Former Memphis-Shelby County Schools employee says he was fired in retaliation for criticizing district personnel changes

Jarvis Cook, a former MSCS HR staff member, said he was terminated after speaking out against district personnel changes in June. (Screenshot)

A former Memphis-Shelby County Schools employee told district leaders at Tuesday’s school board meeting that he believes he was terminated for speaking out against job cuts at another meeting in June.

Jarvis Cook, a former HR staff member, said he and three other members of his Central Office team lost their jobs shortly after that meeting and did not receive “any rationale” for their termination.

He said he believes the team’s dismissal was “a result of retaliation” for speaking out against recent personnel changes spearheaded by Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins, which have been a topic of controversy in the Tennessee school district in recent months. He added that he believes his team “deserves answers.”

“When I stood here on June 11, I was an employee with the district serving as human resources employee enterprise analyst. I was here advocating for my colleagues in the Central Office,” he said, adding that he was dismissed just days after speaking to the board then.

“We reached out to the superintendent requesting a meeting to discuss our roles and contributions, but these requests were unanswered,” he added. “On August 19, we filed a formal complaint with the general counsel’s office and here we are a month later. We have yet to receive any updates on the investigation.”  

District 9 Board Member Joyce Dorse Coleman (Photo by Memphis-Shelby County Schools)

Board members said they’re aware of Cook's claims in the ongoing investigation and hope to reach some sort of resolution in the near future.

"There is more than just that young man, it's several, it's more than 50 different people that have reached out to me just personally and not on my email but personally saying that when they spoke out, they were removed,” board member Towanna Murphy said in a report from ABC24.

In addition to discussing personnel issues, the board also elected a new chair and vice chair for the 2024-25 school year.

Board members unanimously elected District 9 Board Member Joyce Dorse Coleman to serve as the chair, and District 3 Board Member Stephanie Love, the longest-serving member, to serve as vice chair with a vote of 6-3.

During the voting process, District 1 Board Member Michelle McKissack nominated Amber Huett-Garcia of District 8, while Love was nominated by Murphy, who was recently elected to represent District 7.