A bid to fund the remaining $2.3 million on a proposed $10 million STEM lab at Whitehaven High School is in the hands of the Memphis-Shelby County School Board, after county commissioners were informed of a planned resolution to resolve the gap during the Monday, August 12 meeting.
“Tomorrow, my colleagues and I…we will be submitting a board resolution to ensure that the previous administration’s commitment is funded for a total of $2.3 million,” said Althea Greene, school board chair.
Greene was joined by fellow board members Keith Williams and Stephanie Love during the announcement. Together, they comprise three of the five votes needed for a resolution to pass. There are nine members on the board.
The outgoing chair also assured members that the resolution would be passed by the board by the next commission meeting. After introducing the resolution to board members today, a special meeting will be held on Aug. 20.
The majority of the total – $1.3 million – will come from allocations of the previous superintendent, Joris Ray. The cost of a storm shelter will come from the MSCS’s reserve fund balance. The outlays were previously approved by county commissioners.
The education fund balance is strictly used to support the maintenance of effort. If any funds remain, they are distributed to various schools. The money can then be used for projects, like the STEM lab.
“We needed to get this right and not the Shelby County Commission,” said Greene.
Like several board members, Green lost her bid for reelection on Aug. 6.
Despite promises from the previous administration – including a promise to fund the difference – new Memphis-Shelby County Schools superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins balked at her predecessor’s pledge.
“I was sitting on this board when that $1.3 million got passed. I voted for it for the schools,” said former Commissioner Eddie Jones, who is now County Probate Clerk. “And then, to have a superintendent come in two years later and don’t want to do it…it’s very disrespectful for this board.
“In the same way that when you’re off this board, things that you passed, not to go through…and the body approved it,” Jones continued. “How did we get here? That’s how we got here.”
Feagins took the post on April 1. Meanwhile, planning stages for the long-awaited project began in 2016.
Moreover, the proposal was sidetracked in 2018, when a new state law required a storm shelter to be built at the proposed facility. The pandemic lengthened the pause.
The resolution was put back on the front burner during the Aug. 6 Budget & Finance Committee meeting by Commissioner Edmund Ford, Jr.
Nevertheless, it was also deferred during that meeting, after chairwoman Miska Clay-Bibbs guaranteed the money was in the school board’s coffers.
“Thank you, Chair Bibbs, for saying…’That money is at Hollywood. That’s where it needs to come from,” said Greene. “Thanks for pushing us to do what we were elected to do.”
If the board fails in its effort on Aug. 20, Ford, Jr. vowed to bring the item up at the Aug. 26 meeting.
However, county funding for public education must be split among its eight school districts. The metric is based on average daily attendance. If commissioners passed a funding resolution, an additional $600,000 would need to be included. It would go to the Creative and Performing Arts school at Overton High, the county’s other school system.
Prior to the discussion, several Whitehaven residents – including students and teachers – spoke on behalf of the effort, which has broad bi-partisan support from the commission.
If the resolution passes, an additional pledge of $300,000 will come from Elvis Presley Enterprises. After a few t’s are crossed, and i’s dotted, construction can begin.
Groundbreaking began in April.
In addition to a STEMnasium, the planned facility would feature 12 classrooms for instructors to aid students in A.P. and Dual Enrollment classes in biology, chemistry, calculus and college algebra. Computer science and coding classes will also be offered.
If approved, the project is expected to take a year to complete.
The bulk of the funding for the public-private partnership – around $7 million – has been raised through donors.
The money for the partnership is planned to be administered by local nonprofit SchoolSeed. Montgomery Martin Contractors have been hired for the build-out.
