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A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Memphis school takeover board’s authority after school officials said it could delay the start of the school year or even force building closures as the district prepares to welcome students back to class in less than five weeks.
Memphis-Shelby County school board members and local officials asked a federal judge Tuesday to temporarily halt the oversight board or, at minimum, block its power to disrupt contract payments and fire top district officials ahead of the 2026-27 school year, which begins Aug. 3.
Hours later, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. granted the temporary restraining order, ordering the state and MSCS to “maintain the STATUS QUO before” the new takeover law took effect. The temporary order is an early win for the district and Shelby County officials, who sued over the new oversight board last month.
Under the takeover law, the oversight board – which took control July 1 – must approve every purchase over $50,000. Previous district policy allowed the superintendent or a designated deputy to approve contracts under $100,000, while school board approval was needed for larger contracts.
The new oversight board control could significantly hinder MSCS’ ability to respond quickly to start-of-school emergencies, including HVAC failures, creating “immediate operational deadlock” during one of the district’s busiest times of year, the district alleged in Tuesday’s court filing.
“School cannot be conducted in buildings that do not have functioning air conditioning,” the court filing says. “A lapse of up to three weeks while these expenses are submitted to and approved by the Oversight Board will be detrimental to student instruction.”
Oversight Board Chair Billy Orgel told Chalkbeat that the board’s full meeting set for this afternoon is cancelled, delaying votes on an executive director contract and initial steps for the board’s expected assessment of MSCS operations. The takeover’s board work will now be paused indefinitely pending a full federal court hearing, which has not yet been set.
The nine-member oversight board of political appointees has sweeping authority over the state’s largest school district, but the board was formed with no existing infrastructure to support its new work just weeks before a new school year.
The board has yet to meet in Memphis. It held its first meeting in June in a Nashville conference room at the state Capitol and was in the process of hiring staff and legal counsel when the temporary restraining order was issued.
In their Tuesday court filing, MSCS leaders argued the lack of infrastructure leaves the district without a clear process for obtaining timely contract and purchase approvals needed to keep the school year on schedule. With classes beginning in about a month, they wrote, “there has not even been the suggestion of a plan for such a process.”
That leaves the district without a designated point of contact for emergency purchases, according to the court filing. District leaders argued the oversight board could backlog contracts the school board approved Monday night that are essential to district operations, including school bus transportation services and online information systems.
“Based on my experiences in prior years, the School District’s inability to respond efficiently to HVAC outages or other emergencies will likely require school closures or interrupt instruction at the start of the school year,” Tito Langston, the district’s chief academic officer, said in an affidavit filed Tuesday.
The oversight board also has the ability to veto MSCS’ proposed budget, which totals more than $1.7 billion and includes bonuses for veteran teachers and facilities costs. The budget has not yet been approved by the Shelby County Commission, so it’s unclear whether the board could stop it from being adopted.
This story has been updated to include information about a cancelled state board meeting.
Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.
