Tag: Memphis-Shelby County Schools

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At Large Opinion

What the Hell?

Let me tell you, friends, there are weeks when writing this column is a slog. You search your brain for a subject about which you can offer 725 words of original thought and you come up with bupkis.

Other weeks, the world is generous and just gift-wraps something for you. It’s like manna from heaven or in this week’s case, manna from hell. And for that I am grateful. Thank you, Satan.

The fun started when a flyer with the headline, “Hey Kids, Let’s Have Fun at After School Satan Club,” caught the attention of some parents and the local media. According to the flyer, the first meeting of a fun new club apparently dedicated to promoting Lucifer-lovin’ to local kiddos was scheduled for January 10th at Chimneyrock Elementary in Cordova.

Pearls were clutched and outrage was churned. People were mad as, uh, hell. The flyer was soon all over the TV news and the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board was forced to hold a press conference last Wednesday to explain the situation.

“Satan has no room in this district,” said Althea E. Greene, MSCS Board chair. To emphasize the point, a group of 40 or so pastors and faith leaders joined in.

“They threaten to rent a facility under the First Amendment right and they entice us into saying no, and of course, they take us to court and then they look for a settlement,” said Bill Adkins, pastor of Greater Imani Church. He’s right. The organization settled a lawsuit with a school district in Pennsylvania for $200,000 for blocking the organization from using its facilities.

“We don’t go to a school unless there is another religious club operating,” said June Everett, the national campaign director for After School Satan Club. So there’s the rub, Beelzebub. You don’t get to pick and choose which “religious” groups can rent your facilities. It’s all or none. Such divine comedy.

According to MSCS policy, nonprofit community groups are allowed to rent school property for events, meetings, and other functions. Groups such as the Christian-based Good News Club and the Boy Scouts of America are among the nonprofits using facilities after school hours. The Satanic Temple is a legitimate 501(c)(3) public charity and nonprofit recognized by the IRS.

MSCS board member Mauricio Calvo was quoted in the Daily Memphian: “We have a portal on the MSCS website where any organization that is recognized by the IRS has the possibility to rent facilities. Being a public facility, we had to make our facilities accessible. If we let a church rent space from us, does the pastor have to submit his or her sermon days before? If that is the will of the board and the people, then we’ll have to change the policies. This is very new, and there’s no precedent in Tennessee.

“We’re going to continue to engage the public, legal team, state legislatures on what can be done,” Calvo concluded. “Ultimately, participation is going to be the parents’ decision. For now, this is the law. For now, we have to comply.”

Interim Superintendent Toni Williams added, “We can support the First Amendment and support our students at the same time.” That seems like a good plan.

Upon closer inspection, it seems obvious that the Satanic Temple is basically an organization dedicated to trolling for outrage — and perhaps a few bucks. Old Nick is just their snazzy front man, a way to get attention. The ASSC has been holding meetings and events in public schools around the country since 2016.

According to the group’s flyer, the organization is a “non-theistic religion that views Satan as a literary figure who represents a metaphorical construct of rejecting tyranny and championing the human mind and spirit.” Which isn’t very scary, even if it is a bit pretentious.

The flyer says the ASSC “does not attempt to convert children to any religion or ideology,” and “supports children to think for themselves.” The group claims that it’s dedicated to promoting a “scientific, rationalist, non-superstitious worldview” via puzzles and games, nature activities, arts and crafts, science projects, and community service. That doesn’t sound too horrible. Plus, there will be snacks, presumably devil’s food cake and hot tarts.

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News News Blog

Student Homelessness Surges In Memphis-Shelby County Schools

MSCS officials said the uptick in homelessness is likely the result of a lack of affordable housing, a longstanding problem in Memphis made worse by soaring inflation. (Karen Pulfer Focht for Chalkbeat)

Homelessness among Memphis-Shelby County Schools students has hit its highest level in at least four years, more than doubling from the same time last year.

New district data shows 1,504 students were identified as homeless as of Oct. 7, the end of the first quarter of the school year. That’s a nearly 180% increase from last fall, when the number of homeless students stood at 538.

And the problem is only getting worse, said Shawn Page, the district’s chief of academic operations and school support. So far this school year, Page said MSCS has identified and provided services to over 1,600 homeless students and their families — already topping the total number of homeless families the district supported all last school year.

“That is significant, and just shows the extreme need in our communities for homelessness services,” Page told the school board during Monday committee meetings.

