Memphis school board appointment bill on hold amid talks with lawmakers
A state lawmaker is giving the Memphis-Shelby County school board time to devise an improvement plan before pursuing legislation to empower Gov. Bill Lee to appoint up to six new members to the locally elected body.
Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, said he has spoken with several board members and the district’s incoming superintendent, Marie Feagins, since Chalkbeat reported in early February he’s consulting with the state attorney general’s office on a school governance bill aimed at his home county.
“I’ve told them you’re going to have to manage the district better, and they indicated that they understood,” White said during a recent interview in his office at the state Capitol.
White wants the board to deliver an action plan to him in March, before the legislature is expected to adjourn in April. The plan, he said, should include how district leaders are addressing challenges with literacy, truancy, graduation rates, teacher recruitment, underutilized school buildings and a backlog of building maintenance needs, among other things.
“Our city is begging for change when it comes to education, and I want to know that this school board has a plan,” said White, who chairs a House education committee.
If the board doesn’t deliver, White plans to file his legislation in the next few weeks.
Several board members have said White’s proposal smacks of state overreach — but they want to collaborate with the lawmaker, who is also locally elected, to advance the school district’s work. Still, there’s confusion about exactly what White wants and when he wants it.
“We do have to come up with those agreements or deliverables that he’s talking about,” said board member Mauricio Calvo, who tried unsuccessfully in January to get the board to set priorities for its next superintendent.
“It’s not just because he is saying that. It’s because we want to get to better outcomes for children, for students,” Calvo continued.
Althea Greene, the board’s chair, did not respond to Chalkbeat’s questions about the status of the talks. She sent a statement through the board’s external communications firm saying, in part, that “we are currently in the process of engaging our community with Rep. White regarding his plan.”
White has cited prolonged frustration with the board’s leadership. His legislation would keep the board’s current elected members but add others through Lee’s appointments based on recommendations from local officials and stakeholders.
The East Memphis lawmaker met with six of the district’s nine school board members, including Greene and Calvo, during a previously scheduled Feb. 14 meeting at the Capitol, which he called “very productive.”
Days after, White spoke by phone with Feagins, a Detroit school leader in February to be the next leader of Tennessee’s largest school system. Her selection came in spite of White’s 11th-hour request that the board keep interim Superintendent Toni Williams and delay hiring a leader for a second time.
Michelle McKissack, another school board member at the Capitol meeting, is hopeful for more discussions with state officials that include Feagins. More specifically, she wants to understand White’s expectations.