Will Memphis schools sue over the pending state takeover legislation?

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The Memphis-Shelby County school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire a lawyer to challenge the state takeover legislation Tennessee Republicans finalized yesterday.

Hours before the Memphis board met, Gov. Bill Lee signed into law new legislation that will block the district from using public funds to pay for the lawyer. It’s unclear what that will mean for a lawsuit from MSCS moving forward.

The special call meeting came one day after state lawmakers approved bill language that would give a new state-appointed oversight board control over the district’s budget and staffing decisions. That includes hiring and firing the superintendent with or without cause.

The takeover bill still needs to pass in the House and Senate, with the first round of voting starting Wednesday. In yesterday’s conference committee meeting, some Democrats raised concerns about the legality of the bill, which they said targets MSCS in its criteria for intervention.

Board members met in executive session before voting on the resolution, which was sponsored by board chair Natalie McKinney. Keith Williams was not present for the vote.

Board member Stephanie Love, who represents the Frayser area, said Tuesday that the district is still trying to “undo the unjust harm” caused by state intervention through the failed Achievement School District.

“We have a lot of work to do, but we are up for the task,” Love said. “And this law is racist. We are the largest public school system, the Blackest public school system, in the state of Tennessee.”

The new takeover bill could target other Tennessee school districts. But only MSCS meets all six of the academic underperformance and management instability criteria that triggers state intervention. For one, Memphis is the only district in the state with an ongoing state-funded forensic audit managed by the Tennessee Comptroller.

Other criteria include school districts where:

• fewer than 50% of students earn proficient scores on state standardized math tests.
• fewer than 50% of students earn proficient scores on state standardized English language arts tests.
• 25% or more of schools in the district earn a D or F letter grade from the Tennessee Department of Education.
• and a 25% or higher chronic absenteeism rate.

McKinney told Chalkbeat before Tuesday’s meeting that she supported suing the state after multiple failed attempts to collaborate with lawmakers for an alternate path forward. She also said the takeover bill doesn’t help students.

“There is nothing in that piece of legislation that talks about academics,” she said. “It talks about our buildings and our budget.”

The oversight board would work on a mandated four-year term, during which it has veto power over proposed budgets and vendor contracts. It also has broad power to fire the superintendent and can cite the district leader’s refusal to follow board directives as cause for termination.

The current MSCS board unanimously approved a three-year contract for Superintendent Roderick Richmond on March 31. But Tennessee Republicans frequently point to the 2023 state takeover of Houston public schools as a model for MSCS’ intervention, where state education leaders immediately fired and appointed a new superintendent.

This story has been updated to include details from Tuesday night’s special call meeting.

Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.