Laura Testino is an enterprise reporter who writes about how public policy shapes Memphis. She is currently reporting from Frayser about education and housing. Please write her with your suggestions and story tips.
There are 151 articles by Laura Testino :
Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members have not produced additional evidence to support claims levied against Superintendent Marie Feagins during a Dec. 17 termination meeting, Feagins’ attorney Alan Crone said.
Juvenile Court filed a lawsuit Tuesday requesting the Shelby County Chancery Court stop the Sheriff’s Office from terminating its oversight of Shelby County’s juvenile-detention center.
“Where I come from, you call somebody a liar, you better have plenty to back that up,” said Feagins’ attorney, Memphis lawyer Alan Crone.
In a new statement released to the press on Thursday, Dec. 26, board Chair Joyce Dorse Coleman seemed to provide an accelerated timeline for terminating Superintendent Marie Feagins.
Nevertheless, state law requires Tennessee districts with D and F schools appear before the Tennessee State Board of Education for hearings. Such reviews could result in corrective-action plans or audits for districts or charter operators.
During a Thursday press conference, Tennessee state Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, stopped short of committing to push legislation that would allow voters to recall Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members.
However, the termination proceedings will continue into the new year and be decided in the board’s business meeting at the end of January. Related content:
Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members are scheduled to meet Tuesday to consider terminating Superintendent Marie Feagins’ contract.
More turmoil at Memphis-Shelby County Schools could bring back proposals for state intervention in Tennessee’s largest school district, a state lawmaker told The Daily Memphian.
Memphis students and public education have been through leadership tumult that began with the departure of former Superintendent Joris Ray in 2022 and continued through the interim tenure of Toni Williams.Related content:
By joining TNTP, Toni Williams strengthens the teacher training organization’s ties to Memphis.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins said she may seek community input as decisions are made following a $2 million assessment of each of the district’s 200 buildings
A report from the U.S. Department of Justice found “serious concerns” with the Memphis Police Department’s “treatment of children and the lasting impact of police encounters on their wellbeing and resilience.” Officers arrested and handcuffed children as young as 8 years old.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges the Memphis Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the U.S. Constitution. ‘A rush to judgment’: Memphis won’t enter agreement with DOJRelated content:
Five people who were banned from Memphis-Shelby County Schools for alleged disruption during a public meeting claimed the district violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
The funds would have to be allocated at the Shelby County Commission’s meetings on Dec. 11 and Dec. 16, the last two before the end of the year.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools began the year with hundreds of teacher vacancies, leaving thousands of Memphis students lacking a certified teacher.
With a steady hand and a needle and thread, Rose Wheeler taught herself patience again.
At Hawkins Mill Elementary, chronic absenteeism plummeted. And at Trezevant High, graduation rates climbed closer to the district average. Both had been among Tennessee’s bottom 5% for over a decade.
This week, Justin Timberlake is back in Memphis, there’s an early turkey trot at Overton Park and the holiday lights come on at Graceland and Downtown.
This twist on a classic is the tradition two performers have known for their entire lives. They’ve danced nearly every role in the show, from mice to toy soldiers.
District officials said the money is needed to keep the project on track as it recalculates next steps for the stalled Cordova high school.
“We’ve got to face the reality,” Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said. “The (Cordova) project may not be dead permanently, but it’s suffered a pretty big death blow.”
Sondra Howell of the Greater Memphis Chamber will be the interim director of a regional workforce development board as the program seeks to smooth out a rocky year of transition.
Organizers of the More for Memphis plan are pitching elected officials on a new board to assign more than $1 billion in funding to efforts they say would solve the city’s economic mobility problem.