taken a paycheck directly or indirectly from the school system or worked for a contractor that does,” Carroll told Chalkbeat. “I can bring that outsider perspective and look at things and see how they can be improved.”

Caroll led his son’s Parent-Teacher Association at Middle College High School for over three years and volunteered on the statewide PTA as the legislative affairs chair for one year. He’s a graduate from the University of Memphis.

In the face of an impending state takeover of MSCS, Carroll says it’s important for school board members to commit to working together and put vendettas aside.

Most important MSCS issue to address: Lack of public trust

“I would work to rebuild that trust by working with disparate groups across the city, holding multiple town halls with other school board members and city and county leaders where we will listen to the needs of the parents and students, and showing that the school system we deserve is here for them.”

Joyce Dorse-Coleman

Dorse-Coleman has a long-running tenure on the Memphis-Shelby County school board, beginning in 2018 as a member and serving as the chair last year. She also introduced the resolution to fire former Superintendent Marie Feagins last January, which sparked backlash from community members and state leaders.

She says she sticks around on the board to counter false perceptions of the district and its leaders.

“We have amazing people in our district,” Dorse-Coleman said. “We just also have a few naysayers that make things seem like we’re the worst of the worst. And I know that’s not true.”

She grew up in Orange Mound and attended Melrose High School, which is part of District 9. Dorse-Coleman is an advocate for local, state, and federal education leaders to help fund school initiatives including teacher recruitment and retention.

Most important MSCS issue to address: Lack of funds

“If we had more funding, we wouldn’t have to worry about closing schools. Buildings could be fixed up…We would be able to hire more teachers and pay the teachers that we have, because they seriously deserve more.”

Tamara Jordan

Jordan has been an educator for 15 years, working in charter school systems including Gestalt Community Schools, which participated in the now defunct, state-run Achievement School District. Gestalt was the first network to pull out of the state-run ASD in 2017 by closing the two schools it managed.

She also taught at Freedom Preparatory Academy, and eventually served as dean through 2023.

Jordan says she wants to run an audit on MSCS’ curriculum to make sure it’s aligning with state standards and assessments. That could help better reflect students’ literacy abilities, she said.

“Think about a student that’s been taking tests and doing work all year, and they get a test that they‘ve never seen, like they don’t know how to answer the questions,” Jordan said. “We’re not teaching to the test, but we do want (students) to be familiar with the test.”

Most important MSCS issue to address: Facility deficits and state takeover

“I would address the facility deficits by pushing for a proactive approach to the deferred maintenance budget. An audit of all assets with fidelity would need to happen, so that repairs can be prioritized based on risk ROI. Also, I would push for routine inspections of critical systems: such as, HVAC and plumbing. As far as the State takeover threats, I would suggest pushing a plan that is catered to each individual school to present to the Tennessee General Assembly.”

Damon Curry Morris

Morris is the only candidate across all four district races who’s in favor of an impending state takeover of MSCS. He says he’s advocating for parents and students who support the intervention and has met with the Republican lawmakers sponsoring these efforts in Nashville throughout the last year.

“I was heavily involved in it, and no other candidate can say that,” he told Chalkbeat. “My strength is diplomacy. Once they fired (Feagins), the only thing that the district continued to do, the board members continued to do, was fuel the fan of those fights. Now my job was to go up there to minimize the impact.”

Morris is a regular speaker at Memphis school board meetings, often criticizing decisions that he says lead to a lack of trust in the district. In August, Morris was arrested outside of the school board building, The Daily Memphian reported, for allegedly violating a restraining order against him by current member Stephanie Love.

Morris called the incident a “ploy” to keep him from running on the school board.

“Let’s be fair here, I’m not the most popular candidate amongst the elite, the people who have been [in the district] for 20 or 30 years,” he said.

Morris told Chalkbeat that the restraining order is still active, but Love, the Shelby County Public Defender, and Morris’ lawyer did not respond to requests for confirmation.

Morris worked as a substitute teacher in Memphis City Schools starting in 1999. He also was a behavioral specialist at Treadwell Middle School in 2005 for 12 years and now home-schools and tutors students.

Most important MSCS issue to address: Lack of public trust

“We have to be real about how we got here and the contributing factors. The enrollment has plummeted because of some of the board’s actions and this opened the door for a state intervention.”

Louis M. Morganfield III

Morganfield serves as the building engineer for Ida B. Wells Academy, a beloved school in South Memphis that board members voted to close at the end of this year. He told Chalkbeat Tennessee that the school should serve as a model for the district because of its small class sizes, which he says could help improve the district’s low literacy rates.

“You can’t continue to do the same thing over and over again that you have been doing for the last 30 years, and scores only improve by an inch or a half an inch at a time,” Morganfield said. “With small class sizes, you’re able to meet the children where they are.”

He said reducing class sizes would mean hiring more teachers and assistants, an issue that MSCS already struggles with.

“We need to change the culture,” Morganfield said. “We need to listen to our teachers.”

Most important MSCS issue to address: Literacy

“We can’t do what we want to do to raise the scores if you don’t engage with the parents, to teach the parents how to help their children.”

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

Voter guide: Here are the Memphis school board candidates running in District 1

2026-04-14T14:43:21+00:00

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

The three candidates running to represent District 1 on the Memphis school board have deep ties to the school system as teachers and key leaders.

All will be on the May 5 primary ballot as Democrats, including incumbent Michelle McKissack, who’s been on the board since 2018. Dolores Missy Rivers, former head of a local teachers union, and Hailey Marie Thomas, an early career educator, are running as challengers.

Early voting begins on April 15.

This is the first political primary election for the Memphis-Shelby County school board and the last chance for members elected in 2018 to serve again under new term limits. The 2026 race also comes as Republican lawmakers in Nashville push forward a state takeover of MSCS that would strip the board of some key responsibilities.

District 1 spans downtown Memphis and Cooper Young, covering 24 schools with more than 10,500 students. At most of the schools, Hispanic students and English learners are less than 5% of the student body. And while the district’s literacy and math proficiency rates slightly exceed MSCS averages, there’s a wide range of school performance.

Only 7% of A.B. Hill Elementary students achieved proficiency on last year’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP, and less than 5% did the same for math. But at Idlewild Elementary, those proficiency rates were 71% and 62% respectively.

Use our interactive map to see if you’ll be voting in this district based on your home address. And read full responses from District 1 candidates to a Chalkbeat survey here:

Michelle McKissack

McKissack has served on the Memphis school board representing District 1 since 2018. She was one of three members who voted against the controversial firing of former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January 2025.

McKissack is a graduate of White Station High School, as are her three sons. Her daughter is a ninth grade student there.

“And so I’ve just got all of this positive association with our public school system,” she told Chalkbeat. “I did debate whether I would continue for one more term. But I felt there was more work to do … I wasn’t ready to pass the torch.”

McKissack started her advocacy in 2003 as a parent at Downtown Elementary, where she wrote the bylaws for the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization. She currently serves as the vice president of the Tennessee School Board Association.

“I was in the trenches as a regular person, as a parent, just wanting to give back,” she said. “But then I didn’t stop there. I didn’t stop with our local school board. I wanted to see how things were happening across the state of Tennessee.”

Most important MSCS issue to address: Literacy

“My biggest concern is continuing to stay student-focused and improving literacy among our students, especially ensuring that students are reading on grade level by the end of third grade.”

Dolores Missy Rivers

Rivers started her work in MSCS as a teacher on a provisional license at Doubletree Elementary School. She stayed in the district as an educator for 26 years, spending most of those years at Ross Elementary, and retired in 2023.

Rivers then served a one-year term that ended in February as the interim director of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, one of two teachers groups in the district.

“People understand my work and they know my work in the community,” she said. “Teachers know what I have done. I didn’t just wake up and just say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna run for school board.’ I’ve always done this work.”

Rivers is an advocate for increasing teacher pay and offering tuition support, especially to Memphis students, to become educators. She thinks MSCS should expand its Innovation Zone approach, which targets low-performing schools by placing strong principals in struggling schools and providing more practical teacher training.

Most important MSCS issue to address: Teacher recruitment and retention

“When teachers are paid fairly and feel respected for their profession, districts are better able to attract strong candidates and retain experienced educators who know how to help students succeed. However, pay is only part of the solution. We must also improve working conditions by protecting instructional time, reducing unnecessary testing and paperwork, and ensuring teachers have the resources and support they need in their classrooms.”

Hailey Marie Thomas

Thomas is an early career educator who started working at Larose Elementary, a District 1 school, in 2021. She’s now a literacy instructor at MSCS charter school Beacon College Preparatory.

Thomas says she has a realtime perspective into what teachers and students need to succeed, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m seeing the issues that are impacting people daily,” she said. “All of the issues that educators have been complaining about for years have stayed the same, but with this group of children, all of those issues have been exacerbated.”

Thomas says teachers need better pay and more support in handling classroom discipline. She’s also against school closures and consolidations because class sizes are too big and unmanageable already.

Most important MSCS issue to address: Low enrollment

“A lot of our money from the public schools are being transferred to the charter schools when our numbers go down. And a lot of parents want to go to charter schools. They want to go to private schools, because they’re not satisfied with the results that MSCS is providing. Once we do things to improve our numbers, we get access to more funding.”

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

What’s next for the Memphis schools takeover plan?

2026-04-09T23:53:35+00:00

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

The clock is ticking for Tennessee lawmakers to agree on an intervention plan for Memphis-Shelby County schools as the General Assembly looks to finish its session before April 30.

Republican lawmakers released interim Memphis schools financial audit results last week. These results were expected to inform the supermajority’s plan to effectively take over major controls of the state’s largest school district, though the intervention plan did not advance this week.

Early voting in the Memphis-Shelby County school board elections begins on April 15, before Memphis voters have a clear understanding of who will actually have authority over the school district by next fall.

So, what’s next for the Memphis schools takeover plan?

The Tennessee House and Senate have each passed separate versions of the legislation, which means leaders of both chambers will have to call a conference committee before the end of session. Both lawmakers have indicated they plan to do so, and that could happen as early as April 13.

The conference committee, which is expected to include Memphis lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, can hash out a compromise on the bill. This committee can make significant changes to the legislation very quickly, and legislation often rapidly advances toward the end of the session.

Memphis Republicans Mark White and Brent Taylor, who are sponsoring the legislation, have both said in recent months that they want to align with White’s original bill.

White’s plan would install a board of managers, handpicked by elected state Republicans, that would have significant authority over the Memphis-Shelby County school district. Appointment powers would be given to the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker, all Republicans who are not from Memphis.

It’s not clear how quickly an oversight board would be appointed if Tennessee Republicans finalize the plan. However, a similar situation played out in 2024 between Republicans and Tennessee State University, the state’s only HBCU, after a financial audit and mismanagement concerns. Gov. Bill Lee appointed a new board of trustees within hours of legislation passing, so state leaders could be poised to appoint a Memphis schools oversight board immediately if a compromise is agreed upon.

The plan would allow the oversight board to seize control of major financial decisions from the elected school board, including hiring and firing superintendents.

In March, the Memphis school board officially hired interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond. His new contract means the district could be on the hook for a nearly half-million dollar payout if a new state board decides to fire Richmond.

Lawmakers have repeatedly pointed to the 2023 Houston school takeover, where the superintendent was quickly replaced, as a model for MSCS intervention.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Crossville Republican who has been among the more vocal critics of Memphis schools this year, said Thursday he doesn’t want to be “the one to hire and fire directors of schools.”

“That’s not what we want to do. This is not a state takeover,” Sexton said, arguing the board of managers would be made up of local Memphians. “The board of managers needs to have the capability to make that decision for themselves based on internal reviews, the different processes that are going to be laid out in the bill.”

District officials in recent days have also argued that years of leadership turnover have led to issues within the district. A new website launched this week in response to the state audit said MSCS has made significant progress in the past year to correct missteps made during the tenures of four superintendents in the past five years.

