There are 284 articles by Laura Testino :
Roderick Richmond’s evaluation results — including teachers' opinions on the interim leader — are in. He took over the district after former superintendent Marie Feagins was removed by the board in Jan. 2025.
The MSCS board’s new complaint makes a special case for board member Tamarques Porter of District 4 who “will suffer a unique harm.”
This time, the Musk Foundation has proposed funding upgrades at three elementary schools.
Instead of expanding pre-K access, classrooms may close if Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris doesn’t release local funding, prekindergarten organization First 8 says.
Last year, 5,500 Shelby County students got about $45 million in public funding to use at private schools by participating in the state’s two major school voucher initiatives. Even more vouchers could be on the way.
State Rep. Mark White hopes Tennessee legislative leadership is “ready to move” on an MSCS takeover bill when lawmakers reconvene Tuesday, Jan. 13.
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.
Commissioners decided Monday they want a lawsuit to stay in place and a court to put an end to the dispute over MSCS elections one way or another.
The Shelby County Election Commission will stop issuing petitions for five MSCS seats in response to an order from a local judge.
Two schools will exit the nearly defunct, state-run Achievement School District this summer. Their fates lie with MSCS officials, who have yet to decide if the schools will remain open or be closed.
About one in three local schools improved their letter grade, and one in five scored worse.
Interim MSCS Superintendent Roderick Richmond speaks on possibly closing 15 schools, improving buildings and blight.
Some say the National Guard “shouldn’t be here,” while others say Memphis “got the message.” The Daily Memphian captured a snapshot of where Memphians stand on the Memphis Safe Task Force and its impact.
Chickasaw Middle could close at the end of the school year, one of five closures MSCS officials have proposed. The students would move to the Westwood High campus, making it a school for sixth-12th graders.
Discovery has stalled in former Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ Superintendent Marie Feagins’ lawsuit over her ouster, which began one year ago. A judge expects the case to pick back up in the new year as Feagins’ new attorney gets up to speed.
“This case presents a stark example of legislative punishment masquerading as election reform,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit filed in Shelby County Chancery Court on Monday, Dec. 15.
After years of planning, renovations and security-equipment purchases, Memphis-Shelby County Schools debuted its “Real Time Safety Center” on Thursday. “We know seconds matter” during threats, the district’s interim safety and security chief said.
An attorney representing former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins in a lawsuit challenging her ouster from the district has withdrawn from the case, court documents show.
Families at Lucy Elementary have known a change was coming. But MSCS officials recently proposed giving the school to Millington this summer, a year early.
The Memphis teenager was shot and injured during the school day in a park adjacent to Overton High School in East Memphis, according to police and the school system.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee Republican running for governor, is proposing bipartisan legislation that would give Memphis additional law enforcement resources and funding for technology to combat cargo theft.
MSCS board members directed the district to expand bus access to immigrant students who may be staying home from school to avoid interactions with the Memphis Safe Task Force.
The changes could be an example of what’s to come for other families as Memphis-Shelby County Schools makes plans to close, consolidate, repurpose and build new campuses.
“I’d love to have the permanent superintendent role,” interim Memphis school Superintendent Roderick Richmond said during a recent interview on WKNO-TV Channel 10’s “Behind The Headlines.”
They are among about 100 identified as “priority schools” by the Tennessee State Board of Education. Possible interventions can include state-mandated closure, conversion to a charter school, or firing and rehiring staff.