Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Tennessee
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools |
|---|
 |
| Shelby County, Tennessee |
| District details |
| Superintendent: Tutonial ‘Toni’ Williams (interim) |
| # of school board members: 9 |
| Website: Link |
Memphis-Shelby County Schools is a school district in Tennessee.
Click on the links below to learn more about the school district's...
- Superintendent
- School board
- Elections
- Budget
- Teacher salaries
- Academic performance
- Students
- Staff
- Schools
- Contact information
Superintendent
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This information is updated as we become aware of changes. Please contact us with any updates. |
Tutonial ‘Toni’ Williams is the interim superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. She was appointed interim superintendent on August 30, 2022.[1]
Past superintendents
- Joris Ray was the superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools from December 12, 2018 until his resignation in August 2022.[2] Ray's previous career experience includes working as the district's chief of academic operations and school support.[3][4]
School board
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board consists of nine members elected by district to four-year terms. The board's composition changed from seven to nine members following a redistricting ruling in 2014.[5]
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| Office | Name | Date assumed office |
|---|---|---|
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, District 1 | Michelle McKissack | January 25, 2022 |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, District 2 | Natalie McKinney | September 1, 2024 |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, District 3 | Stephanie Love | January 25, 2022 |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, District 4 | Tamarques Porter | September 1, 2024 |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, District 5 | Sable Otey | September 1, 2024 |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, District 6 | Keith Williams | September 1, 2022 |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, District 7 | Towanna Murphy | September 1, 2024 |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, District 8 | Amber Huett-Garcia | September 1, 2022 |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, District 9 | Joyce Dorse-Coleman | January 25, 2022 |
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This officeholder information was last updated on May 15, 2024. Please contact us with any updates. | |
Elections
Members of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board are elected to four-year terms. Four or five seats are up for election on a staggered basis every even-numbered year in August.
Five seats on the board were up for general election on August 1, 2024.
Join the conversation about school board politics
Public participation in board meetings
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board maintains the following policy on public testimony during board meetings:[6]
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The Public Comment period is designed to gain input from the public and not for immediate responses by the Board to the public comments presented. While the Board cannot assure each speaker of a specific or individualized response, the Board will consider the public comments and any supporting materials provided by speakers. The Public Comment period will end after 30 minutes or when all speakers signing up to speak have been heard -- whichever occurs first. Tennessee law makes no specific provisions for the participation of the public at meetings of local boards of education. Public comment is not permitted at Board Work Sessions or Board Committee Meetings. Members of the public desiring to address the Board may do so at Regular Business and Special Called Meetings. Only those members of the public who sign up to speak on the citizen sign-in sheet, which is submitted to the Board Chairman following the approval of the board agenda, shall be permitted to address the Board. Public comments shall be taken in the order in which members of the public sign up to speak. Public comments shall be limited to up to 3 (three) minutes per person; no recognized speaker may yield his/her time to another speaker. At the discretion of the Chairman, limitations may be placed on the following: 1) a speaker's time to comment; 2) the number of speakers commenting on the same topic; and/or 3) the number of speakers representing the same group or organization. Speakers will be introduced by the Chairman of the Board at the appropriate time during the agenda. Speakers must state their name, home address, organization he/she is representing, if any, and subject of the presentation before they are permitted to proceed. Speakers may offer objective comments about school operations and programs that concern them. Speakers are asked to refrain from using names of personnel or names of persons connected with the school system, particularly when lodging a complaint. Speakers will not be permitted to engage in gossip, make defamatory comments, or use abusive or vulgar language. The Chairman shall have the authority to terminate the remarks of any individual who is disruptive or does not adhere to Board rules. All Business Meetings, Special Called Meetings and Work Sessions that are subject to the Tennessee Open Meetings law shall be broadcast live or tape-delayed via radio and/or television. Legal Reference: T.C.A. § 8-44-102 THE SIGN-UP PERIOD BEGINS THIRTY (30) MINUTES PRIOR TO EACH REGULAR BUSINESS AND/OR SPECIAL CALLED MEETING.[7] |
