Category Archives: Shelby County Schools

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Showing Up

Chalkbeat reports on improved absenteeism in Shelby County Schools:

Memphis school leaders say a door-knocking campaign and increased outreach has helped put the district on track to reduce chronic absenteeism for the first time since well before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stacey Davis, the district’s director of attendance and enrollment, said in an October board meeting that almost one-third of Memphis-Shelby County Schools students were chronically absent last year, meaning they missed more than 18 days of class. But she expects that figure to drop to around 26% of students this year.

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Stepping Up to Fill the SNAP Gap

When the government shuts down, students step up.

Chalkbeat reports:

Every Wednesday, a group of fourth graders at Winchester Elementary put on black aprons and start packing up cardboard boxes with canned vegetables and mac and cheese.

The young volunteers spend their free periods prepping weekend meal boxes for around 30 Whitehaven families who line up outside the Memphis school building each Friday afternoon. It’s a routine that’s been in place since Winchester opened its food pantry in March.

Denise Wilson, a fourth grade math teacher who runs the pantry, said families typically show up once a month for help. She expects the number of families seeking food to increase in the coming weeks because of delayed and missing SNAP benefits, which are affecting one in 10 Tennesseans as the federal government shutdown drags on.

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Unfinished Business

Feagins attempts Memphis comeback by way of courts

Marie Feagins wants a judge to order the Memphis-Shelby County School Board to reinstall her as Director of Schools.

Chalkbeat reports:

Former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins is now suing a board member for personal defamation in an ongoing lawsuit over her January firing after less than 10 months on the job.

Feagins testified on Tuesday in Shelby County Circuit Court, where Judge Robert Childers considered Feagins’ request for a preliminary injunction, which would overturn the board vote to terminate her contract and reinstate her as district leader as the lawsuit plays out.

“I came here to do a job, and we have unfinished business,” Feagins said on the stand. “I didn’t come to sue the school district.”

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Memphis Power Grab

While lawmakers did not approve a state takeover of Memphis schools this year, some haven’t stopped dreaming of how and when they might take over the state’s largest district.

Chalkbeat:

Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor told WKNO/Channel 10’s “Behind the Headlines” Friday that their legislation to establish a state-appointed “board of managers” overseeing the district will be fast-tracked to pass this spring.

That’s because the lawmakers’ two versions of the legislation – which include some key differences – each passed one chamber by April, then stalled. Now, Taylor and White said they’re waiting for results from the $6 million independent audit of the district, which started this month, to best inform how they’ll combine the bills come January.

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State Takeover of Memphis Schools: Not Yet

But district faces continued pressure, scrutiny from meddling lawmakers

Most of Tennessee’s legislators are not from Memphis/Shelby County, but that hasn’t stopped a cadre of them from attempting to tell the elected leaders of Memphis how to run their schools.

As the General Assembly ended its business this year, legislation that would have allowed the state to takeover Memphis-Shelby County Schools stalled:

Memphis-Shelby County Schools narrowly avoided legislation that would have expanded state control over its elected school board and budget. But lawmakers intend to bring that bill back — and other efforts to audit the district and potentially change the timing of its school board elections have advanced.

Though versions of state intervention bills passed in the House and Senate, the chambers could not reconcile them before the Tennessee General Assembly adjourned on Tuesday. Each bill called for a state-appointed oversight board whose members would be paid by the school district, but the two versions differed on what powers it gave that board, and the thresholds that would trigger state intervention.

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What to do About Shelby County Schools?

The legislature seems determined to subvert democracy

Chalkbeat reports that a pair of possible “solutions” are floating around – plans that would allow the General Assembly to intervene in Shelby County Schools:

One proposal in the House would take power away from the elected school board for at least four years, giving oversight of the school district to a state-appointed board of local residents. A proposal in the Senate would give the Shelby County Commission greater control over the school district — at a time when commissioners have already proposed creating an advisory board to consult with the school board.

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Feagins Out in Memphis

Board votes to fire Director of Schools

Less than one year after starting her work as Director of Schools in Memphis-Shelby County, Marie Feagins has been fired.

Chalkbeat reports that by a 6-3 vote, the school board opted to terminate Feagins’ contract.

Marie Feagins was fired Tuesday as superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, setting the district back to where it has been repeatedly in recent years: searching for leadership.

A bitterly divided school board voted 6-3 to oust Feagins less than 10 months into her tenure, approving a resolution that cited allegations of professional misconduct and poor leadership.

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Turmoil in Memphis

Director of Schools stays . . . for now

An effort to remove Memphis-Shelby County Director of Schools Marie Feagins failed last night.

Chalkbeat reports:

An effort to oust Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins was put on hold Tuesday night when a divided school board voted to push the debate to next month.

In a 5-4 vote, the board referred a resolution to oust Feagins over allegations of “professional misconduct” to a committee meeting in January.

Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash

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Memphis-Shelby County Announces it Will Not Arm Teachers

District rejects legislative plan to put more guns in schools

Officials in Memphis have announced that their school system will not allow teachers to carry guns at school, despite a legislative decision that would allow districts to permit teachers who receive certain training to carry firearms on school grounds.

Seems Like a Bad Idea

“We will not allow teachers to carry guns in our schools,” said Superintendent Marie N. Feagins, adding that the law is “controversial.”

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said “schools are for learning.”

“… And emergency situations should be handled by trained officers,” Bonner said. 

“And the district has made it a priority to keep them that way through security upgrades and updates,” MPD Interim Chief C.J. Davis continued.

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Ed Commissioner Abuses Tuition Waiver Program

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Pay Bump on the Way in Memphis

Minimum salary moved to $50K, all teachers will see pay increase

Districts across Tennessee are making moves to increase teacher compensation in the face of a growing shortage of applicants and long lists of open positions.

Chalkbeat reports that Memphis-Shelby County will move starting teacher pay to a minimum of $50,000 a year and bump pay for all teachers – raises that could amount to $4000 or more for most teachers.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools is raising its minimum teacher salary to $50,811 under a new agreement with its two teachers unions, delivering on their salary goals despite a $150 million budget shortfall next year.

Teachers, administrators, and board members, meanwhile, cheered the agreement, which raises the district’s starting salary by 8% for teachers with undergraduate degrees and ensures that veteran teachers receive raises once they have hit the top of the district’s 19-step salary scale.

The move comes even as lawmakers rejected providing additional state funds to assist school districts in raising teacher pay.

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