School repair needs spark heated debate at Memphis-Shelby County School Board work session

A discussion on the condition of school buildings turned heated at Monday’s Memphis-Shelby County School Board work session.Board member Stephanie Love and Interim Superintendent Tutonial “Toni” Williams spared over the timeline of improvements for a school in Love’s district. Love questioned if Grandview Heights Middle School will be first on the list for repairs and told Williams she’s not convinced anything will be done.“The reason I asked is because I visited Grandview yesterday and it is a hot mess. Teachers are complaining, students are complaining, and the parents are complaining. And I said yesterday, if my daughter was in a school the way Grandview looks, I would take her out. I want to be sure: I don’t work for the board, I work for my community,” said Love. “The school is in so much shape that I wanted to know. I shouldn’t have a parent call me. I acted like I knew. You have got to do better.”Love also complained that the new HVAC system in the school is malfunctioning.Williams assured Love that she’s not taking the issue lightly.“I think that we as the administration are so used to crisis management that it has become normal for us to go into attack mode for our students and to just take the problem and go into “reactive and fix it” mode. And sometimes we do miss the ham of communication so I will take that accountability and accept that. Now I want to be clear, that I am a fighter for all students, and I want to be clear with the Grandview Heights situation, that there is a HVAC for accountability,” said Williams.This discussion coincidentally came during a week where the interim superintendent herself sounded the alarm at the condition of school buildings in the district. The Memphis Commercial Appeal ran an op-ed from Williams on Wednesday where the interim superintendent called for Memphis to restore “maintenance of effort” funding for schools.Memphis stopped providing that funding when Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools merged in 2013. Williams claims those contributions amount to roughly $80 million annually.The age of the district’s schools is also adding to the district’s challenges. The average age of school buildings in Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) is 64 years old. That’s 24 years older than the recommended life span of school buildings nationwide.“I’m not advocating for a bulldozer revolution because I understand that buildings carry memories and landscapes are woven with local history. However, if we are committed to these architectural jewels, then we must commit the funds to preserve them. Let's transform aging schools into historic gems where legacy meets future,” wrote Williams.

Displaced Student Services and Homework Hotline

Board members also discussed the district’s plan to increase funding to provide a uniform for homeless students and those who lack a fixed residence at the work session.MSCS is proposing investing nearly $150 thousand for 37 thousand school uniform vouchers these students can qualify for. Students that are in danger of becoming homeless, but aren’t currently, will not qualify.Board members also discussed spending more than $144 thousand to relaunch the district’s Homework Hotline that provides students with homework and tutoring services.Chief of Student, Family and Community Affairs Dr. Lori Phillips told board members she intends to increase the usage of the service by providing extended hours in addition to the already established tutoring opportunities.“We’re working with our dynamic communications department so we can relaunch the Homework Hotline. We know it’s easy when it’s easy: (901) 416-1234, but we want everyone to know, especially with progress reports nearing, that we wanna make sure that that is out there so parents can know that they can take advantage of this opportunity,” said Phillips.Board Chair Althea Greene spoke in favor of relaunching the hotline, saying it would also provide an opportunity for board members to do robocalls in the district to remain in constant communication with families.