Author: Bri Hatch

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Early voting is underway for the Memphis-Shelby County election that will seat two new local school board members as the legal battle over district control continues. Voters will head to the polls on Aug. 6. Two incumbents, Michelle McKissack in District 1 and Joyce Dorse Coleman in District 9, are running unopposed after winning the Democratic nomination in MSCS’ first partisan school board primary in May. But the Democratic nominees for the District 6 and District 8 seats, T.L. Harris and Tanya Frey,…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.The year after COVID-19 hit, Memphis principal Kamie Cowan knew she needed to get students back in their seats.More than half of the students at Compass Berclair, a local K-8 charter school, were chronically absent in 2022, meaning they missed at least 18 days of school, or more than 10% of the school year.Last year, only three of the school’s 230 students met that mark. Cowan said that dramatic drop started in the 2022-23 school year, when she put together an attendance team…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Memphis-Shelby County school board members unanimously approved a $1.7 billion budget on Tuesday that will likely be their last before the state takeover comes into the district. District officials will present their plan for the 2026-2027 school year to the Shelby County Commission tomorrow for approval. This comes as top Republican leaders in Nashville have appointed eight of nine members to a state oversight board that will seize control of final budget decisions for the next four years.It’s unclear whether the state-appointed board…

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 are proposing a $1.7 billion dollar budget for the 2026-27 school year, as a new state-appointed board comes in to assume control of the district’s financial decisions. The MSCS board is set to vote on the proposed budget, which is a reduction from last year’s $1.9 billion budget, at its May 26 meeting. The budget then goes to the Shelby County Commission for final approval. But the state takeover of the district, which would seize budget power from the…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.The Shelby County Commission voted Monday to set aside $200,000 for a lawsuit challenging the state takeover of Memphis schools.The local school board unanimously voted two weeks ago to hire a lawyer for the same purpose. The next day, Tennessee Republicans passed their bill to appoint a nine-member oversight board that will seize control of key district decisions. But a law signed by Gov. Bill Lee on April 21, hours before the school board litigation vote, prevents the district from using public dollars…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Memphis-Shelby County Schools is extending its priority deadline for school choice transfers to next Friday, March 13 following a vote last week to close five schools. Students displaced by this year’s closures won’t automatically be at the top of the transfer list, MSCS said in an emailed statement. Applications that allow students to attend a different school than their zoned one are reviewed each year on a first-come, first-served basis. But families from Lucy Elementary, Frayser-Corning Elementary, Georgian Hills Elementary, Ida B. Wells…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Memphis schools interim leader Roderick Richmond will serve as the district’s permanent superintendent after contentious debate among board members Wednesday.The Memphis-Shelby County school board voted unanimously to appoint Richmond as the full-time superintendent after his temporary contract expires at the end of July. That came after a split board argued over whether a full superintendent search was feasible and necessary for transparency, or whether immediate stability was the most important factor. “There’s a crisis of inconsistency here,” said board member Amber Huett-Garcia, who…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Last March, a group of Memphis faith and nonprofit leaders rallied outside the school district’s headquarters holding signs with “S.O.S.” printed in bright red letters. It was a public show of community solidarity with Memphis-Shelby County Schools, which was facing threats of a state takeover from Tennessee lawmakers. The grassroots Save Our Students coalition called the proposal to establish a state-appointed oversight board “an attack on democracy.” The group hosted a series of town halls and community meetings through May, shortly after the…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Note: This story will be updated as more cancellation announcements are made.Memphis-Shelby County Schools is cancelling classes on Monday due to “ongoing hazardous weather” caused by a weekend storm. The district announced the closure decision on Saturday morning. In a video posted Friday, interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said the safety of students and staff guides all cancellation decisions. “While we recognize that school is often the safest place for our students, we also have a responsibility to remain mindful of changing weather conditions,…

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…