Tennessee Republicans, meanwhile, have argued fraught management at the board level has led to leadership turnover, as well as years of academic underperformance.

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

Early Memphis schools audit findings ‘consistent with waste or abuse’

2026-04-01T16:03:07+00:00

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

An ongoing financial audit of Memphis-Shelby County Schools revealed “clear evidence of management failures,” Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower said Wednesday after releasing interim results.

Tennessee Republicans pushed to release the incomplete audit report on the state’s largest school district as leadership plans to advance a state takeover effort in the coming weeks.

The audit, which is only 25% complete, revealed more than $1.1 million in contract and payroll transactions that auditors say are “consistent with waste or abuse.” Another $1.7 million in transactions was found to violate district policies, though it did not rise to the level of waste or abuse, according to the comptroller’s office.

That total is less than 1% of the Memphis district’s operating budget over the three-year period the audit covers.

Mumpower cited an “absolute culture of apathy and carelessness” within district leadership, though there has been notable turnover in the district since the time period audited.

Citing the audit, Memphis Republicans say they will move forward immediately to finalize legislation that would significantly intervene in Memphis district governance rather than wait for final results.

“It’s such a failure that at some point, do you need more information to understand what needs to happen,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton said, though he noted he supported a state takeover before the interim audit results.

Though details could change quickly in the coming weeks, Rep. Mark White’s initial plan would install an oversight board of managers.

This board, which would be appointed by Republican leaders, would seize significant authority from the elected school board through major financial decisions like the superintendent’s contract.

The early audit results revealed significant record-keeping breakdowns. The district couldn’t provide employment verification records for 100 of 250 employees requested for review, and auditors found employee records poorly maintained and secured.

“With the high level of leadership and staff turnover — coupled with the lack of documented policies and procedures, and the erosion of institutional knowledge — resulted in a systemic challenge with record keeping and documentation, a challenge that we faced throughout this engagement,” said Folashade Abiola-Banjac, an attorney with the CliftonLarsonAllen auditing firm that is conducting the external audit.

Mumpower on Wednesday accused district officials of being uncooperative with auditors. He said the audit raises “serious questions about whether the current leadership structure is capable of ensuring accountability.” It’s not yet clear when the audit will be complete, though the audit firm’s contract runs through early 2027.

In an emailed statement, Superintendent Roderick Richmond said district leaders are still working through the preliminary findings and will present a report responding to each claim on Monday.

“We are grateful for the preliminary audit and recognize the importance of fiscal and operational responsibility,” he said. “We also recognize that when systems or processes fail, whether past or present, trust is damaged. It is now our responsibility to repair that trust.”

Richmond said he’s requested a meeting with Rep. White and Sen. Brent Taylor, the other sponsor of state takeover pushes, to discuss a plan moving forward. Board chair Natalie McKinney praised the superintendent’s compliance with auditors’ requests over the past eight months.

She also said in the same emailed statement that while the preliminary findings are meaningful, they represent “less than one-tenth of one percent of the district’s approximate $2 billion annual budget over three years.”

“This context does not diminish the need for corrective action; rather, it underscores that the primary issue is control effectiveness, not systemic financial collapse,” she said.

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.

“We will be looking at some of these systems to see if we should try to improve upon them or if we should look at doing something totally new,” Richmond said. “As the [forensic audit] starts to come out, we’d like to already be moving forward in addressing some of those things that may be in that report.”

Board member Amber-Huett Garcia said she was “surprised” to hear about systems that the district doesn’t have already in place, such as a checklist for human resources documents. Richmond chalked up a lot of those gaps to high turnover in district leadership positions and the merging of the city and county school systems that happened over 10 years ago.

He said CLA, the audit firm, has also cited turnover as a barrier in recent meetings with district leaders.

“We’ve really tried to be responsive to things that they’ve asked for,” Richmond said about CLA. “But we’ve also partnered with them in relation to having discussions about some of our systems.”

Richmond said these changes, including his proposal to hire a district inspector general and an outside firm to help address audit findings, could cost around $2 million.

Note: This story has been updated to include a response from district leaders.

Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org. Bri Hatch contributed to this story.

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.

Tennessee state board committee recommends ‘corrective action’ for underperforming Memphis schools

2026-03-24T22:58:49+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 that have received D or F school letter grades for at least two years are heavily reliant on unlicensed teachers, district officials testified Tuesday at a state accountability hearing.

More than half of the teachers at 14 schools that have received either a D or F in Tennessee’s school grading system are working on emergency or temporary permits, mirroring an ongoing state trend showing a rapid rise in non-credentialed teachers.

Memphis officials testified before a three-person committee of the Tennessee State Board of Education, which is holding a week of accountability hearings for 18 districts with schools that have received failing letter grades for at least two years in a row.

The committee recommended a “corrective action plan” for Memphis schools, a plan that could include state monitoring, needs assessments made by external third parties, and set performance targets. Details on the plan won’t be finalized for months as the accountability process plays out.

The district is already implementing “scripted” lesson plans and curriculum guides, in addition to deploying regional superintendents for curriculum “fidelity” checks in an effort to address student learning gaps at underperforming schools.

“The scripted lessons are particularly vital for supporting our influx of permit teachers, which are notably higher in these schools,” the district said in a strategic planning document submitted to the state board.

The hearing committee praised Memphis officials for their preparation and school-level data informing issues like chronic absenteeism and academic underperformance.

“Of all the districts we’ve interviewed so far, this district has presented its root causes better than any other we’ve heard,” State Board of Education chair Bob Eby said. “I think you understand what your challenges are.”

The MSCS schools facing a corrective plan include:

A.B. Hill Elementary, dropped from a D to an F
Carver College and Career Academy, two years of F grades
Douglass K-8, two years of F grades
Geeter School, dropped from a D to an F
Grandview Heights Middle, dropped from a D to an F
Hickory Ridge Middle, dropped from a D to an F
Kate Bond Middle, dropped from a D to an F
Kingsbury Middle, two years of F grades
Mt. Pisgah Middle, two years of F grades
Raleigh Egypt Middle, dropped from a D to an F
Robert R. Church Elementary, dropped from a D to an F
Sherwood Elementary, dropped from a D to an F
Treadwell Elementary, two years of F grades

Though Chickasaw Middle School was also on the list, board members voted earlier this year to close the school amid a long-term facilities restructuring in the district.

If the full Tennessee State Board of Education signs off on corrective action recommendations in May, local districts will work with the Tennessee Department of Education to design and implement corrective plans.

School districts will face more severe consequences, including audits and investigations, if they are called for subsequent accountability hearings.

“These conversations are not meant to be punitive in nature, not a ‘gotcha’ conversation,” said vice-chair Darrell Cobbins. “It’s more of a conversation about how do we get these schools off the list that they’re on and on an upward trajectory ensuring the students are successful and served well.”

Cobbins on Tuesday told Memphis officials the accountability committee had one of two options, either take no action or recommend a corrective plan. He appeared satisfied with the strategies Memphis officials shared and hoped the corrective plan would guarantee they were “codified” into district plans.

“Today’s hearing was a productive and important step forward,” MSCS board chair Natalie McKinney said in a Tuesday statement. “We appreciate the State Board’s thoughtful questions, their focus on students, and their willingness to work alongside Memphis-Shelby County Schools. Our Board is committed to strong accountability, strategic investment, and ensuring that every decision we make is centered on improving outcomes for our students. We are aligned on the urgency of this work, and now, the real work continues.”

It’s the first year schools have been subject to the hearings under a 2022 law establishing a state board-level accountability mechanism tied to its student funding formula and a 2016 state law that established the school grading system, which is tied to student performance on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program.

The grading system was initially plagued by pandemic delays and systemic testing issues before it was completely revamped in 2023. In a controversial decision, state education officials chose to emphasize academic achievement, or proficiency, over academic growth.

Accountability hearings will continue through the week for Metro Nashville Public Schools, Hardeman County Schools, Fayette County Public Schools, Jackson-Madison County School System, Haywood County Schools, Robertson County Schools, Cocke County School District, Carter County Schools, Hamilton County Schools, Polk County Schools, Monroe County Schools, Knox County Schools, Sevier County School System, and Union County Public Schools.

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

With audit looming, Memphis board delays superintendent contract

2026-03-18T20:25:33+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 delayed finalizing interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s permanent contract on Wednesday in an emergency meeting days before state lawmakers expect to receive the results of a forensic audit of the district.

The board in early February voted unanimously to tap Richmond for the permanent job pending the approval of a full-time contract.

But board members voted 7-2 on Wednesday to instead maintain the interim contract, which runs through July, amid a larger debate about whether findings from the impending audit should be baked into a permanent superintendent contract.

The audit is expected to drive Tennessee legislative decisions in the coming weeks on whether to effectively seize major district controls from the elected school board.

“Our decisions should be about stability, not about what the state may or may not be doing,” board chair Natalie McKinney said Wednesday.

Maintaining the interim contract means the district would not be on the hook for a pricey payout if the superintendent is fired because of the state takeover. That has often happened in similar takeovers across the country.

Richmond would be owed $487,500 — 18 months of salary — if he were fired without cause in his first year, according to a draft of the permanent contract. The payout would drop to a 12-month salary lump sum if he were fired in the second year.

“There is a lot of queasiness, quite honestly, in the community regarding a lot that is about to be revealed,” board member Michelle McKissack said. “People are still making commentary regarding some large payouts the district had to make.”

Though takeover legislation has remained dormant so far in the legislative session, the effort could rapidly accelerate in the final weeks of session in March and April.

Republican lawmakers argue that years of fraught board governance and languishing academic outcomes necessitate state intervention. An oversight committee would be made up by Shelby County residents, but those residents would be handpicked by Republican leaders at a time of increased tensions between the state and locally elected officials.

Republican leadership have said the audit will uphold the need for a takeover, though there has been significant leadership turnover in Memphis since the time period being audited. The auditors’ contract runs through January 2027, but legislators pushed for an interim report earlier than expected to coincide with the 2026 legislative session.

“In the last 15 years, this is only the second time our office has contracted for a forensic audit,” Comptroller communications John Dunn said in response to Chalkbeat Tennessee questions about the timing.

“Therefore, there aren’t many precedents for something like this. The legislature asked for an interim report to be produced so that they could evaluate the school system while they are still in session. Since the general assembly appropriated $6 million for this audit, that is certainly their prerogative.”

The Tennessee Comptroller’s office received the audit last week, but it has not yet been released to lawmakers pending final review, according to multiple sources.

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

ICE detained a Memphis student on his way to a school soccer game. What will happen next is unclear.

2026-03-11T17:33:28+00:00

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

An 18-year-old Memphis student is being held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center after he was detained on the way to a school soccer game just over two weeks ago.

Yasser Jose Lopez Soza was riding in a car with teammates to the soccer game on Feb. 20 when the driver was pulled over for a traffic violation, Soza family attorney Jay Paul Fearnley said this week.

An officer asked each person for a form of ID and Soza was unable to provide one, prompting the officer to call immigration officials. Soza is charged with being present in the U.S. without a valid travel document or proof of admission, Fearnley said.

The Memphis Business Academy junior has spent more than two weeks in federal custody. Soza is listed as being in ICE custody in the West Tennessee Detention Center database. Memphis-Shelby County School officials declined to comment because the arrest took place off campus, and ICE did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

Fearnley said Soza’s case was caused by a “perfect storm” of local immigration crackdowns and changes in federal policy.

“At the end of the day, the government is doing things that they’ve never done before, and they’re doing things that don’t make sense, and they’re detaining 18-year-old high schoolers, who all they wanted to do was get an education and better themselves,” he told Chalkbeat on Tuesday.

Soza immigrated to the U.S. from Nicaragua with his mom when he was 15 and requested asylum under a President Biden-era program that was meant to streamline the process of entering the country. On his first day in office last January, President Trump revoked the program.

