Cooler heads prevailed as the Shelby County Commission held back on a vote of “no confidence” in the Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education during the Education Committee meeting Wednesday, Jan. 8.
The stalled vote is a reaction to the school board’s effort to remove MSCS Superintendent Marie Feagins, who has been on the job for less than a year.
Instead, Chairman Mark Whaley proposed an amended version that strips the “no-confidence” language from the resolution. It will be replaced by wording focusing on a “governance plan” for both Feagins and the board that stresses student outcomes.
“A resolution of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners of Tennessee requesting the Shelby County School Board of Education provides the public with a comprehensive governance plan that ensures outcomes in the best interests of the students of Shelby County,” read Whaley.
The ultimate goal is a reset toward a positive working relationship between the two.
“I think we have the opportunity to show some leadership in the sense of putting out what we’d expect to see. These, in my mind, are some of the things that would be helpful to ensure clarity, transparency and a bill of confidence in the future of our public education system,” said Whaley.
A completed version is expected to be presented during the next full commission meeting Monday, Jan. 13.
Commissioners voted 8-2 to table the “no confidence” vote. Members in agreement with Whaley’s approach included Charlie Caswell, Miska Clay Bibbs, Erika Sugarmon, Amber Mills, Edmond Ford Jr., Shante Avant and Committee Chair Britney Thornton. Commissioners Henri Brooks and Mickell Lowery voted no.
Meanwhile, the MSCS Board of Education will meet Tuesday, Jan. 14, to discuss the matter further. A vote on Feagins’ dismissal remains a possibility.
School board members have accused Feagins of misleading them on several fronts, including claims that the district paid employees $1 million in unearned overtime. They say Feagins has never presented evidence to support her allegation.
Additionally, Feagins requested and accepted a $45,000 donation without board approval. Board members claim she misrepresented her knowledge of and involvement in depositing the check, another policy violation.
Another allegation involves mismanagement of grant funds from the U.S. Department of Education. Board members say Feagins missed a deadline for completing paperwork, so $304,000 had to be returned. Feagins continued to tell the board the money was available contrary to information the board received from the state.
Feagins has vowed not to resign. Instead, she has made numerous public appearances at area schools to build public support.
Along with distaste of another superintendent search, many members expressed concerns with casting a “no confidence” vote against another elected body. What if state lawmakers disagree with the vote? Nashville could respond with a vote of their own against the commission. Threats have already been made against the school board.
“I am not getting into the back and forth about whether Dr. Feagins needs to stay or go. But I do caution us when we make decisions like no confidence votes on other elected bodies. How that does create a precedent of things that will surely come to bear for this particular body,” said Commissioner Shante Avant.
Several colleagues agreed.
The resolution was introduced following a raucous MSCS board meeting Dec. 16, when members considered a removal vote for the embattled superintendent. Faced with a heavy turnout of Feagins’ supporters, members were drawn into shouting matches with the public. The vote was delayed until the upcoming MSCS board meeting.
“The meeting that was conducted probably was not our finest moment as Memphians,” said Avant.
“I think our hope was stolen. We had hope in Dr. Feagins changing things and making things better. And I think our hope was stolen,” said Commissioner Amber Mills.
Along with being without a superintendent, Mills fears Feagins’ dismissal could jeopardize the construction of a new high school in Frayser. Commission members recently passed a $33 million funding resolution to replace the aging Trezevant High School, which no longer meets the needs of its students.
“[The call for a vote of no confidence] is not a decision that was made lightly but after much deliberation and response to the voices of our constituents and the circumstances that have unfolded,” said Mills.
She also strongly denied Commissioner Henri Brooks’ suggestion the failed resolution was a “power-play.”
“This is not a power play. This is not anything I want to do,” said Mills. “That is not how I operate.”
