Is the ideal candidate to lead Memphis Schools already on the job? Some say yes despite national search support

The search for a new superintendent to lead Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) is seeing disagreement over whether the ideal candidate is already on the job.At last Thursday’s community input session on the superintendent search, some pushed for the permanent instatement of interim superintendent, Tutonial “Toni” Williams, rather than continue the nationwide search.One teacher speaking in support of Williams at the session praised the interim superintendent’s work in the recent agreement that allows thousands of MSCS students and faculty to remain in the Germantown Elementary, Middle and High schools, known collectively as the “three G’s,” while the facilities begin a nine year transition from MCSC control to the Germantown Municipal School District.The agreement was made necessary after Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill last year that prohibits a county from operating a school within the geographic boundaries of a municipal school district like Germantown’s.“In the months that followed the passage of the law, I’ve watched 38 members of Germantown High School faculty and staff leave a school they love to ensure the financial stability of their families with my own daughter among the faculty,” said one teacher in support of Williams remaining, “[William’s] had not only been willing to fight for us, you had already been working nonstop from you very first day to make our impossible ask a reality. In just a hundred days, you raised $100 million and guaranteed the history of a school that dates back more than a hundred years.”Thursday’s session is the first of three this month that are designed to give parents and teachers an opportunity to weigh on the qualities they want for a superintendent.Other participants in Thursday credited Williams with the agreement to allow students and staff to remain in Lucy Elementary for the next four years before it’s transferred to Millington Municipal Schools. That agreement includes a $3.3 million payment to MSCS that Williams has pledged to reinvest in the schools that Lucy’s students and staff will ultimately move to.“In a short period of time, [Williams] has led the district forth with both excellence and grace. She has listened to the concerns of the parents, and she has listened to those of us who are in the schools, in the classrooms and in the trenches of with students and parents every day,” said another teacher in support of Williams remaining.Despite the arguments for permanent instatement of Williams, Memphis LIFT leader Sarah Carpenter argued support the nationwide search for a new superintendent.Carpenter is a part of the Community Panel that’s advising MSCS board members on the search. She says a nationwide search is what is right for the community.“I came with an open mind… I know Toni, I believe she can do it. But we’re asking for a search. If you wanna lose anyone’s trust in a city that seems to be sinking fast, don’t do a search,” said Carpenter.The next community input session will be held on today at Kingsburg High School in Memphis. A third session is scheduled for Saturday at the Board of Education office.