Memphis Shelby County Schools' superintendent begins first full school year amid major changes

Monday marked the beginning of the 2024-25 school year for students in the Memphis-Shelby County school district, which will be Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins’ first full school year running the board since her appointment to the role in April.

According to news releases emailed to Tennessee Firefly, Feagins recently made sweeping changes to district leadership, amid the system’s plans to address teacher shortages and restructure personnel to better meet students’ needs. Among those changes, Feagins has selected motivational leader and communications professional Julian Cross to head the Superintendent's Office as its executive manager to help manage operations, as well as attorney Justin Bailey to head the Office of General Counsel for Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS). Bailey is poised to “lead the district’s legal team with distinction, ensuring continued legal and regulatory support for MSCS,” one announcement said.

In addition, Feagins selected Michelle Stuart as the district's new Facility Services Officer in the Office of the Superintendent, where she will provide assistance with “overall supervision, direction, and coordination of the management of school facilities, grounds and fleet maintenance, building renovations, and space allocations.”  

That announcement came shortly before the board voted in June to approve Feagins’ plans to cut over 1,000 district positions and a $1.8 billion budget for the 2024-25 school year, which includes historic investments in infrastructure and teacher salaries.

"Michelle's knowledge and insight when it comes to our district facilities is unparalleled. She knows each property's benefits and limitations, and her focus is on providing the best possible learning environments for our students,” Feagins said in a public statement.

Feagins has also selected academic leader Jared Myracle as the district’s new director of literacy and longtime educator longtime and central office leader Angela Whitelaw to head the district's Office of Education Services. Those appointments come as the district continues its focus on boosting student literacy in the district, with the help of $21.8 million in this year’s budget for targeted tutoring and mentoring geared toward helping students improve their performance on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) tests and end-of-course exams.

The district will also use over $14 million to help expand after-school programming and activity bus routes, as well as nearly $3 million for programming aimed at bolstering attendance, according to the district’s budget. In addition, the district will use nearly $96.7 million for facility enhancements focused on revitalizing learning environments and addressing urgent structural challenges to create safer spaces for learning, among other plans moving forward.

Feagins’ board will see four new faces this school year following last week’s election. The new board members are Towanna Murphy in District 7, Tamarques Porter in District 4, Natalie McKinney in District 2 and Sable Otey in District 5. The new members come as the district works to rebuild public trust, following the drawn-out superintendent selection process that laid bare the divisions on the board at the time and left many voters frustrated.

Feagins said in a recent announcement that one of her biggest priorities moving into this school year is to encourage collaboration and community engagement in their decision-making.“Bringing the community along the journey has remained a priority for me since taking the helm on April 1,” Feagins said.