Memphis-Shelby County Schools teachers will get salary raises and be able to move up the district’s salary schedule faster under an agreement with the two teachers unions.The new schedule is one part of $78 million in new funds the district is putting toward salaries and bonuses, which officials hope will encourage teacher retention and entice new teachers to fill hard-to-staff roles.

The Metro Nashville School Board approved new changes to the district safety policy Tuesday night in response to school safety legislation signed into law by Governor Bill Lee last May.The biggest change is the formal establishment of district “existence of threat” assessment teams to develop intervention-based approaches to prevent violence and manage reporting of potential threats.“This is a new policy for MNPS, even though we do have threat assessment teams,” said Director of Board of Education Relations and Management David Sevier. “It just codifies having threat assessment teams at a district level. We also have other threat assessment teams that assemble, when necessary, at school levels.”The director of schools will appoint each member of the team. Those members will also document behaviors and incidents that pose a risk to school safety or resulted in intervention.

Members of the Maury County Public Schools Board of Education narrowly voted down a much talked about application by American Classical Education (ACE) to open the county’s first public charter school.

A middle school and improved financial education are among the improvement’s residents in Memphis’ Orange Mound community say are desperately needed to improve the area’s challenges with racial inequity and generation poverty.Those suggestions came Wednesday evening during a community forum in Orange Mound for the More for Memphis initiative.

Leaders of American Classical Education (ACE) didn’t hold back their criticism of Jackson-Madison County school board members who voted down a proposal to establish the county’s first public charter school.Following the board’s 5-1 vote to deny Tuesday, ACE board member Dolores Gresham released a scathing press release that claimed the board ignored the voices of local families who want more school options.

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) District 5 school board member Christiane Buggs listed public charter school demographics as one reason why she planned to vote against an application to open Invictus Nashville Charter School. Any parents listening to her comments during Tuesday's board meeting came away with an inaccurate view of who public charter schools are actually serving.

Public charter schools haven’t exactly received the warmest of welcomes from the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education in recent years, but Dr. Brenda Jones hopes to change that Tuesday night.Dr. Jones’ proposed Invictus Nashville Charter School is one of three charter applications board members will be deciding whether to approve. The board denied all three in the initial round of the approval process last April. That vote followed a similar denial of every proposed public charter school the year before.Jones hopes Invictus Nashville will find an easier path with its education model that focuses not just on academic outcomes, but social and emotional outcomes, opportunities for students to direct their education, and help students figure out what they want to do and what they can do to pursue their goals.

The halls of Cheatham County’s middle and high schools will look a bit different when students return August 7.  Students will no longer be carrying backpacks to class.

Members of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Board of Education voted to deny four out of five applications Tuesday night from public charter schools vying to transition from the state’s Achievement School District (ASD) and into MSCS.The vote means an uncertain future for Humes Middle School, Martin Luther King Jr. College Preparatory High School, Cornerstone Prep Lester, and Fairley High School in the 2024/2025 school year. Each school could face closure, a merger into the district’s Izone turnaround school model, or potentially even remain open as public charter schools if leaders successfully appeal to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.Each of the five schools applying for transition to MSCS is doing so because the school is in the last year of a ten-year term with the Achievement School District. The ASD is an intervention run by the state to serve schools that are in the lowest five percent of schools, or a low achieving school across the state.

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) selected Christine Tran to represent her fellow MNPS students on the school board next year. Tran is a rising junior at the soon-to-open James Lawson High and former student of the recently closed Hillwood High School.

A short-handed Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Board of Education chose an unexpected path in the public charter school approval process Tuesday night. With several members absent, the board voted to support a proposed public charter school that failed to pass multiple reviews while denying others the district itself rated higher.

Shelby County Commissioners chose non-profit leader Mauricio Calvo to fill a vacant spot on the Memphis-Shelby County School Board.District 5 has been without representation since former Board Vice Chair Sheleah Harris’ abrupt resignation last month.At Monday’s meeting, commissioners voted 7 to 4 to confirm Calvo to serve as interim board member until the end of Harris’ term in September 2024. Calvo beat out three other candidates for the appointment.

Shelby County Commissioners chose non-profit leader Mauricio Calvo to fill a vacant spot on the Memphis-Shelby County School Board.District 5 has been without representation since former Board Vice Chair Sheleah Harris’ abrupt resignation last month.At Monday’s meeting, commissioners voted 7 to 4 to confirm Calvo to serve as interim board member until the end of Harris’ term in September 2024. Calvo beat out three other candidates for the appointment.

The approval process for proposed new public charter schools is about to begin its second round for school districts across the state.Four school boards will be voting on amended applications this month from nine public charter schools that were all denied in the spring.

The Knox County Schools board of education approved a policy to allow students to leave school for an hour to earn elective credits for religious courses.The 7-1 decision came with some reservations from board members, including Reverend John Butler. The District 1 board member raised numerous concerns about the vagueness of the policy.

Hamilton County Schools announced Dr. Martha McMillan and Alisan Taylor will take over as the new principals for East Ridge Elementary School and Thrasher Elementary School.

Four proposed public charter schools may face a tougher road to finding approval in Memphis.The Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) charter review team is recommending school board members deny applications from every proposed public charter school this year, including Pathways in Education, CHANGE Academy, Empower Memphis Career and College Prep, and the Tennessee Career Academy.

A “deep dive” review of student support services by Knox County Schools (KCS) found challenges providing resources to special education students and English language learners.That review of the district’s Student Success Division found many parents of these students were unsure where to find resources and a general need for improved communication with families.

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) has launched a “Back to School” webpage to help families prepare for the new school year that begins August 8.“The morning rings August 8, welcoming students, teachers, and staff in schools across the district - ushering in a traditional and exciting start of a new academic year. We are so glad we'll be back together,” wrote MNPS.In addition to having information to help get families and students ready for back-to-school season, the page provides information and resources for enrolling students, COVID protocols, and transportation.