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 91 articles by Laura Testino :
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.
If funding pressures disrupt construction timelines for the new schools, Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell knows what he wants to see: “Frayser’s coming first.”
“We’ve seen good work from the single-gender schools, even though there’s not that many of them,” said Emily Lilley of the Tennessee Charter School Center.
Academic success and student safety were the top concerns of a handful of voters who came to cast their ballots after lunch at New Beginnings Community Church on Kirby Parkway.
The professional comedian, performing under the FunnyMaine moniker, gained popularity for his comedic re-enactments of University of Alabama football fans.
A new policy would require all overtime to receive advance approval from Superintendent Marie Feagins, and make no exceptions for emergencies.
Political action committees have reported more than $73,000 in donations to candidates for the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board.
The departure from the race leaves voters in parts of South Memphis and Oakhaven neighborhoods with four other candidates to consider.
Representatives for the club filed a lawsuit in March, claiming that the school district had “chosen to defy the First Amendment” by charging “excessive” and “unexpected” fees to rent space at Chimneyrock Elementary School for the club.
Two Frayser high schools increased financial-aid application completion rates this year, bucking state and district trends. But more students still need to fill out the form for college.
The historic alleyway runs east from Second Street now to Fourth Street between Court and Madison avenues. Stuart Harris, a developer who spearheaded a renaming effort, said the “in-between” place holds “a lot of possibility and magic.”
The college is considering a future location in Frayser or Raleigh with programming tailored to the neighborhoods’ needs and interests.
Southwest sold its Gill Center to education neighbors Libertas, who plan to renovate the building for a middle school expansion, the organizations announced Wednesday.
A Memphis demolition company has renewed plans to double the size of its construction debris landfill, but is again facing opposition from Frayser residents who are critical of the existing site.
MSCS Superintendent Marie Feagins says Caldwell-Guthrie Elementary School, shuttered last week by its state-takeover operators, will stay open this fall and expand to take on students from Humes Middle School. MSCS closed Humes earlier this spring.
During a recent hiring fair, MSCS offered jobs to about 100 people, but only 15 candidates were given teaching positions.
Findings from the state-run Achievement School District showed “serious noncompliance and material violations of the charter agreement” by Memphis Scholars, revealing additional information about the abrupt closure of the operators three charter schools.
Charter operator Memphis Scholars received a violation from Tennessee’s Achievement School District, prompting a board vote to close three schools that serve more than 400 students in North and South Memphis.
Using Tennessee Department of Education data, The Daily Memphian created a searchable table of Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) exam scores.
Math and English language arts proficiency varies by race, and MSCS’ scores continue to fall below statewide data.
Feagins has officially been superintendent for only about two months, but has been gearing up for this role for a long time.
MSCS is asking the county for more than $200 million in funding for school buildings, both to address maintenance needs at existing schools and to support construction of two new high schools.
Humes, now a middle school, is exiting a state-run turnaround district after 10 years. Its students will be reassigned to a school in a different part of the city.