Universal pre-K in the coming months is up in the air as Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris continues to balk at the direction of the funding. The standoff comes as Harris approaches the final months of his term, which ends in August.
First 8 is intended to round out the city and county’s overall $21 million pre-K education offering to all children ages 3 to 5. Universal pre-K was considered a landmark investment in early childhood education when the joint city-county launched the nonprofit in 2019. First 8 was tabbed with providing pre-k services by both the Shelby County Commission and Memphis City Council during the 2026 budget season.
Nevertheless, any funding requires Harris’ approval. Without his signature on the joint contract, First 8 cannot receive city funding either, effectively freezing the entire program. If it is not offered, funding for the program will run out at the end of January. Some pre-K providers have warned that without the January quarterly payment, they may be forced to close classrooms.
“The proposal that I am negotiating right now would have Shelby County paying about $14 million to $14.5 million a year for pre-K and the city paying $7 million a year for pre-K,” Harris told the Frayser Exchange Club earlier in the month. “So the county will pay more than double what the city pays for city-county collaboration, and that’s not going to be sustainable,” Harris said.
Harris is underwhelmed with the number of students the First 8 Memphis program serves. First 8 disputes the mayor’s enrollment figures, with the two sides disagreeing on both the cost of the program and how many children are served versus how many should be. The term-limited executive maintains that not enough cash flows to the classrooms. He contends the nonprofit dedicates too much funding to administrative payroll and reserves. Those concerns have been raised repeatedly during First 8’s regular reports to the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission, where officials frequently question how public dollars are allocated.
The county is slated to pick up the tab on $2 million of the $3.5 million of First 8’s portion of federal Head Start dollars in 2026. Memphis would pay the remainder. Without approval from Harris, the program would likely cease.
Although First 8 administers a small part of the pre-K program, the bulk of the federal grant dollars are managed by another nonprofit. Federal officials recently changed who oversees the Head Start grant in Shelby County, complicating enrollment and cost figures this year.
Last year, Porter-Leath secured a $30 million grant to manage federally subsidized Head Start and Early Head Start programs over the next five years. Memphis-Shelby County Schools previously oversaw the services. First 8 has only recently become involved with the program under the new structure.