Soza already had an asylum hearing scheduled for March 2027. For decades, having a scheduled hearing meant detention wasn’t mandatory unless the person was a terrorist or flight risk, Fearnley said.

But in the fall, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that asylum seekers are not considered admitted to the country. That means Fearnley has to appeal to the federal court for a bond to be posted. Fearnley filed a habeas corpus petition on March 4 to challenge Soza’s detention.

If he isn’t able to get Soza out of detention, Fearnley said the asylum hearing could be expedited to this May.

“Yasser is not a felon, but he’s being treated like a felon,” Fearnley said. “So long as you’re in compliance with everything, you should be left alone and be given your due process to prepare for your next court date outside of custody.”

Immigration enforcement has been snaring students around the country for the past year, including in Detroit and New York City. Trump campaigned on running the “largest deportation operation in American history” and has increased immigration raids and arrests nationwide since taking office.

Fearnley said he hasn’t been able to speak directly with Soza, who is being held at the West Tennessee Detention Center in Mason. He said the center is “making it extremely difficult for attorneys to get contact with their clients.” A call he had scheduled with Soza last Sunday was canceled without explanation. And he’s been turned away from visiting clients there in person.

Memphis students, one lawmaker rally around Soza’s case

Soza’s case has sparked protests from his fellow students and interest from Tennessee Rep. Gabby Salinas, a Memphis Democrat who visited Soza in detention on Sunday for one hour.

Salinas told Chalkbeat that an administrator from Memphis Business Academy came with her. She said they were his first visitors in over two weeks.

Salinas also said she wasn’t allowed to bring any schoolwork into the facility for Soza, who is worried about falling behind before his senior year.

“He said he has some days that are good and some days that are bad, and that he is working in the kitchen because it helps the days go by faster,” she said.

A week after the arrest, hundreds of Memphis Business Academy students staged a walkout. Social media videos show students chanting “Free Yasser” and carrying signs reading “ICE out” and “Leave our neighbors alone” in the school parking lot.

Memphis teachers and students have been sounding the alarm about drops in attendance and increased fear since the Memphis Safe Task Force launched in October. The group of federal and state immigration and law enforcement officials has made over 6,700 arrests, including nearly 200 children, in the past six months.

In October, the Memphis school board voted to expand bus services in an effort to reduce absences caused by ICE crackdowns. But district officials said the next month that doing so would cost at least $10 million, and they haven’t brought the proposal up since then.

Rep. Salinas is sponsoring a bill this year that would ban ICE from entering schools and churches without giving notice and prevent the enforcement agency from using those places as staging areas. She said MSCS should publicly support the bill and advocate against others, such as one pushing for more data collection on student immigration status.

“This is a glimpse of what our future looks like if those bills become law,” Salinas said. “We are already seeing innocent people get caught up in this and students being targeted without us having to require or be forced to ask for documentation.”

Fearnley can’t predict if Soza will be granted a trial to challenge his detention. Soza could opt for voluntary removal, which would mean the 18-year-old would go back to Nicaragua and wait for a potential university admission to provide a student visa.

“I wish it was a little bit more of a home run case,” Fearnley said. “It’s a case where the circumstances are despicable, and they’re disgusting. But unfortunately, I’m seeing cases like this all the time right now.”

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

Memphis families grapple with where to send students after approved school closures

2026-03-02T22:59:27+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 extending its priority deadline for school choice transfers to next Friday, March 13 following a vote last week to close five schools.

Students displaced by this year’s closures won’t automatically be at the top of the transfer list, MSCS said in an emailed statement. Applications that allow students to attend a different school than their zoned one are reviewed each year on a first-come, first-served basis.

But families from Lucy Elementary, Frayser-Corning Elementary, Georgian Hills Elementary, Ida B. Wells Academy, and Chickasaw Middle only found out last week that their schools will close in June, leaving less than a week to fill out the transfer application before the original March 2 deadline. Priority applications are reviewed by the district first, maximizing a student’s chance of getting into the school of their choice before spots fill up.

Those closures are part of a larger district plan to shutter up to 15 schools in the next three years. How the district manages the impact to over 1,200 displaced students and around 57 displaced staff will likely set the model for those future closure decisions.

“We understand that transitions can raise questions, and our goal is to partner closely with families throughout this process,” MSCS said in its statement to Chalkbeat.

Most displaced students are being rezoned to attend a nearby MSCS school. But that’s raised safety concerns from some parents who don’t want their younger children put in the same building as older students, like K-8 or 6-12 schools. Others question whether the new schools will offer better academics or programming.

Erica Smith has two children who currently attend Ida B. Wells Academy. She praises the school for its small class sizes and individual attention – attributes MSCS leaders said won’t be exactly replicated in other district schools.

“The staff to student ratio as it is now, it’s just not sustainable nor is it cost effective,” Superintendent Roderick Richmond said during the closure vote last Tuesday.

Richmond said the district is exploring moving the Ida B. Wells program into Norris Achievement Academy, another alternative school further south.

But Smith said she’s never heard of that school, which only enrolls previously expelled students. Instead, she’s sending one of her kids to The Soulsville Charter School, a music-focused program in South Memphis; the other will be attending Rozelle Elementary, a magnet school for performing arts.

“I’m trying to put them somewhere where they’ll get the proper learning and education,” she said.

A quarter of Ida B. Wells students tested as proficient on last year’s state reading tests, and over 27% did the same for math. That’s higher than the district average. Rozelle, where Smith is sending her youngest child, surpassed the state average in reading but not math. Soulsville fell behind in both, with only a 13.8% proficiency rate on reading and 16.6% on math.

Smith said the school counselor at Ida B. Wells helped her and other parents fill out the transfer application quickly, so she already received those other school acceptances for her children. MSCS says families can apply to change schools up until the first week of classes in August. They get their final decisions back within four to six weeks.

“Families therefore have ample time to apply, and there is no immediate deadline concern at this time,” the district said.

Smith said she never received any communication from MSCS following Tuesday’s vote. But district leaders said they sent emails to both staff and parents last week.

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

Which Memphis school board candidates will be on your 2026 ballot? Use our interactive map to find out.

2026-03-02T12:00:00+00:00

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

Memphis voters will choose from a pool of 17 candidates to serve on the local school board next year, starting with the first ever partisan primary on May 5.

Two races, for Districts 1 and 9, will be decided with the primary since all registered candidates are Democrats. Districts 6 and 8 will vote in a general election on Aug. 6 between the Democratic primary winner and an independent candidate. No Republicans qualified to run.

To find out which school board candidates will be on your ballot this year, plug your home address into our interactive map below.

While the MSCS board votes on decisions as a group, each elected member represents one of nine specific regions in the district. And some are more likely to face changes in the coming years, including 10 more potential school closures.

Memphis residents vote on the school board seat that corresponds with their home address, which could be different from the district where your school is zoned. You can use the map to see which board member is responsible for your school by searching its name.

Here’s a full list of candidates who will appear on the ballot:

District 1

Incumbent Michelle McKissack (Democrat)
Dolores Williams Rivers (Democrat)
Hailey Thomas (Democrat)

District 6

Juliette Eskridge (Democrat)
Terrance Harris (Democrat)
Marinda A-Williams (Democrat)
Contessa Glorianna Humphrey (Democrat)
Stacey Kelly (Democrat)
Frederick Dewayne Tappan (independent)

District 8

Ayleem Connolly (Democrat)
Tanya Frey (Democrat)
Leigh Ann Scarbrough (independent)

District 9

Incumbent Joyce Dorse Coleman (Democrat)
Jonathan Carroll (Democrat)
Damon Curry Morris (Democrat)
Louis Morganfield (Democrat)
Tamara Debrand Jordan (Democrat)

The 2026 election has gone through a series of lawsuits and redesigns since the summer. County commissioners originally pushed through a mega-election that would have put all nine seats on the ballot in May. But a Shelby County judge ruled that move unlawful on Feb. 9, stopping five district races that would have cut short current board members’ terms.

MSCS board members still face an uncertain future as Republican lawmakers advance a bill to establish a state-appointed board of managers that would take over the district. That board could take over key responsibilities from the local board, including setting the budget and hiring superintendents.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@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’ first partisan school board election draws no Republican candidates

2026-02-23T21:23:01+00:00

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

Memphis Democrats will choose from a crowded candidate pool for the first partisan school board primary in May, but no Republicans will be in the race.

After months of back-and-forth votes and legal debates, the could’ve-been mega-election for the school board is no longer. Only four races will be on the ballot after the Shelby County Chancery Court ruled on Feb. 9 that putting all nine seats up for election, as the county government intended, is against state law.

The open board seats for Districts 1 and 9 will be decided by the May 5 primary, since only Democratic candidates met the qualifying petition deadline last Thursday. Districts 6 and 8 each have one Independent challenger, meaning voters will have to choose between them and the Democratic candidate in a general election on August 6.

The Shelby County Republicans voted last spring to usher in a partisan primary, hoping to capitalize on growing frustration with the current school board. Vice Chairman Luke Cymbal said in the fall that he expected to win at least two board seats by backing candidates who supported the state takeover of MSCS.

It’s still unclear what authority the Memphis-Shelby County school board will hold over the district next year. Tennessee Republicans are continuing to push for a state takeover of MSCS that would establish a state-appointed board in charge of key decisions on the budget and superintendent hirings.

Candidates for districts 1, 6, 8, and 9 had until Thursday at noon to submit qualifying petitions with 25 valid signatures. Once the Shelby County Election Commission officially certifies those petitions, candidates will officially be in the May 5 race.

As of Monday, the election commission gave initial approval to 17 candidates:

District 1

Incumbent Michelle McKissack (Democrat)
Dolores Williams Rivers (Democrat)
Hailey Thomas (Democrat)

District 6 (Incumbent Keith Williams will not be running for re-election.)

Juliette Eskridge (Democrat)
Terrance Harris (Democrat)
Marinda A Williams (Democrat)
Contessa Glorianna Humphrey (Democrat)
Stacey Kelly (Democrat)
Frederick Dewayne Tappan (independent)

District 8 (Incumbent Amber Huett-Garcia will not be running for re-election.)

Ayleem Connolly (Democrat)
Tanya Frey (Democrat)
Leigh Ann Scarbrough (independent)

District 9

Incumbent Joyce Dorse Coleman (Democrat)
Jonathan Carroll (Democrat)
Damon Curry Morris (Democrat)
Louis Morganfield (Democrat)
Tamara Debrand Jordan (Democrat)

Candidates who no longer wish to run in the school board race can withdraw their names by noon on Thursday.

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 students won’t have to make up snow days

2026-02-11T01:09:05+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 not have to make up any of the 10 days the district was closed after a winter ice storm.

The The department’s communications director confirmed that the district received a waiver from the Tennessee Department of Education on Tuesday. MSCS students did not attend class for two full weeks after a winter storm on Jan. 24 caused unsafe road conditions.

That time off exhausted the district’s built-in snow days for this year, because there were only eight set aside for inclement weather. Without the waiver, MSCS students could have faced an extended school year or shortened breaks to make up missed class time.

In an emailed statement Tuesday, MSCS officials said the district met criteria for the waiver “due to the storm’s widespread effects and the district’s exhaustion of stockpile days.” The waiver specifically covers closures on Jan. 26 through Jan. 30, the week following the winter storm.

“These closures were necessary due to hazardous conditions caused by a significant winter ice storm that impacted campuses, transportation routes, and the overall safety of students and staff,” MSCS said in its statement. “The waiver fully covers the five affected dates and affirms that no additional instructional time will be required to compensate for the closures.”

Ricki Collins, director of communications for the state education department, said these emergency waivers are “a bit of a moving target and continually evolving.”

“We are actively supporting districts that require additional guidance,” Collins said in an email.

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.

