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An effort to oust Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins was put on hold Tuesday night when a divided school board voted to push the debate to next month.
In a 5-4 vote, the board referred a resolution to oust Feagins over allegations of “professional misconduct” to a committee meeting in January.
Feagins forcefully denied the allegations near the end of a heated board meeting that was repeatedly disrupted, describing what she had heard as “meritless and baseless.”
The resolution to terminate Feagins’ contract — brought by board Chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman — claims she violated the terms and must be removed immediately. The resolution alleges that Feagins:
• Misled the board and did not present evidence of her statement, made in a work session, that district employees were paid $1 million in overtime for time not worked.
• Accepted a more than $45,000 donation without board approval, then misrepresented what happened in violation of board policy.
• Was dishonest with the board and public about a federal grant and a missed deadline.
Board members dissatisfied with Feagins’ performance have aired those concerns previously, a clear signal that the relationship between the superintendent and board had eroded. But the effort to oust her Tuesday fell short after a meeting in which Feagins supporters voiced their anger at the prospect of her being terminated less than nine months after she took the job.
When given the microphone, Feagins said she had yet to see the resolution and heard about the effort to end her contract from the media after the meeting was announced Monday.
“I’ve said time and time again, if I’m ever the barrier I will leave,” Feagins said. “What I’ve heard is meritless and baseless. I have been transparent about it and can refute everything that’s been stated.”
She added: “My desire to be transparent has been weaponized against me.” She also referenced working with an attorney depending on how things proceeded.
Dorse-Coleman said in introducing the resolution: “The board believes that Dr. Feagins has engaged in conduct detrimental to the district and the families it serves.”
Board members Michelle McKissack, Amber Huett-Garcia, and Tamarques Porter spoke out against the resolution and fought efforts to push through a vote on it Tuesday night.
“Let’s not get distracted. This is a distraction,” McKissack said.
“This is foolish,” Huett-Garcia said. “We’re not perfect here, but if we do this tonight, we are saying to the public we are not willing to do the hard work.”
Other board members, however, were resolute in wanting to end Feagins’ tenure. Board member Sable Otey said there have been complaints about how MSCS is run since August.
Board members McKissack, Huett-Garcia, Porter, Dorse-Coleman, and Keith Williams voted to move the discussion to committee in January.
Dorse-Coleman was the deciding vote and said to reporters after the meeting she wanted to “keep it fair” by giving the district time to look over the facts.
“There’s a disconnect and it’s a very strong disconnect that our superintendent has created,” she said.
When asked if any of these concerns were brought to Feagins during an evaluation, Dorse-Coleman said the evaluation was not completed because “when people were trying to talk to her, they didn’t get a chance to.”
More than a hundred Memphians attended Tuesday’s meeting, many of them cheering Feagins as she walked into the auditorium and booing board members.
Dorse-Coleman said at the meeting that 57 people were signed up for the public comment portion; the board reduced the time limit from three minutes for each speaker to one minute. Nearly all public comments were in support of the superintendent. Some speakers asked the board to postpone the vote.
The drama around Feagins comes as the district faces serious academic and financial challenges — and just as it was seeking to restore community trust after previous leadership turnover and a protracted 18-month process to find a replacement.
The board hired Feagins in February and agreed to a four-year contract that paid her $325,000 a year, starting April 1. If the board fired her without cause, she’d be due a severance payment of about $500,000.
Feagins previously held a leadership position at the Detroit Public Schools Community District. She was chosen from a field of three finalists to be the first outside leader of Memphis-Shelby County Schools since the district was created through a merger a decade ago.
During the interview process, Feagins explained how she used data to help get more Detroit students on track to graduate, spoke of empowering teachers, and described efforts to increase parent engagement by translating education jargon into understandable terms.
The board and Feagins clashed early, however, over her elimination of about 1,100 positions over the summer, her allegations of overtime abuse by district employees, her response to school air conditioning problems, and her plans to close or consolidate schools under a broader facilities overhaul.
While Feagins gave board members detailed, data-heavy reports during their meetings, several suggested she was not transparent or collaborative enough about the big decisions and shifts she made.
At the same time, many community members were glad to see Feagins taking steps to shake up a district they viewed as top-heavy and in need of significant reforms. Speakers on Tuesday night praised Feagins as a visionary and connector, while threatening to recall board members.
Earlier Tuesday, McKissack released a statement asking her colleagues to delay the vote, citing community support for Feagins.
“I believe we should give Dr. Feagins the opportunity to address any concerns directly and collaboratively,” McKissack said in the statement. “This moment calls for patience and dialogue in the best interest of our students and families.”
Dorse-Coleman said after the meeting that community support for Feagins did not influence her tie-breaking vote.
“What I brought tonight, I still feel that way,” Dorse-Coleman said, referring to the resolution. “She has not properly communicated a lot of things with us.”
The district has been beset by leadership turmoil going back to at least August 2022, when then-Superintendent Joris Ray resigned amid an investigation into allegations that he abused his power and violated district policies. The board agreed to pay him a severance of nearly $500,000 and ended the investigation.
District administrator Toni Williams took over as interim superintendent, pledged she wouldn’t seek the job on a permanent basis, changed her mind and applied for the role, then backed out of the process. The district restarted its national search in June 2023, after the board agreed on a fresh set of job qualifications and criteria.
The school board has a different look than it did when Feagins was hired: November’s election resulted in four of its nine members being replaced.
The latest turmoil could reignite efforts by state leaders and lawmakers to seize some control of the Memphis district. Earlier this year, a Memphis lawmaker floated a proposal to expand the school board with additional members appointed by state officials.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
