Back to School
Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board Chair Natalie McKinney said Tuesday that the elected board’s lawsuit to fend off oversight by a state-appointed oversight board is not an attempt to avoid accountability.
It is an effort, she argued, to preserve it.
“Accountability is not something this board fears,” McKinney said during the board’s July 28 business meeting. “We believe in accountability. But in a democracy, there is a fundamental question that must always be asked: ‘Accountable to whom?’”
In its final business meeting before students return to class, the MSCS School Board fielded questions about the lawsuit and also pressed administrators for answers about teacher vacancies, school psychologists, student services and whether school air-conditioning systems would be ready for August heat.
But not before McKinney made her case that state oversight cannot be called accountability if local voters have no way to hold the overseers accountable.
“The voters hired us, the voters evaluate us, and the voters have the power to fire us,” McKinney said in her opening remarks. “That is accountability. That is democracy.”
In contrast, McKinney argued, Memphis and Shelby County voters have no say in who sits on the oversight board, nor can they directly hold the state officials who appointed its members accountable.
“Where is the accountability in that?” she said.
Her remarks came during a sharply divided public-comment period, with some parents and educators urging the board to continue its legal challenge and others calling on members to drop the lawsuit and cooperate with the state-appointed body.
‘Accountable to whom?’
McKinney said Public Chapter 1057, the state law creating the appointed oversight board, gives that body significant authority over district budgets, contracts, personnel, charter decisions and school property.
She invoked Tennessee’s history of weakening Black political participation after Reconstruction, while cautioning against equating the current law with 19th-century voter-suppression measures.
But history, McKinney said, offers a warning about laws that preserve the appearance of representation while reducing the practical power of the ballot.
“Our students deserve more than governance restructuring masquerading as academic strategy,” McKinney said.
She argued that the state intervention concentrates heavily on administrative authority but offers comparatively little that directly strengthens classroom instruction, places effective teachers in classrooms or provides support to struggling children.
The board unanimously authorized the lawsuit, McKinney said, because members believe the law represents an unconstitutional intrusion into local democratic authority.
“That decision was not a rejection of accountability,” she said. “It was an affirmation of where accountability ultimately belongs.”
Public divided over lawsuit
Public commenters offered competing definitions of what accountability should look like.
Ashley Collins identified herself as a single mother raising five children in public schools and urged the board to drop the lawsuit and work alongside the state-appointed body.
“When you have five kids in school, your days are full of problems to solve,” said Collins, a member of Together4Students, a pro-oversight advocacy group. “And if there is one thing I try to teach my children every day, it is that we get so much more done when we work together instead of fighting.
“We don’t have to agree on everything to sit down at the same table,” Collins added.
Other speakers voiced support for the lawsuit.
Benita Doggett, an MSCS graduate, parent and former employee, called state intervention another attempt to undermine local control. She pointed to the state-run Achievement School District, which took control of dozens of schools beginning in 2012 but failed to produce the promised academic turnaround.
“I ask that the board stay the course,” Doggett said, “and be courageous when so many of our other elected leaders will not.”
Teachers union leader Liz Marable was more blunt.
“Public school funds should stay in public schools,” said Marable, president of the United Education Association of Shelby County. “Local control of public schools should not be an issue.”
“We support the lawsuit. We support public schools. We support public-school educators, public-school children and public-school communities,” she said.
District says schools are ready
Richmond said he had met with regional superintendents, instructional leadership coaches and employees responsible for human resources, safety, security, facilities and maintenance as the district conducted final readiness checks.
He thanked families who registered early and encouraged those still completing the process to do so. Registration is required for all new and returning MSCS students.
District employees and board members also described going door to door after learning that some families did not know their attendance zones had changed.
Staff members provided registration assistance at Woodstock K-8 and schools throughout the district Tuesday. Board Member Towanna Murphy said the registration process appeared to be moving smoothly at campuses she visited, with backpacks being distributed to students who registered.
The district also offered multilingual support hubs this summer to help families with enrollment, transfers, transportation, attendance, immunizations and other needs.
Questions about psychologists and vacancies
Board Member Tamarques Porter said he had received reports that 20 school psychologists had resigned heading into the new school year.
Chief Financial Officer Tito Langston said the figure was new to him and promised to consult the district’s Mental Health and Exceptional Children departments immediately.
Langston said some psychologists and social workers had been supported through temporary grant funding that expired. The district moved some of those employees into vacant positions supported through the general fund, he said. MSCS also uses outside contractors to supplement its in-house psychologists and other specialists.
Richmond said the district has psychologists working through both the Mental Health and Exceptional Children departments and that their roles differ. “We will work on the information regarding the staffing numbers,” Richmond said.
Porter also requested an updated count of teacher vacancies before students return.
The board also unanimously increased funding for occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, audiology and interpreters for deaf and hard-of-hearing students from $11 million to $14 million for the 2026-27 school year.
The revised agreements give MSCS flexibility to distribute the money among multiple providers based on student needs. Board Member Stephanie Love also asked whether the administrative changes would interrupt services.
Repairs and August heat
Facilities were another concern as students prepare to return to classes during one of Memphis’ hottest months.
Board Member Sable Otey thanked administrators and facilities employees for completing maintenance, responding to work orders and placing updated equipment in schools.
Murphy urged the administration to make sure HVAC systems were operating and ready for Monday.
Love said she visited four schools and generally found operations moving smoothly, including the air-conditioning systems.
The board also added $11.9 million in county funding to the district’s capital budget.
Langston said MSCS selected projects it believes can be completed during the current fiscal year rather than allowing the money to remain unspent. The district also assigned approximately $33 million from its fund balance for additional facilities and life-safety work.
“We still have many more facility items to do,” Langston said.
The board separately increased an air-conditioning and refrigeration contract and approved GPS and radio installation for 46 new school safety and security vehicles.
The lawsuit will continue, as will the argument over who should control Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
On Monday, however, students will return expecting the elected board, the administration and the new oversight body to answer a more immediate question: Who is accountable for making sure their schools work?