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District map
Budget
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[8]
| SOURCE | AMOUNT | AMOUNT PER STUDENT | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal: | $267,885,000 | $2,418 | 19% |
| Local: | $531,013,000 | $4,793 | 38% |
| State: | $587,084,000 | $5,300 | 42% |
| Total: | $1,385,982,000 | $12,511 |
| TYPE | AMOUNT | AMOUNT PER STUDENT | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Expenditures: | $1,382,789,000 | $12,482 | |
| Total Current Expenditures: | $1,203,278,000 | $10,861 | |
| Instructional Expenditures: | $710,653,000 | $6,414 | 51% |
| Student and Staff Support: | $152,006,000 | $1,372 | 11% |
| Administration: | $162,843,000 | $1,469 | 12% |
| Operations, Food Service, Other: | $177,776,000 | $1,604 | 13% |
| Total Capital Outlay: | $131,151,000 | $1,183 | |
| Construction: | $48,507,000 | $437 | |
| Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: | $11,313,000 | $102 | |
| Interest on Debt: | $35,542,000 | $320 |
Teacher salaries
The following salary information was pulled from the district's teacher salary schedule. A salary schedule is a list of expected compensations based on variables such as position, years employed, and education level. It may not reflect actual teacher salaries in the district.
| Year | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-2024[9] | $47,000 | $84,861 |
| 2020-2021[10] | $40,873 | $69,475 |
Academic performance
Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements.[11]
The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-2021 | 8 | 45 | 6 | 8 | 25-29 | 30 | |
| 2018-2019 | 26 | 65 | 22 | 31 | 40-44 | 54 | |
| 2017-2018 | 22 | 61 | 18 | 24 | 25-29 | 49 | |
| 2016-2017 | 19 | 59 | 15 | 22 | 25-29 | 47 | |
| 2015-2016 | 6 | 6-9 | 6 | 5 | <50 | 12 | |
| 2014-2015 | 42 | 76 | 39 | 46 | 35-39 | 65 | |
| 2013-2014 | 42 | 78 | 33 | 43 | 40-44 | 68 |
The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-2021 | 14 | 51 | 12 | 14 | 30-34 | 41 | |
| 2018-2019 | 22 | 58 | 18 | 23 | 30-34 | 51 | |
| 2017-2018 | 22 | 56 | 18 | 21 | 40-44 | 53 | |
| 2016-2017 | 21 | 58 | 17 | 21 | 30-34 | 51 | |
| 2015-2016 | 24 | 65-69 | 21 | 25 | <50 | 55 | |
| 2014-2015 | 35 | 74 | 31 | 34 | 30-34 | 66 | |
| 2013-2014 | 43 | 75 | 33 | 38 | 45-49 | 74 |
The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | 78 | 80-84 | 80 | 67 | >=50 | 76 | |
| 2018-2019 | 79 | 90-94 | 80 | 71 | >=50 | 79 | |
| 2017-2018 | 79 | 85-89 | 81 | 71 | >=50 | 75 | |
| 2016-2017 | 80 | 90-94 | 81 | 72 | >=50 | 78 | |
| 2015-2016 | 79 | 85-89 | 79 | 70 | 60-79 | 79 | |
| 2014-2015 | 75 | 85-89 | 75 | 67 | >=50 | 75 | |
| 2013-2014 | 75 | 90-94 | 72 | 68 | >=50 | 85 |
Students
| Year | Enrollment | Year-to-year change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 | 109,797 | 3.8 |
| 2021-2022 | 105,596 | -4.9 |
| 2020-2021 | 110,780 | -2.2 |
| 2019-2020 | 113,198 | 0.9 |
| 2018-2019 | 112,125 | 2.3 |
| 2017-2018 | 109,591 | -1.7 |
| 2016-2017 | 111,403 | -2.8 |
| 2015-2016 | 114,487 | -1.2 |
| 2014-2015 | 115,810 | -29.4 |
| 2013-2014 | 149,832 | 0.0 |
| 2012-2013 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2011-2012 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2010-2011 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2009-2010 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2008-2009 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2007-2008 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2006-2007 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2005-2006 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2004-2005 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2003-2004 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2002-2003 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2001-2002 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2000-2001 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 1999-2000 | 0 | 0.0 |
| RACE | Memphis-Shelby County Schools (%) | Tennessee K-12 STUDENTS (%) |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.8 | 2.0 |
| Black | 72.3 | 20.7 |
| Hispanic | 18.2 | 13.9 |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 3.3 | 4.5 |
| White | 5.3 | 58.7 |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Staff
As of the 2022-2023 school year, Memphis-Shelby County Schools had 6,885.48 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 15.95.