GOP says Memphis schools audit is ‘concerning’ and more money is needed to complete it

2026-02-05T21:36:54+00:00

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

Top Tennessee Republicans say they are concerned about potential financial records mismanagement in Memphis-Shelby County Schools after they received a confidential briefing this week on the ongoing financial audit into the state’s biggest school district.

Republican lawmakers on Thursday did not provide details of what they learned from auditors on Wednesday, citing confidentiality concerns until the audit, which so far has cost $6 million, is complete. But some legislators said the audit reiterated the need to pass aggressive Memphis district takeover legislation the House Republicans are pushing.

“I won’t speak to the details of what they reported, because their report is not complete, but there are certainly indications there that there’s really poor records management, at a minimum, and the potential for waste, fraud and abuse is extensive,” said Sen. Bo Watson, a Hixson Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee.

In an emailed statement, MSCS leaders said they meet with the audit firm weekly and have not been informed of any “potential or suspected findings related to fraud, waste or abuse.”

“We understand the gravity of these concerns, and we take them seriously,” the statement says. “MSCS has strong internal controls in place and will continue working closely with the audit team to address any findings promptly and responsibly.”

Watson said Thursday more money is needed to get the audit across the finish line, though neither he nor House leadership would speak to how much additional funding is needed. Watson said the audit firm told lawmakers the search will take longer than it anticipated due to “the level of disorganization” and “extensive” lack of information from the district.

“Much of the record is in a paper format with poor cross references, lack of invoices, a computer system that is designed to allow for certain records to disappear after a certain time period,” Watson said. “There’s a lot of forensic investigation that’s having to occur.”

Lawmakers didn’t reference any allegations of fraud. And district leaders said they are aware their systems are outdated, but they are in line with state and federal regulations.

“Importantly, instead of directing additional taxpayer dollars toward expanded audits alone, we would welcome targeted financial support from the State to help modernize outdated systems,” MSCS said in its emailed statement.

Lawmakers funded the audit after the controversial 2025 firing of then-Superintendent Marie Feagins, which also prompted Republicans to float legislation last year to seize some control of MSCS functions.

Memphis Republican Sen. Brent Taylor and Rep. Mark White, who are sponsoring Memphis takeover bills, both declined to get into specifics about what they learned at the audit update. But White said he heard some “very concerning” details, and Taylor said the update reiterated his goal to pass the more aggressive House takeover bill.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Crossville Republican, said the concerns raised by the ongoing audit support the need for state-led oversight of the Memphis district.

“It further tells us that the House version is correct, which is a total takeover of the Memphis-Shelby County school system. I can’t go in more detail than that, but we’re having those conversations. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to take them over, because it’s a nightmare,” Sexton said.

The Tennessee Comptroller held the closed-door meeting on Wednesday with auditors and lawmakers. It’s not clear who was invited to the meeting or if the district was informed lawmakers would be briefed.

MSCS board member Michelle McKissack said she thinks auditors should share what it’s found publicly before the state invests more money.

“We have not heard or received anything at all from the state, and so it’s starting to feel like a fishing expedition,” McKissack said. “I don’t know what exactly they are looking for and how far back they’re going.”

McKissack said she initially supported the audit as a way to collaborate with the state to improve district functions.

“I believe that with a school district of this size, how large it is, that there could be some discrepancies,” she added. “But all the audits that we’ve had previously have been conducted with an outside party and came back clean.”

The Comptroller’s office declined to provide details on the meeting to Chalkbeat Tennessee. A spokesperson said the update was not based on any final findings but confidential working papers, which are shielded from Tennessee public records law.

Last year, Tennessee lawmakers approved $6 million for the financial audit, and accounting firm CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP signed a contract with the Tennessee Comptroller in July. The contract is set to expire in January 2027.

Per state law, the district already submits annual financial and compliance audits performed by an external firm, which have on occasion revealed things such as payroll lapses and contract overpayment.

Though takeover legislation stalled last year over disagreements between the two chambers, it could move forward quickly if leadership can strike a compromise this spring.

House Republicans favor a more aggressive approach that would install an oversight board, handpicked by the governor and legislative leaders, to assume control of all major district decisions. The more muted Senate approach would install a similar oversight board that had less power and more input from local elected officials.

Taylor, the Senate sponsor, is now on board with the House plan. He said Wednesday the audit update only solidified his decision to pursue a more aggressive takeover.

Democrats have opposed takeover efforts, though they have little legislative power to stop it if Senate and House Republicans can agree on a path forward.

In the emailed statement Thursday, MSCS leaders said they always welcome opportunities for improvement, including the state audit.

“The discussion should reflect not only challenges but also the significant progress the district has made in recent years to strengthen financial management,” the statement said. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with the State, addressing any findings that emerge, and working collaboratively to strengthen the fiscal operations that support our students, families, and community.”

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 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.

What happens when Tennessee schools run out of weather days?

2026-01-30T22:04:26+00:00

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

With icy roads and frigid temperatures lingering in much of Tennessee, many districts in the state have blown through their allotted inclement weather days with months left in the school year.

The extreme winter weather forced districts from Memphis to Nashville to close their doors the last week of January.

In Memphis, stubborn ice has complicated travel on local roads. There are widespread power outages in Nashville, with more than a dozen school buildings still without power as of Jan. 30. Many students in the Middle Tennessee region are also still without power and internet access at home, school officials say.

But exactly how many snow days do Tennessee schools get? And what happens if they run out before roads are accessible and power is restored?

The answer is a little complicated.

Tennessee law requires schools to have 6.5-hour school days for 180 days per school year. Schools usually have seven-hour school days, which allows districts to stockpile up to 13 extra days.

Districts use those stockpile days differently and build them into their calendars at the beginning of the school year, often allocating some days for professional development and reserving some for inclement weather.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools, for example, had eight days set aside this year. With the January winter storm week and its Feb. 2 closure, it is now down to two.

Rutherford County Schools, which have also been closed all week, allocated nine weather days and is now down to four, though the district has an upcoming staff development day it can use if needed.

“This is my 22^nd year with the school district, and during that time, we have never used all of our inclement weather days,” RCS Chief Communications Officer James Evans said. “One year we used all of them, but we did not go over.”

Rutherford announced late Friday they will reopen on Feb. 2.

In the more rural Cheatham County northwest of Nashville, a Cheatham County School District spokesperson said the district has one stockpile day remaining and it had not yet made a call on reopening schools as of Friday, Jan. 30.

Schools can use four days of hybrid instruction per year and up to five days of remote instruction per semester due to severe weather if they run out of stockpile days, a Tennessee Department of Education spokesperson said. But those options aren’t feasible during the widespread weather impacts many in Tennessee are facing this month.

“Many students throughout Cheatham County as of Friday, January 30 are still without electricity and internet,” said Tim Adkins, communications director for the Cheatham County School District.

Metro Nashville schools had six weather days this school year, and the district has now used all of them. Nashville officials announced Sunday afternoon the district would be closed on Monday, Feb. 2.

Districts are able to tack on make-up school days at the end of the school year if they run over on their stockpile days, or absorb stockpile days previously set aside for professional development.

Nashville will do just that. The district told families on Sunday that Feb. 16, previously an off day for students, will not be used as a regular instruction day.

But school districts could now be eligible for a special waiver granted by the Tennessee Department of Education in the event of a natural disaster. This would relieve districts of the 180-day instructional requirement under Tennessee law.

Previous TDOE guidance states waivers would only be granted as a “last resort in extreme circumstances,” though Gov. Bill Lee has declared a state of emergency due to the severe winter weather impacts.

MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted said the district is consulting with TDOE about its waiver options “as remote learning options are not viable at this time due to extensive power outages throughout the city.”

The Tennessee Department of Education has not yet granted any waivers in the state due to the winter weather, a spokesperson said.

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

Memphis rehires custodial company to begin cleaning services after a monthlong gap at over 30 schools

2026-01-22T23:37:33+00:00

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

After two votes rejecting a contract last month, the Memphis-Shelby County school board is bringing back a controversial custodial company to restore cleaning services to Northwest schools.

For the past three weeks, nearly 35 MSCS schools have been without janitorial services because of the stalled contract. The board voted 8-0 in an emergency meeting Thursday to rehire ABM Industries starting Feb. 1 through the remainder of the calendar year. Board members Stephanie Love, Tamarques Porter, Sable Otey, Keith Williams, and Joyce Dorse-Coleman changed their votes to get the contract through.

Several parents from Idlewild Elementary school, one of the buildings left without custodial services since the beginning of the year, pleaded during Thursday’s meeting for the board to adopt the contract. One parent said her son missed seven days of school in January because of unclean conditions during flu and virus season.

“He had the flu, and the flu turned into pneumonia,” Shelby Pearson, who has a 5-year-old at Idlewild, said Thursday. “Hold yourselves accountable. We are tired. We are fed up. This is deplorable.”

The MSCS board voted 5-2 to reject ABM’s contract in December and doubled down on that rejection weeks later, citing concerns about service quality from the company 10 years ago. It isn’t the first time cleaning contracts have caused issues for the district. The board had to fire the Northwest janitorial company in 2024 due to delayed worker payments and contract violations.

Board member Towanna Murphy, a critic of ABM, said she doesn’t want a repeat of that mistake. Murphy abstained from voting Thursday after listing at least nine school districts, including at least one in Tennessee, that fired ABM for poor performance in recent years.

“We have to make the right choice,” Murphy said. “That doesn’t mean we come from one incompetent company to another.”

Michelle McKissack, who represents a Northwest district where all schools were affected by the lapse in services, said she pushed the board to reconsider the contract after hearing multiple complaints from parents and teachers.

During public comment, Idlewild parents asked why the district didn’t have a backup option during the December votes. Pearson said the district should rely on MSCS employees to clean schools instead of having to adopt annual contracts with outside vendors.

“Why are we not providing permanent solutions to the problems we have?” she said.

In a meeting Tuesday, Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said administrators followed the contract policy correctly, offering a bid to ABM after a full search process in October. The board paid 50 building engineers and 123 cafeteria workers who volunteered to clean schools this month as a stopgap after the two contract rejections.

Board members said Tuesday that they want to change district policy to shift the timeline to the summer months so contract debates don’t happen in the middle of the school year. Several board members also pressed for more options in the beginning of the contract process.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include a line of context about the repeated contract vote.

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 school board sues Shelby County Commission over 2026 election reset

2026-01-21T17:47:48+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 now suing the county commission in its fight against the 2026 election that could cut short five board members’ terms.

The MSCS board filed an initial lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission in December, blaming the local entity for unconstitutionally shortening terms by putting all nine board seats on the May 2026 ballot. That original filing didn’t mention the Shelby County Commission, which voted in September to enact the state law that allows for the election reset in the first place.

Commissioner Michael Whaley, who sponsored the final version of the reset bill, said then that he hoped omitting an official start year in the bill language would protect the county commission from a lawsuit.

But the MSCS lawyer filed an amended complaint last week with the Shelby County Chancery Court, saying the commission acted “wholly outside the scope of the local government’s authority” by enacting the September resolution.

“The Shelby County Board of Commissioners has no authority under the Tennessee Constitution to remove any elected school board member or to abridge their terms of office by any means,” the Jan. 15 amended complaint states.

A 2024 Tennessee law permitted local governments to realign election cycles to put school board races on the same ballot as other county offices. But it did not “expressly authorize” the Shelby County Commission to remove “duly elected, qualified and acting school board members” from office or shorten their terms, the lawsuit says.

A spokesperson for the Shelby County Commission said the body does not comment on ongoing litigation. The county attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The revised lawsuit also claims that board member Tamarques Porter, who represents District 4, will suffer “unique harm that will be immediate and irreparable” by being forced to run again in 2026. Porter works as a federal employee in the Department of Treasury, which means he cannot participate in partisan elections under the Hatch Act.

