Some pre-K classrooms could close within 30 days without county funding

By , Daily Memphian Updated: January 13, 2026 6:32 AM CT | Published: January 13, 2026 4:00 AM CT

The Shelby County Board of Commissioners pushed Mayor Lee Harris to send more than $10 million in funding to local prekindergarten classrooms in a vote Monday, Jan. 12.

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Shelby County Government Shelby County Commission First 8 Memphis prekindergarten
Laura Testino

Laura 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.


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