| TYPE | NUMBER OF TEACHERS |
|---|---|
| Prekindergarten: | 215.33 |
| Kindergarten: | 388.14 |
| Elementary: | 4,307.15 |
| Secondary: | 1,974.86 |
| Total: | 6,885.48 |
Memphis-Shelby County Schools employed 12.00 district administrators and 284.35 school administrators as of the 2022-2023 school year.
| TYPE | NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS |
|---|---|
| District Administrators: | 12.00 |
| District Administrative Support: | 763.00 |
| School Administrators: | 284.35 |
| School Administrative Support: | 336.93 |
| TYPE | NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF |
|---|---|
| Instructional Aides: | 1,129.00 |
| Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: | 297.36 |
| Total Guidance Counselors: | 214.35 |
| Elementary Guidance Counselors: | 0.00 |
| Secondary Guidance Counselors: | 0.00 |
| Librarians/Media Specialists: | 96.09 |
| Library/Media Support: | 0.00 |
| Student Support Services: | 321.67 |
| Other Support Services: | 1,612.40 |
Schools
Noteworthy events
2022: School district name change
On January 25, 2022, the Shelby County Board of Education approved a recommendation to change the school district's doing business as (DBA) name from Shelby County Schools to Memphis-Shelby County Schools.[12]
2016: Federal investigation of the district over migrant students
The U.S. Department of Education announced on July 20, 2016, that Shelby County Schools was being investigated by the department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The investigation involved "issues affecting English learners and limited English proficiency parental communication, under Title VI,” according to OCR spokeswoman Dorie Nolt. Title VI prohibits any organization or program that receives federal funding from discriminating based on race or national origin, according to Chalkbeat Tennessee.[13]
An Associated Press report in May 2016 found that a number of migrant children who lived in the Shelby County school district had been kept from enrolling in school by district officials due to lack of transcripts or the age of the students.[14][13]
The OCR saw 51% more complaints related to Title VI from 2009 to 2015. Overall, Title VI complaints represented 21% of complaints brought to the OCR in 2015, according to Education Dive.[15]
Memphis City Schools, now part of Shelby County Schools, underwent an OCR probe in 2012. The OCR investigated allegations of discrimination against students with disabilities, and the district agreed to resolve the issue by better communicating about the rights of students with district parents.[13]
2016: State response to district's lawsuit
Shelby County Schools filed a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee in 2015. The lawsuit said that the state's lack of funding had disproportionately hurt the district's poorer students and that the state's funding model failed "to take into account the actual costs of funding an education."[16][17]
The state did not respond to Shelby County's lawsuit until July 2016, when officials submitted a 25-page response that denied that the state's funding model was the cause of the school district's financial problems. The response also detailed that the funding model meets the state's responsibilities to maintain a public school system “that affords substantially equal educational opportunities to all students in Tennessee."[17]
Shelby County Schools was not alone in suing the state over education funding. The Metropolitan Nashville school district voted to join its lawsuit in October 2017. Metropolitan Nashville also sued the state over funding for teaching English as a second language in 2016, but it lost that case. The Hamilton County School District, along with six surrounding county school districts, also filed a lawsuit against the state that stated it had not provided sufficient funding for schools. Hamilton County's lawsuit was denied class-action status in 2016, but a judge also ruled against the state's motion to dismiss it.[18][19]
At issue in the three lawsuits was the state's funding formula, known as the Basic Education Program (BEP). Shelby County, Metro Nashville, and Hamilton County said they did not receive the funding due to them under BEP. The 2016 budget that was signed into law by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) marked the second year for "substantial increases" to the state's public education funding, according to The Tennesseean. It added $261 million to the Basic Education Program, $104.6 million of which was dedicated to raising teacher salaries.[18] What the budget did not do, however, was set up BEP 2.0, a program that changed the funding formula to help larger school districts.[16]
In September 2018, Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman, appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) in 2003, upheld a previous decision denying the state's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.[20] In January 2019, the Tennessee Court of Appeals refused a motion to dismiss the case, which had since been reassigned to Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle.[21] The trial began on October 18, 2021.[22]
