The Memphis-Shelby County School Board unanimously voted Tuesday to establish a special council to help guide decisions about public charter schools.The new Charter Partnership Council will provide feedback and make recommendations to the board to ensure continued accountability and access to high-quality public charter schools for the Memphis community.

When the top three candidates for superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools make their final cases to community and board members later this week, they will not only be explaining their leadership and academic successes, but also proving how well they can get to know a new community.The school board’s current attempt at a national search for superintendent has produced three out-of-state finalists, positioning the district to have its first leader from outside Memphis in more than a decade. While new-to-town leaders have helmed Memphis public schools in the past, internal candidates have been favored in the last decade.

The House K-12 Subcommittee advanced legislation that aims to help public charter schools access vacant and underutilized buildings.If passed the bill would require local school districts that have public charter schools in them to provide a list of vacant and underutilized buildings on an annual basis. Under the bill, school districts would additionally be required to make those properties available to public charter schools at a fair market value and give charters a first right of refusal for either purchase or lease.

The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission unanimously approved Nashville Collegiate Prep’s request to continue providing students its community classroom model into high school.The K-8 public charter school organizes each grade into a pod of 4 to 5 classes. Throughout the day students switch teachers within the pod based on their specific needs and strengths, providing teachers an opportunity to more directly focus lessons on the areas students might need help in.

Earlier this month when schools across Memphis shut down for winter weather, Promise Academy Spring Hill Interim Executive Director Patrick Washington says he received a memorable early morning phone call from a former student named James.Washington says James talked to him about the challenges he was facing in high school and though they hadn’t spoken in years, Washington offered to help.It’s the type of interaction Washington says students receive at Promise Academy Spring Hill and he shared that story to members of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission to drive home the importance of keeping the school open.

Sara Vaneel says she chose to enroll her son in Rocketship Nashville Northeast Elementary School when he was entering kindergarten because she wanted him to have a different educational experience than she received.Vaneel says instead of staying with one teacher each day, her son has benefitted from the public charter school’s class rotation schedule, and he loves his coding and robotics classes.Vaneel’s son and his more than 500 classmates have all been at risk of losing what they enjoy about Rocketship since November when members of the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education voted against renewing the school’s charter. That decision threatened to close the school, but Rocketship appealed to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.Friday, commissioners unanimously voted to overturn the board’s decision and grant Rocketship another ten-year charter. It’s the latest in a series of decisions by commissioners to overturn MNPS board votes against public charter schools

Even under a best-case scenario, hundreds of Metro-Nashville Public School (MNPS) students will have to repeat the fourth-grade next year under a new state law.That’s according to district Executive Director of the Department of Research, Assessment, and Evaluation Christine Stenson, who updated members of the MNPS Board of Education Tuesday night on the potential impact Tennessee’s new Third-Grade Retention Law will have on district fourth-graders.

A key prediction that’s guiding Tennessee’s workforce development is the belief that the number of jobs requiring some form of credential or degree will grow at a higher rate than those requiring only a high school diploma.This could be especially true in Nashville and improving the pathways for students to earn those degrees and credentials is at the heart of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce’s four recommendations to improve K-12 education.

Rutherford County School leaders say reset rooms are helping prevent behavior problems in elementary schools.Reset rooms are designated safe areas where students can go to regulate their emotions and behavior. The rooms also allow students to have quiet time which is another strategy for de-escalation.District Special Education District Coordinator Annie Ralston told school board members at Monday’s work session that over the fall semester, there were 1,432 instances of students using the reset rooms to take a break. Only 349 of those instances, or roughly 25 percent, escalated to involving an administrator.

Memphis-Shelby County School (MSCS) leaders say proactive efforts to winterize schools and increase facility staff is paying dividends during this week’s cold winter weather.For the first time since the merger of Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools, the district has a plant manager stationed at each school to provide expertise and additional resources to facilities teams.District leaders say that change played a valuable role supporting the aging buildings that are less energy efficient and require more money and personnel to maintain.