The local Republican and Democratic parties voted this year to make the May 5 school board primary a partisan race for the first time.

Porter is the only member among the five facing shortened terms – including Board Chair Natalie McKinney, Stephanie Love, Sable Otey, and Towanna Murphy – who did not vote to fire former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January. Board members have called the election changes retaliation for that decision, a claim the lawsuit echoes.

The Shelby County Chancery Court issued a temporary restraining order to pause 2026 candidate petitions in the five contested districts – 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 – earlier this month, marking an early win for the MSCS board.

A hearing is set for Jan. 26.

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

Elon Musk wants to give Memphis schools more money for building repairs

2026-01-21T02:05:48+00:00

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

The Memphis school board is considering whether to accept a donation from Elon Musk’s nonprofit to fund repairs for three schools in Frayser that could receive more students next year due to recommended closures.

If approved by the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board next Tuesday, the donation from The Musk Foundation would be the second accepted this school year from an entity tied to Musk, the technology and auto executive who aims to build a third data center in the Memphis area despite concerns about increased pollution.

The board approved a donation from Musk’s artificial-intelligence company xAI in July to fix four schools in Southwest Memphis located near its existing data centers, prompting some student backlash.

Board members said then that the district couldn’t afford to turn money down, with total school facility costs estimated at over $1.6 billion in the next decade. Some district leaders echoed that reasoning on Tuesday in support of approving the donation from The Musk Foundation.

“I’d like to point out, as they help us to refurbish and to improve some of our schools, it frees up capital dollars for us to do things at some of our other schools,” interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said.

Board member Keith Williams, who was an outspoken opponent of the xAI partnership, pushed back against accepting another Musk-linked donation Tuesday.

“There are ramifications that are deeper than money,” he said.

It’s still unclear how much money the xAI donation approved in July will bring to the district in total, but repair costs for those four buildings are estimated at around $61 million. As for the proposed Musk Foundation contribution, a posting on the board’s agenda website early Tuesday listed the “high-level estimate” at $6 million. That figure has since been deleted.

The cost and type of building repairs needed at the three Frayser elementary schools — Whitney, Westside, and Hawkins Mill — are still being determined, the district’s facility services officer, Michelle Stuart, said Tuesday. A previous agenda listed roof, HVAC, and intercom system replacements as priorities.

Those three elementary schools may be tapped to absorb displaced students if the board approves recommendations to close the Frayser-Corning and Georgian Hills elementary schools at the end of this school year.

Stuart said Tuesday that the district should determine full cost estimates for the xAI-funded projects approved in July by the end of this week. The district is still developing separate contracts for each school’s larger projects, like HVAC and roof replacements, which Stuart said are 75% done.

The xAI funds have already helped complete some less extensive projects that don’t require contracts, Stuart said, like replacing fencing and painting parking lots.

The Musk Foundation is also proposing to spend $200,000 to support students experiencing homelessness, including providing laundry and hygiene items. It also set aside $100,000 to incentivize student attendance and behavioral improvements.

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.

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.

More Memphis schools are passing the state’s report card. Here’s a closer look.

2025-12-19T19:45:32+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 earned higher marks overall on this year’s state report card, with more schools earning a C or higher and fewer earning Ds in the 2024-2025 school year.

But the number of schools earning the lowest grade, an F, stayed relatively stagnant from last year at 23 total. That’s around 11% of the district’s schools. In a press release Thursday, MSCS leaders celebrated one school — Rozelle Elementary, an arts-focused school in Midtown — for climbing from an F grade to a B in one year.

“These ratings provide a meaningful snapshot of how schools are serving students and where strong progress is emerging,” the district statement said.

This is the third year that the Tennessee Department of Education has released school letter grades in an effort to give parents more easily accessible data on school performance. But the grading system has faced backlash because of its focus on proficiency instead of student growth. MSCS leaders have said that emphasis disadvantages schools serving predominantly students from low-income families.

And as of 2023, the grades can mean consequences. Schools earning Ds or Fs could face state Board of Education hearings, be required to submit corrective action plans, or undergo a state audit.

About half of MSCS schools earned the same letter grade as last year, while one-third improved by at least one letter grade. Two-thirds of the district’s schools earned a C or higher, representing an almost 6 percentage point increase from the 2023-2024 school year.

Sixteen MSCS schools earned As, the same number as last year, which lags behind the state average of one in five schools earning the top grade.

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

Memphis could close 15 schools by 2028 under building improvement plan

2025-12-18T23:34:36+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 plan to close up to 15 schools in the next three years, according to a long-term facilities plan released this week.

In the document obtained by Chalkbeat on Thursday, Memphis-Shelby County Schools officials did not name the 10 schools being considered for closure in 2027 and 2028. But it does say that most of the closures will be in the district’s Northwest and Southwest regions, which have the most chronically underenrolled and oldest buildings.

The plan is also “a living document,” the report says, “meaning it is continually reviewed, updated, and refined as circumstances change.”

Chronic underenrollment and high-cost repair needs are the main factors placing schools on the recommended closure list, according to the draft plan. One in four MSCS schools currently fills less than 60% of its available seats, and the district is facing over $1 billion in needed building repairs over the next decade. Nine MSCS buildings, including four administrative centers, are nearing the end of their useful life.

In September, Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond proposed the first round of school closures included in Thursday’s plan. MSCS board members are expected to vote on whether to close the first four — Frayser-Corning Elementary, Georgian Hills Elementary, Chickasaw Middle and Ida B. Wells Academy — in February.

They’ll also decide whether to transfer the Lucy Elementary building to neighboring Millington Municipal School District years ahead of a state-mandated schedule. Parents have raised safety concerns about proposed school mergers and questions about teacher retention during school closure community hearings this fall. The new plan suggests leaning more on “alternate grade structures” like K-8 or 6-12 models.

The Daily Memphian first reported on the long-term facilities plan Thursday morning. In addition to planned closures, MSCS leaders want to upgrade deteriorating athletic facilities and renovate schools that could absorb students displaced by closures. That includes fixing structural issues like HVAC, roofs, and plumbing systems over the next five years.

Overall, the report says, MSCS families in the Northwest have experienced the “most disruption” in recent years. Most of the schools taken over by the state under the failed Achievement School District were housed in that region.

The district has closed 35 schools in the two western regions since 2010, the draft plan says, due to local residents moving eastward and “disinvestment in the inner-city.” Future housing development projects are also largely concentrated in the eastern county areas.

But there are 21 schools considered “underutilized,” meaning they have too many vacant student seats, in the Northwest and Southwest. That’s compared to 13 in the eastern regions. The report says Northwest elementary schools and Southwest middle and high schools will likely be the focus of future closure recommendations.

“Right-sizing space reduces the number of buildings to maintain, which means limited district resources flow to fewer facilities, ensuring those resources support the most students,” the draft plan says.

The district’s ad hoc facilities committee, formed to provide feedback on the long-term plan, recommended asking the Shelby County Commission for $750 million to fund repairs and closures in the next 10 years. That proposal is included in the draft plan, as are proposals for the district to conduct studies of MSCS attendance zones and relevant housing development plans.

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

This story has been updated to include additional details from the draft facilities plan.

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

Memphis school board sues over 2026 election reset

2025-12-16T23:11:08+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 board members are suing the Shelby County Election Commission over 2026 election changes that would cut short more than half of the board’s terms.

Those five members — chair Natalie McKinney, Stephanie Love, Towanna Murphy, Tamarques Porter, and Sable Otey — filed the lawsuit with Shelby County Chancery Court on Dec. 15. The district board as a whole is also listed as a plaintiff.

The lawsuit argues that abridging board members’ terms is unconstitutional and against state code. It also calls the changes “legislative punishment masquerading as election reform.” All but one of the affected board members — Porter — voted to oust former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January.

“Their terms have been legislatively shortened by two years, not because of any finding of misconduct, incompetence, or malfeasance, but solely because they exercised their statutory authority to terminate an employee for documented cause,” the lawsuit says.

MSCS board members are also seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the commission from holding the reset election, which is set to kick off with partisan primaries in May.

In an emailed statement Tuesday, Administrator of Elections Linda Phillips said she is “aware of and disappointed” that the school board is suing the Shelby County Election Commission.

“The Shelby County Election Commission works to ensure elections are properly administered, but does not decide which elections are placed on the ballot,” Phillips said.

But the board’s lawsuit alleges the election commission bears responsibility for placing all nine school board seats on the 2026 ballot, not the county commission that voted to reset election cycles under a new state law.

The state law allows local governing bodies to make the changes, but does not mandate it.

And after months of debating whether to restart the cycle in 2026 or 2030, the Shelby County Commission approved a final resolution in September that does not name a specific start year but does direct the changes to begin in the next election cycle.

Commissioner Michael Whaley, who sponsored the resolution, said then that he hoped vague language would prevent the commission from being sued.

Supporters of the reset argued aligning all board elections with other county elections could reduce administrative costs and boost voter turnout, which has historically been low for school board elections. But the state law and commission decision came amid ongoing calls for greater accountability for the MSCS board following the ouster of former Superintendent Marie Feagins.

MSCS officials and affected board members did not respond to requests for comment. But this fall, board members argued the 2026 reset was a retaliatory effort for the Feagins decision that essentially nullified local voters’ decisions. Monday’s lawsuit alleges the ouster was “no doubt” a targeted motivation for lawmakers.

Board members unanimously voted in November to hire a lawyer to determine the legality and constitutionality of putting all nine seats on the ballot in 2026. The lawsuit was filed just a week before school board candidates can formally pull petitions for 2026 candidacy ahead of the May party primaries.

This story has been updated to include information from the lawsuit.

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 turned an old elementary school into the district security hub. Here’s an inside look.

2025-12-11T22:02:40+00:00

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

Tucked inside a former South Memphis elementary school is a room with 18 televisions and 30 computers showing live footage of campuses across the state’s largest public school district.

This is Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ new real-time safety center, where leaders say 20 trained staff will monitor video feed and use artificial intelligence tools around the clock to more quickly coordinate emergency responses. It’s part of a yearslong project to overhaul the district’s security system, which includes upgrading cameras at every school building to include AI detection technology.

At a grand opening of the safety center Thursday, MSCS leaders dodged questions about how AI technology is being used in the new cameras. It’s unclear how much money the district spent on that technology and renovations to the old Alton Elementary school building.

Carolyn Jackson, the district’s interim chief of safety, said the changes were in large part motivated by a 2021 shooting at Cummings Elementary School that injured one Memphis student and put another in custody.

“That’s what kept me up at night. That’s why we’re here,” Jackson said. “Cummings was really a unique situation … it made me say, ‘We can’t have this anymore.’”

MSCS leaders said Thursday that they worked with the global technology company Bosch to design AI-enhanced cameras that fit the district’s needs. But they declined to share details. According to Bosch’s website, the equipment typically uses visual and audio AI to detect guns and recognize other “unsafe behavior” like crowd formations or students lying on the ground.

Districts across the country have started turning to AI in recent years to boost weapons detection security as the number of school shootings remains at a nationwide record high. Those moves are often met with concerns about the over-policing of students and the likelihood of false alarms.

And there have been recent instances of AI-assisted detection systems failing to work at all, such as the Nashville school shooting last January where the school’s detection technology failed to detect the gun used to kill a 16-year-old student.

A team of 20 staff will monitor live footage of MSCS campuses all day, every day.

MSCS board members approved a nearly $500,000 contract with Bosch to upgrade security cameras in 2022. And in 2024, the district set aside nearly $4 million to transform the old Alton building into a security hub. Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said Thursday that the district also used Title IV funding and state grants to finish the project.

Richmond said the center “will allow us to respond faster to potential threats or emergencies, reducing officer response times significantly.”

Jackson said over 50% of the district’s schools are equipped with the new cameras. The real-time safety center, she said, opened around three weeks ago. On top of monitoring and dispatch services, the building is also used as a training center.

