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 163 articles by Laura Testino :
School officials will use information from new district building assessments to determine potential closures and consolidations, including whether Memphis-Shelby County Schools moves its headquarters.
The superintendent must approve the process used to measure her job performance. Once an agreement is reached, Memphis-Shelby County School Board members will complete the evaluation by spring.
Three people, including a teenager in Nashville, were arrested for the threats that prompted MSCS-wide lockdowns last month.
Two outgoing school board members sent letters outlining their concerns with Feagins’ leadership style and communication with the board.
As leaders of the board, the new chair and vice chair will help steer a district that’s in transition, and on the precipice of major decisions about its long-term goals and plans.
Porter-Leath is bringing Head Start preschool programming back to Millington, and it appears poised to compete for the 3,200 Head Start seats currently with MSCS this fall.
Other schools closed and shifted to remote learning for students.
After closing school on Tuesday, students at Cornerstone Prep Denver returned to class Wednesday with the support of counselors.
Three students have been detained in connection to a threat at Whitehaven High School, according to law enforcement, but active investigations remain into additional threats made to other Memphis schools on Wednesday, Sept. 18.Related content:
Police say the carjacking suspect fired shots at officers during a foot pursuit. TBI is reviewing the shooting.
The Daily Memphian has compiled a table that shows every job the district has budgeted for this year and how many positions MSCS removed or added.
Heavy rain, gusty winds in Memphis lead to a short day for students.
Since 2020, Head Start officials have found instances of preschool teachers for Memphis-Shelby County Schools hitting, kicking and jerking students, prompting multiple deficiency notices.
The Daily Memphian analyzed public records to determine what Memphis school district jobs were cut and which ones were created for this 2024-25 school year.
In its final action, the former MSCS board tasked incoming members with creating a strategic plan and evaluation for Superintendent Marie Feagins.
Working for 15 years to reduce recidivism in Memphis, Lifeline to Success has helped some 2,271 former inmates navigate life after incarceration.
“I think the autonomy should be left down there in the Whitehaven area so we can show y’all ... how to do these kids right,” Shelby County Probate Court Clerk Eddie Jones said.
The new structure, outlined in a resolution sponsored by all nine board members, is a return to a precedent of the legacy Memphis City Schools district.
The City of Memphis is expanding its down payment assistance program to help more educators move to and live in Memphis.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools began the 2024-25 year with 478 teacher vacancies, according to documents obtained by The Daily Memphian.
The Land Use Control Board sided with a recommendation to reject the landfill’s expansion in Frayser, a relief for the advocates who opposed it. But the landfill’s owners will now seek approval from the City Council.
“Let me just call it out. The money’s at South Hollywood,” said Commissioner Miska Clay Bibbs, in an apparent reference to the school board district offices at 160 S. Hollywood St.
Natalie McKinney and Tamarques Porter will take elected office for the first time when they are sworn in to the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board. Knocking on doors got them here.
Four sitting Memphis school board members face challengers in the upcoming election, including District 2 representative and MSCS board chair Althea Greene. She is facing Natalie McKinney, a public critic of the district’s superintendent search process, and pastor Ernest Gillespie III.
Voters ousted two of the three incumbents who sought reelection, including the board’s chair.