On the first day of the new school year, Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Superintendent Dr. Roderick Richmond tried to press on as normally as possible, despite the looming questions of state intervention.¶
Richmond visited a handful of elementary schools Monday morning, including Downtown Elementary School, where he, flanked by school board member Michelle Robinson McKissack, spoke with media members and answered a variety of questions about the in-limbo intervention efforts, enrollment, and staffing issues.¶
The Elephant In the (Class)Room
One of the first questions Richmond faced concerned the state’s audit of the district, which Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower said found “years of poor management, weak internal controls, inadequate oversight, and a culture where policies were too often ignored instead of followed.”¶
The audit was among multiple steps taken by members of the Tennessee General Assembly to address concerns about academic underperformance in the district and the firing of former superintendent Marie Feagins. Earlier this year, lawmakers also approved state intervention by creating an oversight board with the power to make sweeping changes, including the authority to hire and fire board members or superintendents.¶
When asked for his response to the state intervention, which is currently on hold due to a temporary injunction, and if there was an update on the district’s pending lawsuit challenging intervention, Richmond said he felt “pretty good” about where MSCS stands.¶
“My team and I are putting together a modernization excellence plan,” Richmond said. “The audit is behind us. We're moving forward with solutions. As it relates to the lawsuit, we're in litigation each and every day. My team and I are going to get up, and we're going to put in an honest day's work. As of today, our nine board members are still governing Memphis-Shelby County Schools.”¶
The district also published a website for families to track its response to the state audit in April, where it details plans for increased transparency and accountability in its operations.¶
Richmond emphasized that there are 110,000 students in the district who are counting on MSCS to continue with their duties as usual.¶
“We, as a team of 10, as well as all of the teachers, principals, and parents, and students across this district, we're going to get up and ensure that teaching and learning are taking place each and every day,” Richmond said.¶
Enrollment and Other Topics
One media member noted that Richmond also visited Kirby Middle School and Hillcrest High School earlier in the morning. Both were in the state-run Achievement School District (ASD) and are returning to district control this year. She asked what enrollment and registration trends he saw at both schools for the upcoming year.¶
Richmond thanked both schools’ principals for doing a “wonderful job of getting those schools open and up and ready for students.¶
“We’re at about 346 students (enrolled at Kirby Middle School), and I think projections were 425 and, at Hillcrest, 420,” Richmond said. “So, we're still down a few students at those schools, but it's looking promising.”¶
Richmond also addressed the process of hiring and placing special education staff in schools. He said all MSCS schools have filled those open positions, but that it wasn’t without its challenges.¶
“I will say when it comes to (staffing), the two areas that we have some challenges are elementary teachers and our special ed teachers,” Richmond said. “So, the team and I, we’re continuing to work. As a matter of fact, we put together a plan to start to attack that each and every year so that, at some point, that shouldn’t be a challenge like it currently is.”¶
When asked which schools still have teacher vacancies, Richmond said he could not say specifically, just that while every district school does have special education advisors, there are elementary school and special education positions still open.¶
“I feel comfortable in saying that if those teachers applied for a job, chances are they're still with us unless they applied outside of the district,” Richmond said.¶
