Most Memphis charter networks are reopening but most students aren’t returning
Laura Faith Kebede
Laura Faith Kebede is a distinguished journalist in residence at the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis. She leads the Institute’s Civil Wrongs project to write about historical cases of racial terror as a corps member for Report for America. You can follow her on Twitter @kebedefaith.
Charter schools run by nonprofit organizations are allowed to make their own plans about reopening buildings. That means about a quarter of Memphis students attend public schools that are not obligated to follow Superintendent Joris Ray’s decision to continue all-virtual learning.
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Superintendent Joris Ray Shelby County Schools Memphis Academy of Health Sciences Wooddale Middle SchoolRelated stories
SCS joins ranks of U.S. schools facing pressure to reopen
Gov. Bill Lee talked with SCS Superintendent Joris Ray about potentially returning children to classes by Feb. 15. Dozens of Tennessee counties have progressed to Phase 1b, which includes teachers in the vaccination priority list.
Some Memphis school board members push for a reopening date
Superintendent Joris Ray presented updates for reopening during a board committee meeting Thursday, including creating a district contact-tracing team and using district buildings to administer vaccines to teachers. But he has delayed reopening classes indefinitely, citing high community spread of COVID-19.
County Commission urges state to move up teacher vaccinations
The resolution, approved Monday, Feb. 8, in a unanimous vote, isn’t binding on the state. But it calls on the state to move teachers up in the vaccination line as a condition for reopening the state’s largest school system.
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