MSCS board changes rules governing system’s attorney
Departing board member Mauricio Calvo’s proposal returns the general counsel’s office to the reporting structure it was established with in 2007. (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian file)
The attorney for Memphis-Shelby County Schools will report to the elected Board of Education, a change in organizational structure that departing board member Mauricio Calvo believes will enhance governance and accountability for the school system.
Board members voted unanimously in support of the measure during a special called meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The school system’s attorney had been reporting to the superintendent, the only employee who reports directly to the board.
Changing the reporting structure will “ensure independence, strengthen governance and adherence to (the board’s) statutory governance functions,” the resolution states.
The move frees the lead attorney from conflicts and allows legal advice to be neutral and independent, Calvo and other proponents told The Daily Memphian.
Board governance and policy adherence received renewed scrutiny with the investigation and departure of former Superintendent Joris Ray and the subsequent search for a new leader. The board retained outside counsel on and off as it navigated the leadership tumult of the last two years.
Calvo said he worked with the Tennessee School Boards Association to craft the resolution, which was co-sponsored by all nine board members. (Michelle McKissack was absent during the vote.) He said he has been pursuing the idea since November, and proposed the structure based on historical precedent, not because of the people in the roles.
“It sets up the next board for more success,” said Calvo, who will not return to his District 5 post once newly elected board member Sable Otey is sworn in next week.
New structure marks return to old Memphis City Schools policy
General Counsel Justin Bailey joined the district under Superintendent Marie Feagins earlier this summer. In the new structure, Bailey’s office, as well as the policy and risk-management offices, will report to the board. The board office, which oversees public meetings, also follows the general counsel’s office in the updated structure.
“In understanding districts across the country, it’s not uncommon for the office of general counsel to report to the board,” Feagins told reporters after the meeting.
The structure will change some things moving forward, Feagins said, “but the policy is a responsibility of the board. And so that being seated there is absolutely fine.”
Incoming board member Natalie McKinney worked in the school district’s policy office and is supportive of the new structure.
In order to maintain transparency, she said, the board should develop a policy dictating the hiring and appointment of the attorney.
“This is the right structure for us to be a transparent district,” McKinney told The Daily Memphian.
Calvo’s proposal returns the general counsel’s office to the reporting structure it was established with in 2007. As part of the legacy Memphis City Schools board, Tomeka Hart Wigginton created and then placed the attorney’s office under the board, following advice she received at a conference. Before that, the city school district did not have an in-house attorney, she told The Daily Memphian.
But once the city and county school systems merged a decade ago, the new Memphis-Shelby County Schools adopted the policies and structure of the county school system. In that structure, the attorney reported to the superintendent.
Martavius Jones, also a school board member at the time, said the choice then was also agnostic of the people who were in the roles.
Since 2021, Wigginton said she has encouraged the board during retreats to return the general counsel’s office to its purview. She didn’t work on Tuesday’s resolution directly, but supports it. The move is beneficial to “the long term structure and sustainability of the organization,” she said.
A policy issue will bring the resolution back before the board during its regularly scheduled meeting next week, Calvo told The Daily Memphian at the end of the meeting.
He sought advisement about bringing the resolution to Tuesday’s special called meeting, and was told to proceed. But the district’s policy maintains that items cannot be added to those meetings once the agendas are published.
The re-vote, scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 27, will ensure the resolution’s validity into the future, Calvo told The Daily Memphian.
Topics
Memphis-Shelby County Schools Memphis-Shelby County Schools boardLaura Testino
Laura Testino is an enterprise reporter on The Daily Memphian’s metro team who writes most often about how education policies shape the lives of children and families. She regularly contributes to coverage of breaking news events and actions of the Tennessee General Assembly. Testino’s journalism career in Memphis began six years ago at The Commercial Appeal, where she began chronicling learning disruptions associated with the pandemic, and continued with Chalkbeat, where she dug into education administration in Memphis. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Times-Picayune, The Tuscaloosa News and USA Today.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.