Up the stairs from the TV monitoring room, there’s an active shooter simulator that Jackson said both MSCS officers and other local police departments use to practice responses. In a demonstration Thursday, an MSCS officer fired a fake gun as immersive videos played on a large screen.

In one scene, a student pulled a gun out of his backpack and began shooting in the cafeteria. In another, the officer ran into a school building to find a staff member being shot in the auditorium. Jackson said officers will train there annually in accordance with state law.

At Thursday’s opening ceremony, MSCS leaders praised the safety center as a guiding example for repurposing vacant school buildings. In the face of rising maintenance costs, the district formed a facilities committee this fall to come up with creative uses for inevitable school closures over the next decade.

Board members are expected to vote in February on Richmond’s proposal to close four schools at the end of this year. District leaders haven’t decided what those buildings will be used for if the closures are approved.

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.

Over 30 Memphis schools could lose cleaning services in January after board rejects custodian contract

2025-12-03T21:16:56+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 scrambling to fill an expiring custodian contract that could mean around 35 schools would lose cleaning services come January.

The school board rejected a proposal to hire ABM Industries in a 5-2 vote Tuesday during the last meeting scheduled for this calendar year. Board members cited complaints against the company from its work with Memphis-Shelby County Schools around 10 years ago.

“I care about whether kids show up to clean schools,” board member Amber Huett-Garcia said. “And we have evidence that this is a risk.”

This isn’t the first time custodian contracts have caused trouble for MSCS leaders. The one up for grabs now comes as a one-year emergency deal with ServiceMaster Clean and Parcou, formed after the district suddenly fired former vendor Fresh Start in 2024 for delayed worker payments and contract violations, expires Dec. 31. Each contract costs the district between $7 and $10 million per year.

“We do not want to be back in the news for the same thing we were in the news last year for,” board member Towanna Murphy said Tuesday. “The last thing we need is another Fresh Start event to happen where we have to rush and put people in position to clean these schools.”

Michelle McKissack, who voted to approve ABM’s contract Tuesday alongside Chair Natalie McKinney, said the district is in a “rock and a hard place situation.”

“We’re concerned about issues that were documented a decade ago,” she said.

Other school districts have cited more recent issues with ABM custodial services, including Hamilton County Schools in Tennessee. The company did not respond to Chalkbeat’s request for comment.

MSCS Chief Financial Officer Tito Langston said ABM was chosen based on a rubric that “fairly and objectively” measures vendor performance. The company would only provide services through the end of 2026. Board members are expected to vote on new four-year custodial contracts in May or June.

“When schools start back [after winter break], we need some solution in place,” Langston said. “Our job is to hold any vendor that is in our schools accountable to services.”

Board members pressed district leaders Tuesday to come up with different options, which means a special meeting could be called this month. Langston said the most likely solution will be using existing MSCS staff to fill the gaps.

The district started outsourcing cleaning services in 2013 to save money after the merger of Memphis City and Shelby County schools. That raised concerns about worker pay and service quality at the time, which came to a head in 2022 when the board controversially decided to pay one vendor to manage staff at all schools. One year later, MSCS split services into four different regional contracts.

Three of those original four vendors — ServiceMaster Clean, Parcou, and HES Facilities — were approved by board members for another one-year contract starting Jan. 1, 2026. But Langston said those vendors can’t take over cleaning for the 35 schools in the Northwest region of MSCS, which is what happened this year after Fresh Start was fired.

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

Increasing Memphis school bus services would cost at least $10 million, leaders say

2025-12-03T03:14:51+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 say expanding student bus services to help boost attendance will raise transportation costs by a minimum of almost $10 million next school year.

Board members advanced the idea in late October to increase busing after multiple teachers testified that students weren’t showing up for class in fear of increased law and immigration enforcement. Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond was tasked with delivering a plan within 30 days.

School districts nationwide are struggling to provide student transportation due to rising vehicle and staff costs and a widespread bus driver shortage. Richmond said Tuesday that the district spent around $32 million on transportation this year and is seeking a new contract for next year.

“What’s being requested is a challenge,” Richmond said. “It may seem easy, but it’s extremely challenging.”

During Tuesday’s board meeting, Memphis-Shelby County Schools leaders outlined the three options for increasing bus service under review. Board members did not set a deadline for an actionable plan from the district.

But several members said the need to make a change by next semester is urgent. And they asked for plans that specifically target students that aren’t showing up, including immigrant students and those in specific neighborhoods.

“If you have an elementary school that already has a 99% attendance rate, adding a bus route is not going to change their experience,” board member Amber Huett-Garcia said. “We have concentrated areas of our district where kids are not getting to school. That is what I care most about.”

MSCS bus eligibility is determined by parent responsibility zones, or PRZs, which dictate when parents need to bring their children to school. That includes students living within 1.5 miles of their elementary school or 2 miles of their middle and high school.

Decreasing those zones by half a mile — the shortest distance suggested Tuesday — would require almost 100 more buses. That would increase transportation costs by $5.7 million for the remainder of this school year and $9.8 million next school year.

Board members pushed MSCS leaders to ask Memphis City Council and the city mayor for help, or explore a partnership with city public transportation.

“Over 90% of our schools are located inside the city of Memphis,” Stephanie Love said. “And they say they want to do a lot of things for the students. Get them to school.”

More than 26,000 MSCS students currently ride the bus to school, and the buses make over 6,000 daily stops.

Here are the options MSCS is considering, which assume all newly eligible students will ride the bus:

Option 1: PRZ becomes 0.5 miles for elementary and 0.75 for middle/high school.

Over 6,600 more daily stops and 24,000 students added.
206 more buses needed.
$12 million budget increase for 2025-26 school year and $20.6 million for 2026-27.

Option 2: PRZ becomes 0.75 miles for elementary and 1 mile for middle/high school.

Over 5,000 more daily stops and 17,000 students added.
149 more buses needed.
$8.7 million budget increase for 2025-26 school year and $14.9 million for 2026-27.

Option 3: PRZ becomes 1 mile for elementary and 1.5 miles for middle/high school.

Over 3,000 more daily stops and 9,000 students added.
98 more buses needed.
$5.7 million budget increase for 2025-26 school year and $9.8 million for 2026-27.

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.

Where do Memphis schools fall in the state ranking system?

2025-11-24T20:49:42+00:00

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

The number of Memphis schools earning the state’s top academic status increased this year, even as 39 schools are performing at the lowest level, according to a list published by the Tennessee Department of Education on Friday.

Schools with low achievement, called “priority” schools, will face a new intervention model passed by state lawmakers in the spring. Those repeatedly found at the bottom of Tennessee’s performance ladder could be closed or converted to charters.

It’s unclear when those actions will be decided for the 2024-25 priority schools, which total over 100 statewide. Receiving that designation means schools either fall in the bottom 5% of student performance on state assessments or graduate less than two-thirds of their students each year.

“As Tennessee’s largest district, MSCS serves students who often face economic challenges, housing instability, food insecurity, and other barriers,” Superintendent Roderick Richmond said in an emailed press release. Priority status “reflects where more intentional support is needed, not the limits of our students’ potential,” he added.

See if your school falls on the priority list by searching the table below.

Tennessee leaders gave 44 MSCS schools the “reward” status this year, meaning students are performing or improving at the highest level in the state. That’s 10 more schools placing in that top category compared to last year, the Memphis district said. Statewide, the reward category increased by over 80 schools.

Find out if that’s where your school falls here:

According to the new state model, local districts create their own intervention plans for first-time priority schools. But those found again on the next priority list, which is typically released every three years, will now face state intervention.

Thirty-four of the MSCS schools identified as priority schools this year have borne that label before. That includes two of the four schools Richmond recommended for closure this year, Frayser-Corning Elementary and Chickasaw Middle, and Lucy Elementary, which Richmond recommended to transfer to Millington Municipal School District.

Seven MSCS schools are identified as “Comprehensive Support and Improvement” schools by the federal government, but not as state priority schools. That’s because they have yet to meet required exit criteria, the district said.

The new state intervention model comes on the heels of the dissolving Achievement School District, or ASD, which placed 33 Memphis and Nashville schools under state control in 2016. The district is largely considered unsuccessful, with research suggesting that ASD students actually did worse on high school tests.

MSCS leaders have to decide whether to close or take over control of the last two remaining ASD schools by June.

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 schools will give out free food boxes next Monday and Saturday

2025-11-13T18:54:27+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 offer free food boxes next week to families in need during the holiday season.

The district’s mobile food pantry will take place on Monday, Nov. 17 at Raleigh-Egypt High School and Saturday, Nov. 22 at Douglass High School, both starting at 9:30 a.m. Families will be required to show a driver’s license or addressed bill and fill out a form to confirm eligibility.

MSCS is partnering with Mid-South Food Bank to run the drive-thru service to prepare for the holidays. Tennesseans have struggled with food insecurity in recent weeks after the weeks-long government shutdown caused delays and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. Over 150,000 Shelby County residents rely on SNAP each month to purchase food, with children making up an estimated 40% of recipients.

Nationwide, schools scrambled to fill the food assistance gaps. Students and staff at Winchester Elementary School prepared their weekly pantry for an influx of families.

Denise Wilson, a fourth grade math teacher who runs the pantry, said families typically show up to the school once a month to receive food boxes. By the end of October, she started seeing some show up biweekly.

Tennessee government officials say partial SNAP benefits are expected to go out in the coming days. In the meantime, MSCS will provide food boxes next Monday and Saturday on a “first-come, first-served basis” until supplies run out.

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

Memphis parents say district is leaving deaf students behind

2025-11-12T19:46:01+00:00

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

Some Memphis parents say the local school district is failing to provide adequate resources including full-time sign language interpreters for deaf and hard of hearing students.

Four Memphis-Shelby County schools — Sea Isle Elementary and White Station Elementary, Middle, and High — have classrooms specifically designed to teach deaf and hard of hearing students. Around 100 MSCS students attend those schools for targeted support, representing close to 60% of the district’s deaf and hard of hearing population.

But at an Oct. 28 board meeting, a handful of Sea Isle parents and community members said the school has no full-time interpreters or teachers fluent in American Sign Language on staff, which hinders student learning. The group also said MSCS’ deaf education programs lack sufficient funding and district oversight on classroom outcomes and academic materials.

“They don’t have functional, equally equipped facilities for visual queues and closed captions, and they’re not training the staff,” Kiera McGhee Ross, an MSCS parent who is deaf and volunteers at Sea Isle, signed in an interview after the meeting with Chalkbeat Tennessee.

“It’s destroying the children the most,” she said. “They can’t write; they don’t know sign.”

MSCS leaders said in an emailed statement that there are five ASL interpreters in the district, but a lack of national and local certification opportunities makes it difficult to hire more. Barriers to certification and issues like low pay and burnout have contributed to a nationwide shortage of ASL interpreters in health care and education.

“The standard of teaching, curriculum, engagement, inclusivity, and care for students in our deaf program has not changed,” the statement said.

MSCS doesn’t track how much it spends on deaf education at individual schools. But in an emailed statement, MSCS leaders said the district invests around $1.6 million each year in deaf education services, an amount that has “remained stable” over the past decade.

Nationwide, students who are deaf or hard of hearing graduate from high school at a lower rate than their hearing peers and are less likely to pursue postsecondary education. The most effective teaching practices for deaf students are still widely unknown. But recent studies show that ASL fluency is a key predictor of academic and social emotional success.

MSCS declined to answer questions about the number of deaf and hard of hearing teachers on staff or how hearing teachers effectively communicate with students who are deaf. It’s unclear how often the five ASL interpreters are present in each school building.

McGhee Ross said that means students are also missing out on learning about deaf culture.

“The most important thing is to have language,” she said.

MSCS leaders are hosting a community meeting at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17 in White Station High School to “seek growth opportunities” for students in the deaf and hard of hearing program. McGhee Ross said she and other Sea Isle parents plan to push for more answers there.