The Rutherford County School Board is considering upping the ante for how much the district pays its special education teachers and faculty.During budget preparation in last week’s meeting, board members discussed the pay hike to maintain competition with other school districts.Board member Frances Rosales also suggested giving an incentive to education assistants (EA) for students learning English as a second language.

Knox County School Board members voted to hold off implementing a proposed change to school harassment language some fear would remove protections for LGBTQ+ students and faculty.That change would have replaced “actual or perceived gender” and “sexual orientation” in district harassment policy with “sex.”Knox County Deputy Law Director Gary Dupler told board members the recommended language change was for legal purposes only and not with the intention of making a sociopolitical statement, but opponents urged board members at last week’s meeting to keep the language as it is.

The snow that’s blanketed Tennessee this week is forcing Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) to push back the final phase of its superintendent search.The district had planned to host community engagement and school board interviews with three finalists this week but those meetings will now take place on February 1 and 2.The district is considering Atlanta Public Schools Chief Academic Officer Yolanda C. Brown, Portland Public Schools Deputy Superintendent of Instruction and School Communities Cheryl Proctor, and Detroit Public Schools Chief of Leadership and High Schools Marie N. Feagins for the position.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Interim Superintendent Tutonial “Toni” Williams gathered with district leaders Thursday morning to commit to putting forward long-term, proactive, and sustainable solutions to address the root cause of violence impacting youth.Community violence is an ongoing issue in the Memphis community that affects both youth and adults. According to MSCS, 22 students died from violence during the 2023-2024 school year.

Faculty from Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School pleaded with the Metro Nashville School Board Tuesday night to oppose a proposal to remove two middle school grades as part of the MNPS ReimaginED equity roadmap.That proposal would remove seventh and eighth-grade students from the school. One faculty member requested the district instead expand MLK to include sixth-grade.MLK school counselor Sarah Laos told school board told board members the building still has room to enroll more students and she worries phasing out the two grades means losing part of the faculty.

The majority of Nashville’s public charter schools received a better report card from the state than their traditional school counterparts in the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) district.A Tennessee Firefly analysis of the recently released School Letter Grades found 62 percent of MNPS public charter schools scored a higher grade than similar traditional public schools averaged.

A long-awaited solution may finally address school overcrowding in the Farragut area of Knox County.At Monday night’s school board work session, Knox County School (KCS) leaders recommended building a new K-5 elementary school to address the overcrowding in Farragut area schools. The proposed school is expected to cost $47 million and will house 1,200 students.District leaders also recommended spending $3 million to renovate Farragut Primary and Intermediate schools and expand both into K-5 elementary schools.

Interim Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Superintendent Tutonial “Toni” Williams says improving teacher retention could play a positive role in elevating low-graded schools on the state’s recently released School Letter Grades. The A through F grading system is designed to provide families with a transparent and concise picture for how well public schools are performing.Williams says the district will be taking a more holistic approach to retain teachers in the future, including preserving tutoring and small group instruction initiatives, adding more coaching for teachers, paying for education assistants to enter the profession, and giving veteran teachers longevity bonuses.

The lengthy search for a new leader of the state’s largest school district is down to three finalists.Tuesday night members of the Memphis-Shelby County School Board named three out of state educational leaders to move onto the next phase of the superintendent search process.

One of the biggest challenges the next superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) will inherit is the aging infrastructure of the district’s schools.The average age of school buildings in the district is 64 years old. That’s 24 years older than the recommended life span of school buildings nationwide and district is currently considering options to fund $500 million school upgrades and address the district’s deferred maintenance costs.With an eye towards this challenge, school board members asked each of the five semi-finalists for the superintendent position about their experience with facilities and operations Friday.Their answers could play an important role in the board’s decision tonight to narrow those five down to three finalists. Here’s how all five responded.