Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
Memphis school board members are expected to vote Wednesday on whether they will conduct a full search for the next superintendent amid state takeover pushes that could render their decision irrelevant.
Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s contract expires at the end of July. The Memphis-Shelby County school board appointed Richmond, who’s worked in the district for over 30 years, almost immediately after firing former superintendent Marie Feagins last January.
Board members could sidestep a drawn-out superintendent search and instead extend Richmond’s contract with a simple majority vote, which some expressed support for at a Jan. 20 board meeting. The last formal superintendent search took over a year and caused board member infighting and controversies.
MSCS board members have three options when considering a new superintendent contract:
- Extend Richmond’s contract by up to four years with a simple majority board vote.
- Declare a vacancy in the superintendent position and appoint a new leader with a 2/3 majority board vote.
- Conduct a full national or local search, including developing and collecting applications and hosting public interviews. The final candidate would be chosen by a 2/3 board vote.
District policy says the board must give Richmond at least 15 days notice before extending his contract or removing him from office, which they could do at any time.
The process to choose MSCS’ next leader comes as Tennessee Republicans continue to push for a state takeover of the district. Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor, both Republicans from the Memphis area, say they’re confident they’ll pass bills to create a state-appointed board of managers that would usurp the powers of the local MSCS board, including the hiring and firing of superintendents.
“At this point, the school board and the superintendent can make whatever decisions they want,” Taylor said in a Friday appearance on WKNO. “It’s immaterial to what we’re going to do in the legislature. And at this point, they’re as irrelevant as a nutrition chart on a bag of ice.”
Taylor said the board of managers could fire the next superintendent even if the MSCS board issues a contract before the takeover law passes. And both lawmakers point to the 2023 takeover of Houston’s public school district as a model. The state immediately fired the local superintendent.
At this point, they’re as irrelevant as a nutrition chart on a bag of ice.
— Sen. Brent Taylor, talking about MSCS board & superintendent
Richmond says he wants the permanent leadership role to continue to provide stability to a district that’s seen five superintendents in the past 10 years.
“We can’t continue to have high turnover at the top,” Richmond told Chalkbeat in a Jan. 29 interview. “You build trust through relationships.”
Richmond received mixed reviews from MSCS teachers on an informal survey presented by the board Jan. 20. But principals and current board members gave the interim leader high marks on areas like student achievement and strategic vision.
The interim leader declined to speculate on what would happen to his role if the state takeover prevails.
“I think anybody who’s in a position of leadership has to be open to change, and they have to be adaptable,” Richmond said. “But as of today, that’s not the current state of our district, so my team and I would just stay focused on what’s within our control.”
Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.
