Sign up for monthly text updates on the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board

A wooden podium with a microphone on the top is in focus while people sit in chairs on the side and in the background.
October 24, 2023: MEMPHIS, TN - A Memphis Shelby County Schools school board meeting on October 24. Photo by Andrea Morales for Chalkbeat (Andrea Morales for Chalkbeat)

Want to stay up to date on the latest news from the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board while also having a way to text your school board questions to Chalkbeat’s journalists? Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s texting service.

Each month, Bri Hatch, who writes about MSCS for us, sifts through agendas and documents, attends board meetings, and interviews Memphis leaders, attendees, and others before and after the meetings. Hatch reports the decisions made by the school board and tells the stories of the people who will be affected by those decisions.

And with our texting service, you’ll stay in the loop on the latest Memphis-Shelby County Schools board news, regardless of whether you’re able to attend board meetings.

Here’s how it works:

Sign up by texting SCHOOL to 901-599-2745 or enter your phone number into the box below.

We hope the texting service will keep you informed, better able to hold district officials accountable, and more empowered to start community conversations about what public education should look like in Memphis.

We’ll text you twice a month, once before a board meeting to let you know it’s coming up, and once after with the biggest news.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools typically hosts its monthly board meetings at 5:30 p.m. the last Tuesday of each month at the Board of Education building. The meetings are also available for streaming on the district’s Facebook page. Find board meeting schedules and agendas here.

The Latest

After proposing changes to the state’s K-12 funding formula last year, Gov. Jared Polis’ budget proposal plans to fulfill changes made during this year’s session.

Detroit residents told Chalkbeat they want to see the city’s next mayor to improve transportation so students can more easily get to and from school.

A Chalkbeat analysis of school attendance data found steeper attendance declines this year compared to previous years at schools in communities targeted by Operation Midway Blitz.

Experts say Newark school board’s move to a flip vote that made way for Superintendent Roger Leon’s contract to be extended was improper.

The nonprofit runs free after-school programs and summer camps for disadvantaged youth in Detroit with a focus on social and emotional skills.

DPS has a new policy that calls for closing schools with persistently low ratings as a way to avoid state intervention.