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Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins said Thursday she does not have a date set to share what schools are under consideration for closure or consolidation.
The new superintendent has been tight-lipped about how she will address this big issue for the district, which owns many aging buildings and has limited funds to fix them. But a timeline is coming, she said Thursday at a press conference.
“So there are just some obvious things that have to be done to certain spaces,” Feagins said during the press conference. “But then there’s some flexibility in other areas that we don’t have to have, you know, a deep commitment to.”
Chalkbeat reported earlier this year that a draft plan showed 21 buildings that would close and 50 that would receive investments. But no final decisions had been made by MSCS at that time.
The district created complete assessments of all MSCS’ school buildings that include details on conditions and costs for repairs, The Daily Memphian reported in October, but Feagins has not released the reports. Feagins did present a real estate plan to the district board Tuesday that showcased vacant facilities and land, with decisions pending until next summer on whether the buildings will be sold or demolished.
With the new assessments of all buildings, Feagins said she aims to create a website listing each building under consideration for closure, publicizing the status of the facility, the projected recommendations, and the decision for the campus.
The superintendent said transparency is important and that “nothing will be done without the community.”
With hopes of leaving the work for the current superintendent, interim Superintendent Toni Williams assembled committees in 2023 to help create a building strategy to include school closures and consolidations.
The district enlisted several community partners for these committees to gain input on plans and ensure the community feels involved in the decisions.
An initial draft proposal from the fall of 2023 included plans to repurpose 20 academic buildings and consolidate administrative offices, Chalkbeat reported, in an effort to save MSCS more than $200 million.
The draft plan Chalkbeat reported on in January indicated the district intended to reassign students from closed or consolidated schools to facilities MSCS would invest in.
This building strategy aims to address several problem areas in the district, including academic struggles, persistent funding shortages, enrollment shifts and high maintenance costs for aging buildings.
