MSCS rejected requests for Kirby Middle and Hillcrest High to become district charter schools once their ASD terms end. The denials could carry consequences, under a new state law.

The four schools in Southwest Memphis that xAI has proposed supporting have some of the greatest deferred maintenance needs in the district. 

While some commissioners said the resolution the could end terms early for some MSCS board members is “unfair” and that there were “pure hypocrites in this room,” unhappy community members said, “It’s time for change.”

During the deposition, Feagins also denied sexual harassment allegations that an attorney for the MSCS board said are part of a “formal complaint.”

The new $90 million Hernando High has more than 200,000 square feet and is situated on an expansive 94-acre lot.

The move is expected to restore $17 million in federal funds to Memphis-Shelby County Schools, which pays for school-based translators and helps educators hone their teaching strategies.

More than half the money raised will go toward other university operations.

Memphis school board members will vote next week on a revised student cellphone policy to align with new state standards.

Five of seven County Commissioners present for a Wednesday test vote supported a move that ultimately would cut in half the terms of five school board members elected in 2024. 

“It would be contrary to and would not serve the public’s interest, in anyway, to legally mandate” that Memphis-Shelby County Schools restore Marie Feagins as superintendent, the school board’s attorney argued in court documents.

Marie Feagins’ attorney argued the public termination meetings were just a “rubber stamp.” The school board’s attorney argued Feagins lacked evidence of direct knowledge of violations and instead relied on secondhand information.

Porter-Leath, a local early childhood education organization, appears to be taking over local management of a $30 million, federally funded preschool program known as Head Start. 

Roderick Richmond is one third of the way through his interim superintendent contract, which expires in July 2026. MSCS board members haven’t discussed how long his role will last. 

Middle schoolers and high school students got to explore computer science and coding during a three-day event at the University of Memphis.

“This is a complete case of abandonment of 185 students on scholarship,” said one student. “It’s a break of trust. It comes as a betrayal.”

The Lakeland school district will add its first-ever senior class this year.

Have Shelby County districts improved third grade reading scores under the new retention law? How do Memphis students compare to students across Tennessee? Answer these questions and more.

In hires announced late Thursday, July 10, Memphis-Shelby County Schools interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond restored some former administrators to senior roles and delivered new faces from FedEx and elsewhere.

“These students face academic dismissal, visa complications and loss of housing and support, through no fault of their own ...” the university said in a statement. 

The Tennessee Department of Education issued results from its state exams Tuesday, July 8. “Growth is not optional; it’s our mandate,” MSCS Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond said in a statement.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools may lose federal funds used to pay for translators and district-level staff who help educators in what a former MSCS board member calls a “lose-lose” situation. 

The local nonprofit founded by five cancer survivors has announced the first two recipients of its new $2,500 Community Cancer Support Scholarship.

Students’ prior enrollment is a frequently asked question in other state voucher programs and was a required question on the application for Tennessee’s first voucher initiative.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools had abruptly lost access to leftover pandemic-era federal funding in March.

With the students away, Arlington Community Schools gets to work with summertime projects that freshen up current amenities and expand extracurricular options for students.