2016: State's Achievement School District halts school takeovers for one year
Following the cancellation of the state's TNReady tests, officials of the state's Achievement School District (ASD) announced they would not seek to take over any additional schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced in a statement on April 15, 2016, that, “Extending flexibility to priority schools during this transition mirrors the flexibility we have offered to teachers and students."[23]
The ASD is a statewide school district designed to take control of struggling schools. The schools are assigned to charter school networks and taken out of the control of the county school district. According to its website, the ASD "was created to catapult the bottom 5% of schools in Tennessee straight to the top 25% in the state."[23][24]
The ASD opened its first school in 2012. As of the 2015-2016 school year, the ASD operated 29 schools. Though the ASD's goals were to turn around its schools within five years, five of the six schools that were opened in 2012 were still in the state's bottom 5% in performance in 2016. ASD Superintendent Malika Anderson admitted that the goals had been "overly ambitious," according to Chalkbeat Tennessee.[23]
The move to suspend ASD takeovers was approved by both critics and supporters of the district. An open critic of the ASD, State Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-98) said, “The fact that the ASD/DOE is listening and holding their 17-18 school year as a ‘hold harmless’ year is a positive step in the right direction.”[23]
Mendell Grinter, the state director of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, a group that has advocated for the ASD, said, "Students need adequate time to prepare for and adjust to the new TNReady assessment, and this decision will allow for that."[23]
2016: Testing suspended in wake of state terminating TNReady contract
After the Tennessee Department of Education terminated the contract with the provider of the state's new TNReady test assessments on April 27, 2016, Shelby County Schools halted its assessments for students in grades three through eight. Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said the contract was terminated with North Carolina-based Measurement Inc. after it failed to deliver all of the testing materials.[25][26][27]
McQueen called Measurement Inc.'s performance "deeply disappointing" after months of delivery delays and a failure to roll out the assessment online in February 2016. "We’ve exhausted every option in problem solving with this vendor to assist them in getting these tests delivered. Districts have exceeded their responsibility and obligation to wait for grade 3-8 materials, and we will not ask districts to continue waiting on a vendor that has repeatedly failed us," said McQueen.[28]
Measurement Inc. President Henry Scherich said the contract termination was a disappointment. "It has been a very difficult job, and we were within a couple days or so of having all the tests in the state," said Scherich.[26]
Scherich said that the company had been put in a "difficult, and even impossible, situation" after they were required to switch to a paper test in response to the failed online assessment, according to Chalkbeat Tennessee. McQueen said the state's contract had included provisions for paper tests in the case of technical difficulties.[28] As of the termination, the state had paid $1.6 million toward the $108 million contract.[26]
The state decided to continue testing high school students, as those materials had been received, but it suspended the tests for younger students. School districts that received the needed materials for testing younger grades were allowed to choose between continuing the assessments or suspending them.[25][28] When district officials announced they would be suspending tests, Shelby County Schools released the following statement:
| “ |
The constant changes with regard to this year's TNReady testing have been challenging, but we applaud the Tennessee Department of Education for keeping us updated along the way. SCS has elected, per the State's option, to suspend testing for all students in Grades 3-8 due to Measurement Inc.'s failed delivery of testing materials. Although this testing period has been tumultuous, we are pleased that the State is providing districts, teachers and students with flexibility in performance and evaluation as they continue to work to provide us with a quality annual assessment.[7] |
” |
| —Shelby County Schools (2016)[27] | ||
Due to the suspension, accountability measures related to test scores, such as teacher evaluations, were also delayed for one year. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) said that despite the delay, the state was still moving forward.[28]
| “ | The failure of the testing vendor to deliver the tests and meet its own obligations does not take away from the fact that Tennessee has created our own, higher standards, we have an improved assessment fully aligned with those standards, and we remain committed going forward to measuring student performance fairly and ensuring accountability for those results.[7] | ” |