Correction: A previous version of this story stated that McGhee Ross is a parent of a student at Sea Isle.

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.

This Tennessee school is stepping up to feed local families cut off from SNAP

2025-11-05T23:15:27+00:00

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

Every Wednesday, a group of fourth graders at Winchester Elementary put on black aprons and start packing up cardboard boxes with canned vegetables and mac and cheese.

The young volunteers spend their free periods prepping weekend meal boxes for around 30 Whitehaven families who line up outside the Memphis school building each Friday afternoon. It’s a routine that’s been in place since Winchester opened its food pantry in March.

Denise Wilson, a fourth grade math teacher who runs the pantry, said families typically show up once a month for help. She expects the number of families seeking food to increase in the coming weeks because of delayed and missing SNAP benefits, which are affecting one in 10 Tennesseans as the federal government shutdown drags on.

“Last month, we started seeing more families every two weeks,” Wilson said. “And I do expect we may end up seeing families every week.”

Each family at the Winchester food pantry gets frozen meat and refrigerated staples along with pantry items. They can also ask for hygiene products like toilet paper and diapers.

“A lot of our students and families live in hotels, which makes their situation a little different than most families because they don’t have freezers, refrigerators, or stoves,” Wilson said. “They’re cooking with microwaves. So we even do special boxes just for them.”

President Donald Trump said last week that he wouldn’t give out funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, until the weeks-long government shutdown ends. But a federal court ruled that the Trump administration must use emergency funds to pay at least partial benefits to SNAP recipients in November.

It’s unclear when those funds will be distributed, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday it could be a “very complicated” process for the state to accept and distribute partial payments.

Under political pressure from Democrats to help alleviate the shutdown funding gaps, Lee announced this week that Tennessee would give $5 million to food banks after previously declining to dip into the state’s robust rainy day fund.

Lee said the money would be distributed proportionally in the state based on SNAP recipient locations. Over 150,000 Shelby County residents rely on the monthly food assistance, and around 40% of those affected are estimated to be children.

School nutrition programs like free and reduced price breakfasts and lunches have not yet been affected, Tennessee officials say. But that could change if the shutdown, already the longest in the nation’s history, continues beyond November.

The Winchester food pantry gives each family frozen meat, refrigerated staples, and pantry items.

The governor expressed frustration with the continuing shutdown on Tuesday, noting Tennesseans have paid federal taxes that fund programs like SNAP.

“This whole federal shutdown problem has created a tremendous hardship for a lot of Tennesseans,” Lee said. “It’s disappointing that it’s happened. It’s frustrating to people, including myself, and it needs to come to an end. The government needs to open up.”

Wilson said she’s started giving out bags of snacks and pantry items to any middle or high schoolers who stop by on Fridays, “no questions asked.”

“We know if one child is struggling in the house, all children are struggling in the house,” she said. “And we all understand in this building that you can’t teach a hungry child.”

The pantry hasn’t received any additional money or donations during the government shutdown, Wilson said. But the school received enough donations in the past few months to fully stock a classroom and two freezers as backup for the expected rush.

“We’re just hoping that the shutdown doesn’t last too much longer,” she said.

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.

In increasingly Hispanic Memphis schools, immigration enforcement surge brings fear, absences

2025-10-28T22:29:00+00:00

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

Memphis educators say Hispanic students are showing up to class distressed and distracted, or not showing up at all, in the wake of a controversial federal law and immigration enforcement surge in the city.

The full impact on Memphis-Shelby County Schools is not yet clear. The district has not released complete attendance data for October, though leaders indicated there hasn’t been a sharp decline in attendance in the last few weeks. But educators say effects are being felt in classrooms at an increasingly diverse Memphis school system.

Board member Amber Huett-Garcia said multiple high school teachers told her that students “have just stopped showing up.”

“And they’ve stopped going to extracurricular activities, because they don’t want to be out of the house,” she added.

Nationwide, the increase in immigration enforcement has disproportionately affected Latino communities. Nearly one in five MSCS students is Hispanic, compared to just over 11% in 2014, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Education. And in local charter schools, the number of Hispanic students has more than doubled in the past decade.

One MSCS teacher in a predominantly Hispanic charter school said a parent pulled her child out of school entirely because of concerns about immigration enforcement.

“She sent me a message and just said that she was scared, that they were in a difficult situation and they would have to leave the city,” said the teacher, whom Chalkbeat is not naming due to her concerns about protecting her students. “They withdrew the next day.”

Now, some state and local immigration advocates are pushing district leaders to create “safe buffer zones” and increase busing to ease concerns about students and families encountering immigration officials on the way to and from school.

Last week, Huett-Garcia pressed MSCS leaders for attendance numbers and asked about resources available for concerned families. Superintendent Roderick Richmond said the district hasn’t put any new support measures in place because he hasn’t heard reports of ICE activity on school campuses.

But Memphis educators and local officials, including Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, say ICE agents are targeting Hispanic residents and focusing on neighborhoods where they live.

“Every single day this week, I have seen pickup trucks with the label ‘Border Patrol’ on Summer Avenue,” Huett-Garcia said. “When there are outside factors that affect our attendance, we should know and be aware of that. Our kids feel safe in our buildings, it’s just getting to and from those buildings.”

Memphis educators: Classes are emptier, students more fearful

In the past month, hundreds of federal and state agents, including from the Tennessee National Guard and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have arrived in Memphis in a push President Donald Trump has said is meant to reduce violent street crime.

Tennessee and Memphis Republicans have backed Trump’s law enforcement surge, arguing increased law enforcement is needed to address longstanding crime issues within the city.

“For too long, citizens of Memphis, Shelby Co, and West TN have dealt with the ravages of out-of-control crime,” Rep. Mark White, a GOP state lawmaker from Memphis, said in September. “We must fix this problem now and get routine offenders off the streets to save our city.”

State Democrats and local leaders have sharply criticized the National Guard deployment and the increase of federal agents in the city, saying the moves trample local authority and lack transparency concerning who’s arrested. Preliminary data suggested a majority of the task force’s arrests have been for non-violent offenses and immigration-related charges, the Commercial-Appeal reported this month.

In other cities subject to the Trump administration’s federal deployment, ICE has detained students. Chalkbeat reported the detainment of at least one public school student, a U.S. citizen, in Chicago, and the arrest of a 16-year-old student in New York last week.

There have been no reports that Memphis students have been detained, and no reports of ICE activity in Memphis schools. But Huett-Garcia said she talked to one MSCS teacher last week who cried with a student for hours because two of their family members had been detained that day.

“Memphis is in this state of reality now where people are disappearing,” she said. “As a community, as a country, we have to answer, ‘Are we OK with that?’”

The MSCS teacher at the predominantly Hispanic charter said she’s had “all time low” attendance this month. For three days in a row, 25% of her students were not in class, she said. When her young students do show up, she said, they’re “extremely scared” and distracted.

“My students are telling me that they miss their mom, that they want to go home even early in the day,” she said. “It’s been constant.”

During an October school board meeting, Stacey Davis, director of enrollment and attendance, said there has not been a “significant difference” in student attendance since the National Guard arrived on Oct. 10. Chalkbeat Tennessee requested individual school attendance data last week, but the district said it couldn’t provide that information until late November.

One principal of a predominantly Hispanic school in Memphis said attendance is “hit or miss,” with families deciding to send their children based on what they see on the news or hear through their network.

“Parents are fearful about being out, dropping off their kids, picking them up, so they’re keeping them home more frequently,” the principal said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to protect their students’ privacy.

Meanwhile, the MSCS charter teacher said the threat to students and their families “can be paralyzing when you don’t have access to the right training.”

Could MSCS do more in response to ICE?

Although she said immigration enforcement is “outside of our control or jurisdiction,” Huett-Garcia said she’s open to working with county and city government officials to brainstorm creative solutions, especially when it comes to transportation barriers.

And she said she wants to hear from teachers about support they need, including grief training.

In Chicago, some board members and educators are calling for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to permit an emergency switch to virtual learning, although Pritzker has expressed skepticism about the idea. Chicago Public Schools has also sent out messages assuring parents that school buildings are safe from ICE interference and reminding them of their rights.

But in other communities, many support efforts are happening on a school-by-school basis.

MSCS does have a list of parent rights and resources on the district website when it comes to immigration issues. But the elementary teacher said district leadership should offer teacher training on how to interact with federal agencies, even outside of school grounds.

“Realistically, I’m not expecting ICE to show up at my door and try to take away one of my students,” she said. “What I am expecting is for them to wait down the street and arrest a parent at a traffic stop, because that’s what we’re seeing happening.”

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

Tennessee graduation rate improves for third straight year

2025-10-28T17:28:44+00:00

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

Tennessee has improved its high school graduation rate for the third consecutive year, with more than 92% of high school seniors graduating last spring.

State data released on Monday showed 92.3% of public school students in the class of 2025 graduated on time, a slight improvement over last year’s 92.1%. In total, 69,124 seniors graduated last spring.

Tennessee graduation rates had steadily risen for about 10 years before the COVID-19 pandemic and related disruptions triggered a three-year slide in the state. But the graduation rate began improving again in 2023.

“Year-over-year gains in the statewide graduation rate exemplify Tennessee’s commitment to ensuring students across the state make it to the graduation stage prepared for success after high school,” Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds said in a statement.

In all, 69 out of the state’s 147 districts improved their graduation rates.

Memphis-Shelby County schools had an 84.4% graduation rate this spring, a 1% increase over 2023. Hamilton County schools also increased their graduation rate to 94.2%.

Rates at the state’s other two largest school systems, Metro Nashville and Knox County schools, dropped slightly this year.

Knox County schools had a 92% graduation rate, compared to 93% in 2023. Metro Nashville schools’ graduation rate fell from 85.7% to 83.6% this year.

Search for your district’s graduation rate below.

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

Tennessee school boards could face voter recalls under new bill

2025-10-23T22:26:16+00:00

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

Could Tennessee school boards soon face voter recalls?

That could happen under legislation filed by Rep. Torrey Harris, a Memphis Democrat, that would allow recall elections for school boards and other local offices.

The Memphis Democrat’s bill, which would apply statewide, is his latest effort aimed at the Memphis-Shelby County school board in the ongoing fallout from a controversial superintendent firing earlier this year.

House Bill 1448, which does not yet have a Senate sponsor, would allow a local resident to file a petition with the county election commission that demands a recall of a local elected official. The petition filer must have voted in the last local election and must gather the signatures equal to at least two-thirds of the total vote cast for the office in the last regular election to trigger the recall.

“This legislation [House Bill 1448] is about restoring the power of accountability where it belongs — with the people,” Harris said. “Our communities deserve to have confidence that if their elected leaders stop representing their values or fail to uphold the public trust, there is a process in place to act responsibly and democratically.”

Harris filed the legislation days before the Shelby County Commission was set for a final battle over another bill Harris passed in early 2025. Harris, along with Shelby County Republican Sen. Brent Taylor, passed legislation that allows local governing bodies to reset school board elections.

Though the legislation was nominally aimed at better aligning school board terms with other elected offices, it also was passed in the ensuing controversy after six Memphis-Shelby County school board members voted in January to fire the district’s new superintendent.

Shelby County commissioners voted in late September to put all nine school board seats up for reelection in 2026, cutting five board members’ terms short. But Mayor Lee Harris vetoed that resolution earlier this month, saying only emergencies or criminal conduct should stunt an elected official’s time in office.

The commission is expected to vote on Oct. 27 whether to override the mayor’s decision. The group needs eight votes to override, one more than the original resolution secured. Commissioner Mick Wright, who supports the 2026 reset, said winning that additional vote will be a “struggle.”

Rep. Mark White, a Memphis Republican who has been critical of current MSCS leadership and is leading a charge for increased state oversight in the district, said he needs to dig into the details of Harris’s proposal.

