Just before schools are set to open next week, more than 6,000 Shelby County Schools employees will receive their first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

‘We are in a crisis situation,’ said Sen. Raumesh Akbari of Memphis, who chairs the Senate Democratic caucus. A GOP spokeswoman responded that the Republican Party is proud of its record on education since taking control of the legislature in 2010.

Teachers are eligible for vaccinations in Shelby County. The suburbs are releasing plans for how it plans to give vaccinations to those teachers who want it.

SCS is requiring all in-school personnel to report to their school buildings, health concerns notwithstanding.

About 700 students are affected. Rhodes President Marjorie Hass says the campus was having water pressure problems and made the move to help students and also answer MLGW’s call to conserve water during the crisis.

The district has been considering all coronavirus data in Shelby County, including vaccination data, to determine next steps.

SCS board members, teachers raise questions, concerns about cost, value of consultant Donyall Dickey’s new and expanding “Integrated Approach” literacy plan.

Democratic lawmakers proposed a package of legislation Thursday, Feb. 18, that would increase teacher pay and bring more nurses, counselors and social workers into Tennessee schools.

When Shelby County Schools teachers got vaccinated after a surprise last-minute availability, Superintendent Joris Ray “took the opportunity to stand with” them.

Teachers in the suburban municipal districts can begin receiving vaccinations beginning Wednesday as educators begin to receive the shots.

Arlington and Lakeland will be closed Wednesday as Bartlett students transition to virtual learning.

After a late-night notification, teachers braved Monday’s weather to receive expiring doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Many suburban school districts will be closed Tuesday, Feb. 16, after significant snowfall blanketed Shelby County.

Bartlett City Schools and local colleges close campuses, Monday classes due to inclement weather.

SCS students will begin to gradually return to campus beginning March 1, the district announced Friday, with older students coming back a week later.

Ken Taylor, a well-known politico and education advocate, died Monday at age 36.

Millington Schools will remain closed, while other suburban districts plan to reopen Friday.

After a tense exchange between two Memphis-area lawmakers, the Senate Education Committee voted 8-1 for a measure that would ensure Gov. Bill Lee could legally force Shelby County Schools to offer in-person learning.

Project was designed by A2H in Memphis and Detroit, Michigan-based SmithGroup.

Like other municipal districts, Lakeland is concerned about some of the state regulations regarding testing and advancement from third grade.

Charter schools run by nonprofit organizations are allowed to make their own plans about reopening buildings. That means about a quarter of Memphis students attend public schools that are not obligated to follow Superintendent Joris Ray’s decision to continue all-virtual learning. 

The resolution, approved Monday, Feb. 8, in a unanimous vote, isn’t binding on the state. But it calls on the state to move teachers up in the vaccination line as a condition for reopening the state’s largest school system.

The policy aims to address the growing mismatch between Tennessee’s increasingly diverse student population and the educators who teach them.

When Shelandra Ford took her visually impaired grandson to Tara Oaks Elementary School, she found not only needed educational supports but a loving community as well. Now a group of fifth-graders are learning Braille alongside their friend.

Superintendent Joris Ray presented updates for reopening during a board committee meeting Thursday, including creating a district contact-tracing team and using district buildings to administer vaccines to teachers. But he has delayed reopening classes indefinitely, citing high community spread of COVID-19.