| —Gov. Bill Haslam (R)[28] | ||
Contact information
Memphis-Shelby County Schools
160 S. Hollywood St.
Memphis, TN 38112
Phone: 901-416-5300
About school boards
Education legislation in Tennessee
Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.
See also
| Tennessee | School Board Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Shelby County Schools
- Tennessee Department of Education
- Tennessee School Boards Association
Footnotes
- ↑ Action News 5, "MSCS school board selects Chief Financial Officer Toni Williams as interim superintendent," August 30, 2022
- ↑ Chalkbeat Tennessee, "Joris Ray agrees to resign as Memphis-Shelby County Schools chief under deal with board," August 23, 2022
- ↑ Commercial Appeal, "Joris Ray, cabinet member and educator, chosen as interim Shelby County Schools superintendent," December 12, 2018
- ↑ Shelby County Schools, "Superintendent," accessed November 1, 2019
- ↑ Shelby County Schools, "Shelby County Board of Education," accessed July 28, 2015
- ↑ Shelby County Schools, "Addressing the Board," accessed May 4, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed June 17, 2024
- ↑ Shelby County Schools, "Salary Schedules 2023-2024," accessed February 6, 2024
- ↑ Shelby County Schools, "Salary Schedules 2020-2021," accessed May 4, 2021
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2018-19 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed February 25, 2021
- ↑ Memphis Shelby County Schools, "District Rebrand," accessed September 8, 2023
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Chalkbeat Tennessee, "Shelby County Schools subject of federal civil rights probe over migrant students," July 20, 2016
- ↑ Commercial Appeal, "Migrant children kept from enrolling in school," May 1, 2016
- ↑ Education Dive, "OCR probes Tennessee's Shelby County over immigrant ed," July 22, 2016
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Chattanooga Times Free Press, "More lawsuits expected as frustration grows over Tennessee education funding," June 21, 2016
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Chalkbeat Tennessee, "Tennessee affirms its school funding formula in response to lawsuit over Memphis schools," July 11, 2016
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 The Tennessean, "Nashville schools to sue state for education funding," June 15, 2016
- ↑ The Tennessean, "Nashville schools board votes to join Shelby County Schools in lawsuit against state," October 17, 2017
- ↑ Chalkbeat Tennessee, "After three years, the fight to spend more money on Tennessee schools inches toward trial," September 25, 2018
- ↑ Chalkbeat Tennessee, "Haslam’s last-ditch effort to kill school funding lawsuit falls short in Tennessee," January 3, 2019
- ↑ Commercial Appeal, "Judge sets trial date for Tennessee's 5-year-old school funding lawsuit," July 16, 2020
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 Chalkbeat Tennessee, "Citing TNReady transition, Tennessee’s school turnaround district to halt takeovers for one year," April 15, 2016
- ↑ Achievement School District, "About us," accessed June 10, 2016
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 WATE.com, "Tennessee Department of Education terminates TNReady testing contract," April 27, 2016
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 The Tennesseean, "Tennessee terminates contract with TNReady test company," April 27, 2016
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 WREG, "State suspends some TNReady testing after vendor fails to deliver materials," April 27, 2016
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 Chalkbeat Tennessee, "Tennessee fires TNReady testmaker, suspends tests for grades 3-8," April 27, 2016
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