Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
A proposal to save the job of Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins and attempt to repair her relationship with the school board exposed deeper divisions, at least initially, between board members who want to keep her and those who want her out.
Board member Amber Huett-Garcia, who wants to keep Feagins, introduced the proposal at a Tuesday board work session. Board member Natalie McKinney countered with a long statement accusing Feagins of “a pattern of failed leadership” and introducing new allegations against her — drawing a rebuke from Huett-Garcia and another pro-Feagins board member.
No votes were cast Tuesday. The board is expected to decide Feagins’ fate at its next business meeting Jan. 21, and it isn’t clear whether any board members have changed their minds.
At a meeting Dec. 17, five of the nine board members supported firing Feagins, but board members ultimately voted to delay the discussion until this month to allow for more deliberation and a response from Feagins.
At a brief public meeting that preceded the work session, Feagins said some school board members presented misleading and false information to the public in their effort to fire her.
“The truth was drowned out by false narratives designed to divide us,” Feagins said. “And while I do not expect fairness or impartiality from everyone in this room, my integrity and my commitment to this district demand that I not allow facts to be drowned out by false accusations and political maneuvering.”
In a letter read to the board, Feagins responded point by point to allegations contained in a proposed Dec. 17 resolution seeking to terminate her four-year contract early on the grounds of alleged financial misdeeds and lack of communication.
The resolution Huett-Garcia introduced Tuesday sought to retain Feagins and give her and the board more time to work out their differences. It would require monthly updates by Feagins on the state of the district, its finances, and the students.
In a response to that resolution, McKinney acknowledged Feagins’ contribution to the district but said that the concerns outweighed them and that Feagins’ “leadership failures have jeopardized the stability and progress of our district.”
After McKinney raised other allegations about Feagins’ performance — including graduation issues, concerns about inadequate staffing, and cutting student support systems — board member Michelle McKissack, a supporter of Feagins, said some of the board members are “hell-bent” on dismissing the superintendent.
Huett-Garcia said McKinney’s statement amounted to “crossing the line of governance.”
“It’s maddening to hear the tone and the severity in which you framed things,” Huett-Garcia said, calling it “so disrespectful.”
Board member Towanna Murphy, who supports firing Feagins, told Chalkbeat after the meeting that she has not changed her mind “because we’ve been going through this thing since I’ve been elected, for five months, and nothing has changed.”
However, board member Sable Otey, who had supported firing Feagins on Dec. 17, said after Tuesday’s meeting that she is “going to be open, I’m going to be fair. So I just need a little time.”
Otey did not say whether she had changed her stance on firing Feagins.
Feagins has firmly denied any wrongdoing and issued a formal rebuttal earlier this month to the allegations listed in the resolution, calling the effort to fire her “politically motivated” and vowing not to resign.
The loss of a district leader less than a year into her tenure would be another setback for the image of MSCS, the state’s largest school district, which is struggling to address academic and financial challenges, and to repair lingering damage to its relationship with the community caused by the turbulent 18-month search for a superintendent.
Already, the school board is taking fire from state and county officials over its discussions about firing Feagins. The Shelby County Commission voted Monday to approve a no-confidence motion targeted at MSCS board members, as reported by The Daily Memphian, and approved a governance plan that asks the board and the superintendent to set goals for bettering the district by April.
In a statement Monday, school board Chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman called the vote “unfortunate,” and said the board has “a better understanding” of the district’s leadership than the commission.
State Rep. Mark White, longtime chairman of a House education committee, told Chalkbeat he wanted to meet with the school board and several other state lawmakers from Memphis.
White said he could reintroduce legislation he drafted last year to give Gov. Bill Lee’s administration the power to appoint up to six new members to the nine-member Memphis board, but he is not ready.
The Dec. 17 resolution seeking Feagins’ ouster claims that she:
- Failed to provide evidence of her statement that district employees were paid $1 million in overtime for time not worked.
- Accepted a donation of more than $45,000 without board approval, then misrepresented what happened.
- Misled the board and public about a federal grant and its missed deadline.
Feagins began in April and has a four-year contract that pays her $325,000 annually. If she is fired without cause she would be entitled to a severance payment of $487,500, according to her contract.
