Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education members expressed frustration with Memphis city leaders’ recent decision to block a special use permit to construct the new East Region High School at Tuesday’s work session meeting.

In the coming weeks, leaders of more than a dozen public charter schools will make the case for why their school’s charter should be renewed for another ten-year term. Charter schools are free public schools operated by an independent contract or “charter” with an authorizing agency like a school district or the state.

This year, five authorizing agencies including school board members with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Hamilton County Schools, Knox County Schools, along with members of the state-run Tennessee Public Charter School Commission will make those decisions for thirteen charter schools.

Going into Tuesday night’s general election, Tennessee Democrats had high hopes of whittling into the Republican supermajority by winning a handful of House seats that are currently held by Republicans.  On the flipside, GOP leaders targeted growing their supermajority by flipping three Middle Tennessee seats currently held by Democrats.

Neither came to fruition, but one came close.

After several tense discussions and debate in recent weeks about how to evaluate Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins’ tenure, the Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education managed to come to an agreement on evaluation metrics. Learn more about the criteria.

The mood was tense during Tuesday’s Memphis-Shelby County Board of Education meeting following weeks of debate about how the district should approach evaluating Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins’ tenure.

The charter school operator IOTA Community Schools will continue to run Wooddale Middle School after the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission (TPCSC) voted Thursday to reverse a decision by Memphis-Shelby County Schools leaders to deny their application.

The West Tennessee school district resumed discussions about how to evaluate Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins’ tenure at Tuesday’s board meeting, with much of the focus being on Feagins’ relationship with district employees.

Wooddale Middle School leaders are taking their appeal to state leaders after Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education members recently voted to deny Wooddale’s amended application to transfer into the district from the state-run Achievement School District.

Despite much opposition from Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) leaders, the charter school sponsor Read Foundation is still pushing for the establishment of a new charter school in the district similar to the foundation’s Memphis School of Excellence.

Former MSCS HR staff member Jarvis Cook told district leaders at Tuesday’s school board meeting that he believes he was terminated after speaking out against district job cuts at another meeting in June.

Learn more about what Cook had to say about his dismissal.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins addressed families’ concerns relating to school safety and communications on Thursday, after threats against schools on social media led to a district-wide lockdown on Wednesday.

Several schools in Memphis and Shelby County were placed on lockdown Wednesday due to threats of mass violence, according to Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) leaders.

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education is poised to approve a dual enrollment agreement for the 2024-25 school year with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology.

Harpeth Middle School seventh-grader Elijah Riggs won the Tristar Reads contest by logging an average of eight hours each day reading.

The University of Memphis is building a $9.2 million facility to test drones in adverse weather conditions, sponsored by the U.S. Navy. Led by professor Eddie Jacobs, the facility will feature a "wind wall" of computer-controlled fans and a rain-making system, allowing researchers to develop drones that can operate in challenging conditions like wind and rain, improving future drone technology.

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights notes that Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) officials have mishandled several sexual assault cases in the district.

Enrollment in Memphis-Shelby County Schools has continued to grow year over year despite remaining behind original projections for this school year, according to an update from Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins said during a Tuesday press conference that the district is currently working with school resource officers (SROs) and other security personnel to improve their job conditions moving forward.

The Memphis-Shelby County Board of Education approved budget amendments to fund pay raises for school resource officers (SROs) at Tuesday’s special call meeting and work session.

Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. called on local officials to work together and figure out how to cover the remaining costs needed to construct a new STEM education lab at Whitehaven High School at Wednesday’s Shelby County Education Committee meeting.