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Memphis-Shelby County students return to the classroom today, but leadership and program changes have been brewing all summer.
There are impending school closures, a former superintendent versus school board lawsuit, and a return to district-wide testing. Plus, MSCS students will face a stricter cellphone (and smartwatch) policy backed by a new Tennessee state law.
Here are four important storylines to watch as the year begins.
School closures & backlogged facilities costs
After years of postponing facility repairs, Memphis-Shelby County Schools is staring down a $1 billion maintenance bill for buildings across the district. School board member Natalie McKinney told Chalkbeat that the district will have to close some schools because of those rising costs and under-enrollment.
The board voted in June to establish a committee of education and business leaders to help guide those decisions, including what to do with buildings after they’ve been vacated.
“Traditionally, when you close buildings, people just board it up, or you demolish it,” McKinney said. “But those are in neighborhoods, and people care deeply about their neighborhoods.”
Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond originally said he wanted a report from the committee by Sept. 1, but the group will meet for the first time on Aug. 13. And as of last week, it still hadn’t filled seats designated for students and teachers.
In related news, MSCS school board members gave Elon Musk’s company xAI the green light to fund repairs for four schools in Southwest Memphis with the most dire maintenance needs. That will ease some of the financial burden, but it also pulls the district into ongoing local protests against the company’s two data centers.
More testing, less tutoring and a regional district structure
MSCS leaders say they’re zeroing in on academic achievement by bringing back district-wide testing and boosting principal support.
Students will be tested in core subjects such as math and reading in late September, early December, and March on a new online platform called Performance Matters. That’s on top of state-mandated testing that happens in the spring.
Schools chose their own internal testing systems for the first time last year, but that didn’t allow for cross-district comparison, officials said.
“We are gauging where our students are still struggling, so then we can react in real time and make adjustments,” said Deputy Superintendent Angela Whitelaw. The data will be shared with MSCS’ new regional superintendents and principal coaches, and teachers will have access to student-specific metrics.
The goal, district officials said, is to give more targeted tutoring and classroom lessons before state standardized tests hit. But over 1,500 MSCS students could lose access to an in-school tutoring program run by local nonprofit Literacy Mid-South because of funding issues.
Last year, the district improved its state scores for the fourth year in a row. But fewer than one-third of elementary students scored proficient in reading, meaning the majority don’t hit a key benchmark that prompts state-mandated intervention.
Alisha Kiner, MSCS’ chief of academics, said boosting principal support is key to improving student outcomes. School leaders are tasked with observing classrooms and providing feedback to teachers.
“The principal position can be isolating,” Kiner said. “Principal coaches and the regional [superintendents] are going to step in and be in the seat with them.”
Who’s in charge of MSCS?
Former Superintendent Marie Feagins is asking the court for her job back after MSCS board members voted her out in January.
In the first hearing of her lawsuit against the district, Feagins alleged that the school board held multiple secret meetings about her ouster, which she says violates the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. But the district’s attorney says Feagins has no solid evidence, only second- or third-hand accounts of private conversations.
Feagins is seeking $487,000 in back pay and a ruling that would overturn the school board’s decision to fire her and appoint Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond.
Richmond’s temporary contract ends in July 2026, prompting talks of another search for the district’s permanent leader.
The Shelby County Commission also is considering resetting the MSCS school board election cycle to increase voter turnout. The move would cut short five board members’ current terms, which are set to expire in 2028, by two years.
State Republicans want to upend district control…again
In early July, Tennessee lawmakers Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor said they’re bringing back bills to establish a state-appointed board to lead MSCS.
Their two separate versions each passed one chamber this spring, then stalled. But the lawmakers said results from a $6 million forensic audit of the Memphis-Shelby County district, which started last month, will help combine and fast-track the legislation, even if it isn’t complete by the end of session.
Meanwhile, Memphis education advocates say the lawmakers’ language is offensive and misleading. In a July interview, Taylor called MSCS board members “dumbasses.”
He and White also compared MSCS test scores to smaller, less diverse nearby school systems, which advocates say is an unfair tactic.
Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.
