MEMPHIS NEWS

All five candidates will be on the ballot for the May 5 primary election, and the winner will face independent candidate Frederick Dewayne Tappan in the general election on August 6.

Early voting begins on April 15, and all three candidates will be on the ballot as Democrats for the May 5 primary.

Opponents brought up union concerns this week, but didn’t mention students.

The district voted down applications for Blueprint College and Career Prep, Empowerment Academy, Memphis Elites STEAM Academy, Opportunity Youth Academy, and Urban Dove Team Charter Schools Memphis I and II, on the consent calendar.

The commission voted 7-5 to act against the state’s takeover, but a two-thirds majority is needed to add the measure to the agenda for later voting.

Gaston is the School Leader for the Urban Dove Team Charter School Memphis I, a planned charter school in the Hickory Hill area of Memphis that emphasizes learning as a team.

The House voted to adopt legislation that creates an oversight board over certain school districts, including MSCS. It now heads to Governor Bill Lee’s desk for his signature.

The Senate voted to approve an oversight board with far-reaching powers for Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) beginning next school year.

The public charter school is the first approved under a new state law that makes it easier to replicate existing school models.

The new plan would create an oversight board with the authority to deny school board actions.

A conference committee has been named to iron out the differences between two plans.

The site serves as a resource to track its response to the audit and provide transparency on its operations.

The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission held a public hearing to give school leaders and parents an opportunity to explain why the new school is needed.

In the audit, officials revealed nearly 175 deficiencies involving a wide range of “widespread operational failures.”

The long-awaited forensic audit in Memphis-Shelby County Schools is days away from release, according to a Facebook post by Representative Mark White, R-Memphis.

The Local Accountability and Transformation Plan will prioritize four goals.

Sen. Seal and Hatcher helped reform the approval process for charter schools.

Richmond has been serving as interim superintendent since the board fired former superintendent, Dr. Marie Feagins last year.

The district has received a waiver covering five impacted days and will not need to adjust its school calendar.

County commissioners approved the plan last year to align all nine school board seats on the same 2026 election cycle. 

The district closed schools for the ninth consecutive day on Thursday.

Those schools have been without formal custodial services this year, following a decision last month against approving a contract with ABM Industries.

At Tuesday night’s board work session, multiple members expressed support to keep interim superintendent Dr. Roderick Richmond on the job.

State Senator Brent Taylor has agreed to move forward with State Representative Mark White’s plan to create a state-appointed oversight board for Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Commissioner Sugarmon’s resolution would allow five school board members to serve out their complete four-year term.

Just 11 percent of participating students tested proficient in math on state testing during the program’s initial 2022-23 year. That number rose to 19.5 percent in the 2024-25 school year.

56 percent of the commission’s schools received either an A or a B letter grade, 7 percentage points higher than the state average.

355 schools across the state received an overall A letter grade, compared to 290 last year.

Board attorneys argue that election officials had no authority to place the terms of five school board members up for re-election two years early.

Members failed to approve a $7.2 million contract with ABM Industries to clean all district buildings in the region for the 2026 calendar year.