Author: Bri Hatch

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Memphis voters will choose an all-new school board this year in an unprecedented mega-election that comes as state lawmakers push to dilute the power of the locally elected board. For the first time, the 2026 ballot will include candidates for all nine Memphis-Shelby County school board seats. And those vying for the open positions will also compete in a partisan primary in May. These changes are part of what some state and local officials say is a plan to increase voter turnout and…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.The field for Memphis’ 2026 school board election is starting to take shape. Campaign season kicked off Monday and candidates can now begin collecting qualifying signatures ahead of a Feb. 19 deadline for the May 5 primary. Five incumbent Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members — Michelle McKissack, Natalie McKinney, Tamarques Porter, Sable Otey and Towanna Murphy — confirmed with Chalkbeat that they’re running for reelection. That includes four of the five members who are currently suing the election commission for cutting their terms…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Parents at a Memphis elementary school are concerned about student safety in a proposed K-8 merger next year that comes as part of a larger district school closure plan. In September, interim Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Roderick Richmond recommended the transfer of the Lucy Elementary building to neighboring Millington Municipal School District at the end of this school year, in order to comply with a 2023 state law and address chronic underenrollment. Richmond also recommended closing four MSCS schools, a proposal that board…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Jasmine Bernard, a 16-year-old Memphis-Shelby County Schools student, remembers gaps in ceiling tiles and constant lighting issues at her middle school. Like many other schools in the district, Bernard said, John P. Freeman Optional is “critically underfunded.”“I can’t deny that the school definitely needs renovations,” she told Chalkbeat Tennessee. “And the Memphis education system needs funding.”But Bernard, now a junior at University High School, doesn’t think turning to Elon Musk’s xAI for help is the answer.In July, the MSCS school board voted to…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Memphis-Shelby County Schools leaders say it’s doubtful that students were exposed to lead by recently reported contaminated water sources. Michelle Stuart, the district’s facilities leader, said in a press conference Friday that she received the state-mandated lead testing results on July 27. By the next day, all sinks and fountains deemed unsafe were shut off. “Let me be clear that that was before school started for the year, so no children were in the building,” Stuart said. MSCS officials called the press conference…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.With only a week until school starts, local early childhood education nonprofit Porter-Leath needs to fill 250 staff positions and nearly 3,000 student seats as Memphis’ new sole Head Start provider.Porter-Leath announced last Monday that it’s taking over the five-year contract and the nearly $30 million annual federal grant from Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The district lost the contract after repeated safety violations. The changeup leaves Porter-Leath with only a week to transition before the school year starts on Aug. 4. And families who…