“Recalls are not really easy,” White said. “But I think for the citizens of Shelby County, if the elected officials are not serving them adequately, I think they should have the right to recall.”

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

Fewer Memphis students are showing up to mental health assemblies. This state law may be to blame.

2025-10-23T20:31:06+00:00

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

Tennessee’s largest school district is reaching significantly fewer students in school-wide suicide and bullying prevention trainings, and Memphis leaders say it’s because of a controversial parents’ rights law passed in 2024.

Donna Goings, who leads the mental health centers in Memphis-Shelby County Schools, said the number of students attending these “lifesaving” assemblies fell by two-thirds last year. That’s because the Tennessee Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act requires districts to receive verbal or written consent from parents for psychological and other health care services.

Goings said the majority of those permission slips aren’t brought back.

“Before it was passive consent, so if students didn’t bring the [permission] form back, we assumed that it was OK,” she said. “Now we have to physically have you say, ‘Yes, my child can participate.’ That’s severely impacted the number of students that we’re able to see.”

The 2024 law has already been revised once because of unintended consequences. Earlier this year, state lawmakers amended the language to allow school nurses to provide “non-emergency first aid” for students without parent permission. That change came after some school staff and parents complained the law prevented students from receiving the most basic care.

In the original law, school mental health staff were blocked from providing any counseling or psychological services without consent. The amended version now allows school counselors or psychologists who are licensed by the state board of education to provide “preventative and developmental counseling” without limit.

But in MSCS, the suicide and bullying prevention assemblies are typically run by school social workers. Social workers focus more on therapeutic support for students, Goings said, while psychologists run evaluations and give diagnoses. Leaving social workers out of the list of exempted providers creates a legal barrier, she said.

Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin), who sponsored the original bill, said MSCS is misinterpreting the amended legislation.

“The intent of the law is to protect parental rights related to individual counseling and medical decisions—not to restrict general educational or preventative initiatives offered to all students,” Haile said in an email to Chalkbeat.

Haile says he hasn’t heard reports of the family rights law reducing these school-wide prevention services elsewhere. He’s open to making more amendments, he said, but there aren’t any plans for changes in the upcoming legislative session.

The push for parental rights in education has been a key platform point for conservatives nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic. Some local and state efforts focus specifically on parents’ ability to control their child’s exposure to topics like sexuality and race, while others more broadly establish rights to direct education decisions.

Advocates for more oversight in education, including conservative groups like Moms for Liberty, say parents know best what their child can and should be exposed to. But opponents say these measures politicize school environments and hinder teachers’ ability to educate and support students.

Haile said the 2024 Tennessee law is meant to “protect parents’ God-given rights” to be the “primary decision makers for their children.”

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.

Tennessee charter commission denies charter appeals from last Memphis ASD schools

2025-10-21T21:25:03+00:00

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

The last two schools in Tennessee’s failed Achievement School District will return to local control next year after the Tennessee Public School Charter Commission upheld a Memphis-Shelby County school board decision to deny their applications to become district charter schools.

Now, Memphis-Shelby County leaders will have to decide whether to continue operating Kirby Middle School and Hillcrest High School as standard public schools or shutter the locations that serve more than 800 students when the district absorbs the schools in June 2026.

The district will make the decisions as discussions about other school closures continue in a plan to address longstanding facilities issues in the coming months. Though commission members indicated last week the district plans to keep Kirby open, the district said this week it has not made a decision.

“We are still in the preliminary stages following the charter commission’s decision,” a district spokesperson told Chalkbeat Tennessee this week. “Over the coming weeks, the district will begin gathering data and engaging the communities to determine our next steps for both locations. As always, our focus will remain on doing what’s best for students as we prepare to make a final decision.”

In July, the Memphis school board denied charter applications from IOTA Community Schools, the charter group currently running the two schools, ahead of the upcoming sunset of the ASD program. IOTA appealed to the state commission this fall, but on Oct. 17 commission members cited inconsistent enrollment and low academic performance when discussing their decision to uphold the district’s ruling.

IOTA will continue to manage former ASD school Wooddale Middle in Memphis as a charter school after the commission overturned a MSCS denial last year.

Tess Stovall, the commission’s executive director, noted both Kirby and Hillcrest scored the lowest possible score on Tennessee’s school scoring system for the past three years. Hillcrest also has a significantly lower graduate rate than the district and state average, and Stovall is concerned about an overreliance on virtual instructors at the school.

Stovall acknowledged that the majority of Hillcrest students came to the school already several grade levels behind, but she said charter agreements must end at some point if there are no academic gains.

“This is particularly challenging work; these are challenging recommendations because we know this is a school that is in operation. There are staff, there are students, there are families impacted by this decision,” Stovall said. “We know the staff of IOTA community schools, as with many other operators, have dedicated the last decade trying to turn around some of the most difficult school circumstances in Memphis.”

Commissioner Terence Patterson, who is also CEO of the Memphis Education Fund, called the ASD schools’ decision “really, really difficult. Patterson said he couldn’t overlook the “trend of underperformance” at Kirby, despite his concerns that existing Memphis schools in the neighborhood would not necessarily be a better option or are at capacity.

Tennessee took over Kirby and Hillcrest a decade ago due to low academic performance, assigning the schools to a charter operator that later became IOTA Community Schools. The goal of the Achievement School District was to improve academic performance through a turnaround plan that would allow schools to exit the ASD plan. But the two never met that goal.

At its peak, the ASD portfolio oversaw 33 schools, many of which were turned over to charter operators. The program cost taxpayers more than $1 billion and netted few results. The ASD saw high teacher turnover and did not lead to long-term improvements for students, research showed, while the takeover of schools in mostly low-income and communities of color sparked community backlash. MSCS in recent years has transitioned several schools back into the district.

“I’m incredibly troubled that we went through the legislature’s initiative to set up the ASD to try to address low-performing schools,” said Commission Chair Chris Richards, who represents west Tennessee. “We’ve been 10 years into this, and we continue to have this low-performing school. I can’t warrant a situation where I can support another 10 years.”

The Tennessee General Assembly this year passed legislation to sunset the existing ASD program, though it replaced it with a different intervention plan for low-performing schools that will start by the beginning of the next school year. The new plan will have escalating interventions for targeted schools and initially allow local districts to implement their own turnaround plan or work with an expert before moving toward a state takeover.

Bri Hatch contributed to this story.

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

Shelby County mayor vetoes 2026 school board election reset

2025-10-07T17:22:48+00:00

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

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris vetoed a resolution Monday from county commissioners that would have put all nine Memphis school board seats up for election in 2026.

The controversial measure to reset school board election dates would have also cut short five current board members’ terms. In a two-line memo sent to commissioners Monday, Harris cited that effect as the reason for his veto.

“Absent an emergency or in the case of criminal misconduct, I do not believe that the terms of elected officials should be shortened,” Harris wrote in the memo obtained by Chalkbeat.

The Shelby County Commission could override the mayor’s veto with eight votes from its 13-member group within the next 30 days. Commissioners voted 7-5 to approve the measure on Sept. 22, but one commissioner was absent during the original vote, according to The Daily Memphian.

Even if the mayor’s veto stands, changes are still coming for school board elections next year. Candidates will face a partisan primary for the first time and new term limits approved by the county commission in August.

MSCS school board members have faced intense scrutiny since voting to oust former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January. Some members have called recent election changes discriminatory and a form of retaliation.

On top of all the local changes, two Tennessee lawmakers are expected to renew their efforts to establish a state-appointed board to take over the district in the spring.

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.

County leaders vote to reset Memphis school board in 2026, despite legal concerns

2025-09-23T00:43:24+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 residents will vote in an entirely new school board in 2026, meaning five members will have to run for reelection after serving only half of their terms.

The Shelby County Commission voted 7-5 Monday to immediately align school board elections with the general cycle, adopting language directly from a state law passed earlier this year. This comes after months of debate about whether to start the alignment in 2026 or 2030, and questions of whether cutting short board members’ terms is unconstitutional.

Commissioner Michael Whaley sponsored the final version of the resolution, which simply authorizes the state law and does not name a specific start date for election realignment. That returns the language to its original form, which defaults to the next election in 2026.

Whaley said he hopes centering the state law will prevent the commission from being sued. But Megan Smith, a representative from the district attorney’s office, said that protection isn’t guaranteed.

MSCS board members have said the election reset proposal is discriminatory and a form of retaliation. The board has faced heavy criticism and demands from the public for accountability since firing former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January.

Four of the five MSCS board members who will now face shortened terms — Natalie McKinney, Towanna Murphy, Sable Otey, and Stephanie Love — voted to fire Feagins. If reelected in 2026, they would be allowed to serve two full four-year terms again — a potential 10-year total tenure — under new term limits adopted by the commission in August.

Whaley said Monday that the resolution is about “long-term structural change,” not “airing a grievance” with specific people. But Erika Sugarmon, one of the commissioners who voted in opposition, said the measure disenfranchises voters who elected the current board members in 2024.

“If we start overturning elections, where would it end?” she said. “We don’t want to be heavy-handed. We get enough of that from Trump.”

Sugarmon also sponsored a new plan Monday to allow local residents to vote for future recalls of school board members. The commission gave unanimous approval to the proposal, which will come up for an official vote in the coming months.

But the Tennessee state legislature would need to pass a law authorizing that change to the county charter. Residents currently have the power to remove other elected officials from county offices, but not school board members.

Bennie Smith, a state election commissioner, said Monday that recall by referendum is the correct, democratic channel for removing elected officials from office. School board member Natalie McKinney also expressed support for the recall path over election cycle realignment.

The state attorney general has yet to weigh in on the constitutionality of cutting board members’ terms short. In the meantime, commissioner Britney Thornton, who co-sponsored the adopted plan, said community members need to start looking for candidates to run.

“Or else everything that you’ve fought for is for naught,” she told meeting attendees Monday. “We have a seven-month window here.”

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

Parents can’t opt out of Tennessee student gun safety training, Memphis official says

2025-09-19T21:10:33+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 Schools physical education and health teachers began leading one-day gun safety classes this week under a new state law requiring firearm safety curriculum in all Tennessee public schools.

District leaders said the training should be finished by fall break. According to the 2024 state law, the curriculum needs to be “viewpoint neutral on political topics,” including gun rights and the Second Amendment.

The safety lessons are necessary to prevent accidental shootings, district leaders said, but some parents are skeptical that the program will make an impact, and others asked during a virtual town hall Thursday if they could opt their children out of the classes.

Jim Harbin, special projects coordinator for MSCS’ health services office, said that isn’t allowed. He compared the lessons to fire and lockdown drills.

At a presentation Friday at Dexter Middle School, Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond called the new curriculum “something positive.”

“Even before the state started to talk about it,” he said, “I wanted to do something around gun violence because of the impact it’s having on our community.”

Since 2020, firearms have remained the leading cause of death for children and teens nationwide. Tennessee ranks third in the country for the highest number of unintentional shootings done by children.

Lanetra Wiley, a nurse practitioner for Memphis-Shelby County Schools, said she remembers the day she found out one of her students had been killed by his friend in an accidental shooting.

“I saw him in the clinic one Friday, and on Monday he was dead,” she said. “I know you all play Black Ops, Call of Duty, all of those games. But they are not reality.”

Curriculum guidelines from the Tennessee Department of Education outline four firearm safety rules for children: Stop, don’t touch, leave the area, and tell an adult. The lessons change based on grade level, starting with emphasis on recognizing the difference between toy and real guns and progressing to instructions for proper gun storage by middle school.

“As superintendent, I want to see all of you all grow up to be the people that you were meant to be,” Richmond said Friday. “There’s never going to be a positive outcome when it comes to you all, particularly young people, dealing with guns.”

Harbin said the district will share more resources with parents in the coming weeks.

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.