Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) is down one school board member and is no closer to finding a new superintendent following Tuesday evening’s special called meeting.
During a sometimes-heated discussion on the superintendent search, Vice Chair Sheleah Harris announced she’s stepping down from her elected position.
“I’ve been on this board for three years and I feel like I have served well. And I’ll continue to serve, to advocate until I leave this earth. But at this point, this is my last board meeting. I appreciate the support, my colleagues, I’m choosing to step down from this board. Like I said, I’ll continue to advocate, I’ll continue to serve, but this is the highest level of ignorance I have ever been a part of and for my own health, I just can’t be a part of it anymore,” said Harris.
Harris’s announcement came following further back-and-forth on relaxing the minimum requirements for candidates. Board member Amber Huett-Garcia suggested a proposal to adjust the requirements for the next district leader to include candidates with experience outside of education.
“I do not want to lower the bar in terms of amount of experience or education. But the things that we kept talking about as a board and what we said that we cared about, and I’m just throwing this out as a means for starting a discussion about what adjusting the policy or approving some board-approved equivalent would be,” said Huett-Garcia.
Despite Harris’ objection, the board opted to adopt Huett-Garcia’s proposal. It will adjust the minimum superintendent requirements to include:
- Possessing experience in teaching and school administration and work experience totaling at least 10 years.
- Have an advanced degree with a concentration related to education administration, business finance, leadership, public administration or policy.
These changes could benefit interim superintendent Toni Williams’ bid for the job as she does not have in-classroom experience.
Turbulent Search
The district has been searching for a new superintendent since former superintendent Joris Ray resigned last July after accusations of abuse of power and violations of district policy.
The resignation of one board member is the latest in what has been a turbulent process to find a new leader since then.
The search has faced allegations of a lack of transparency and board members themselves have struggled to come to an agreement over what they want out of the process and even opted to put it officially on hold in early May.
Over the past month, board members have worked with former board member and renowned education advocate Tomeka Hart Wigginton to reassess and reopen the search process.
Initially the board set a goal of naming a new superintendent by Spring but last week members conceded they may not have a new leader in place by the 2023/2024 school year.
