Bri Hatch

Bri Hatch

Reporter, Chalkbeat

Bri Hatch spent the past two years in Baltimore covering all-things education for WYPR, the city's local NPR station, as a Report for America Corps Member. They spear-headed a collaboration across five Baltimore news outlets focused on solutions to issues faced by young people, leading to a story on a nonprofit that employs teens as free community bike mechanics. Hatch led their college newspaper from 2022-23, investigating responses to student criminal convictions. They interned for the Chronicle of Higher Education in 2022, earning a Hearst feature award for their reporting on the complicated legal battle over a donated "Wizard of Oz" dress. Outside of the newsroom, you can catch Hatch at a local coffee shop reading the latest sci-fi romance novel, or at an indie/folk/anything concert.

Students will be required to keep personal devices, including smartwatches, turned off and put away during school hours. Violating that policy could come with consequences, up to suspension.

The local early education nonprofit is expected to receive the nearly $30 million annual grant instead of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The district lost its contract due to multiple child safety violations.

MSCS’ school board will vote next week on a revised policy requiring students to keep devices off and away during school hours. But some are concerned about how to address student violations.

Feagins is suing the full school board for violating open meetings laws by holding private discussions before her ouster in January. Now, she’s calling out Towanna Murphy and asking for her job back to avoid further harm.

Two Republican lawmakers are reviving plans to have the state run the Memphis-Shelby County district. But local education experts say their recent interview, in which one lawmaker called city school leaders ‘dumbasses,’ was insulting and misleading.

Republican Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor said the pending $6 million independent financial audit of MSCS will inform their next moves. Both introduced bills to create state-controlled boards in charge of the district that failed this spring.

The state’s largest district saw the biggest gains in elementary school reading proficiency and algebra scores. But the majority of third-graders still didn’t pass a critical reading test.