Laura Faith Kebede, Chalkbeat Tennessee

When Porsha Holloway attended “data nights” every few months at her children’s Memphis school, she left lost, with no real understanding of how her children were performing. “It’s complicated,” Holloway told reporters Monday about learning progress for her four children at Vollentine Elementary. “The scariest...

Superintendent Joris Ray is delaying students’ return to Memphis classrooms for a third time, despite the governor asking him to offer in-person instruction by mid-February and legislators threatening to cut state funding. Leaders of Shelby County Schools, Tennessee’s largest district, had planned to reopen classrooms...

Parents of 65 percent of Shelby County Schools students do not plan to send them back to school buildings in January, based on survey results obtained by Chalkbeat. Some parents told Chalkbeat they are reluctant because COVID-19 cases are surging, some are unsatisfied with online...

The Shelby County Schools board will consider extending Supt. Joris Ray’s contract next month after giving him a high evaluation score last week. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to give the public notice that it would discuss and vote on amending the annual $285,000 contract...

Shelby County Schools students will start the school year on Aug. 31 and end on June 16, three weeks later than planned. Under the new 2020-21 calendar approved by the school board Monday in a 5-4 vote, students and teachers will still have a fall break in...

If coronavirus hospitalizations and cases continue to surge, Memphis students will start the school year online, Supt. Joris Ray said Friday. “If we are where we are today, in good faith I could not open schools,” the Shelby County Schools leader told Chalkbeat. “And when...

Starting in August, Shelby County Schools plans to offer both online and in-person instruction for students — and parents can choose which option they want. The Memphis district plans for teachers to simultaneously teach students in the building and stream the lesson online through a...

After pushback from teachers and school board members, Saturday school is out as an option to help Memphis students catch up after missing 44 days of school because of coronavirus concerns. Instead, Shelby County Schools leaders are considering other options for the 2020-21 school year...

Shelby County Schools is planning in-person graduation ceremonies for July along with a “drive-thru senior salute” where students can pick up their diplomas and get their photo taken. Superintendent Joris Ray announced the plan for the district’s 6,000 seniors Tuesday during the school board’s April...

Shelby County Schools will be closed starting Friday and reopen March 30, a week after spring break, because of “rapidly changing conditions” of COVID-19, the district said. The Memphis district’s planned spring break starts Monday, and staff were already scheduled to do deep cleanings of...