Page estimates there are thousands more MSCS students experiencing housing insecurity whom the district has not been able to identify or support. The district largely relies on school counselors, social workers, and teachers to gather data on homeless students and support those families through individual schools, but sometimes, families can slip through the cracks.

The likely undercount is part of a nationwide pattern: A recent Center for Public Integrity analysis suggests 300,000 students entitled to essential rights reserved for homeless students were not identified by their school districts, which are required to help them. Some 2,400 districts did not report having even one homeless student, despite levels of economic hardship that make those figures improbable, according to the analysis, and many more are likely undercounting the number of homeless students they do identify. 

In nearly half of states, tallies of student homelessness “bear no relationship with poverty, a sign of how inconsistent the identification of kids with unstable housing can be,” the report said.

MSCS officials said the uptick in homelessness is likely the result of a lack of affordable housing, a longstanding problem in Memphis made worse by rising inflation. Rents in Memphis, for example, have risen by nearly 30% since before the pandemic, according to the November 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report.

Last year’s 36% jump to 538 homeless students appeared to be a near return to pre-pandemic levels, after virtual learning limited the district’s ability to get an accurate count of students without stable housing. The district’s latest report suggests that administrators are still struggling with the count.

The district is working to help students and families experiencing housing insecurity, Page said, from providing transportation, school supplies, and uniforms, to offering tutoring in homeless shelters and hotels and ensuring immigrant families without housing get translation services. MSCS also refers families to other community organizations that provide temporary housing to families at risk of homelessness.

But many challenges remain as homelessness continues to skyrocket, Page said, including tracking families who have fluid housing situations and having enough resources to provide them with clothing and household supplies. Page said many of the community agencies the district works with are also overwhelmed.

Page called on the community to address the issue collectively, drawing a link between homelessness and the district’s rising chronic absenteeism. 

District data released in May showed nearly 30% of MSCS students were considered chronically absent from school last year, meaning they missed 10% of school days or more. In September, district officials clashed with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland over his comments linking rising truancy to juvenile crime and criticizing MSCS for terminating its relationship with the district attorney’s office to enforce truancy laws.

“Every time a family has to change residence, they miss school, and that’s no fault of the family. That’s no fault of the child,” Page said. “We cannot criminalize poverty, and we cannot criminalize our families, because there’s a difference between missing school and legitimate reasons for not sending your child to school. Housing instability is a community problem that’s causing our children not to come to school.”

During Monday’s committee meetings, several MSCS board members said the new data aligns with what they’re hearing from families. 

Board member Stephanie Love said that earlier in the day, a woman from her district called to tell her she’d become homeless after her landlord sold the house she’d been renting.

Board member Amber Huett-Garcia called the data a “gut punch,” and asked the community to cooperate with the district to battle homelessness. 

“We don’t need to be overly political here to say that housing is a human right,” Huett-Garcia said. “Anything we can do, let’s get committed. If you’re listening and you think you can help, come step up.” 

Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

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MSCS Superintendent Joris Ray Placed on Leave Amid Investigation

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray (Credit: Shelby County Schools/Facebook).

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools board voted Wednesday to place Superintendent Joris Ray on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an outside investigation into whether he violated district policies on relationships with co-workers and abused his power.

The move follows allegations, first reported by the Daily Memphian, that Ray had adulterous relationships, possibly with current and former district employees. The motion passed on a 7-2 vote during a special meeting, with board members Stephanie Love and Joyce Dorse-Coleman voting against.

With the same vote, the board appointed Edward L. Stanton III, a former U.S. attorney now with the Butler Snow Law Firm, to lead the investigation, and chose Herman Morris Jr. of the Morris Law Firm to advise the board before, during, and after the inquiry. 

The board announced the investigation July 7.

John Barker, deputy superintendent for strategic operations and finance, and Angela Whitelaw, deputy superintendent of schools and academic support, will fill in for Ray during the investigation.

Addressing board members after the vote, Ray said he was disappointed by their decision to place him on leave, but that he respects their oversight and that they will have his “full cooperation.” In a statement last week, Ray said he was confident he did not violate any MSCS policies.

At a press conference after the meeting, Board Chair Michelle McKissack said putting Ray on leave would protect the integrity of the investigation, allow witnesses within the district to come forward with information without a fear of retaliation, and “avoid any hint of impropriety” by the board. She emphasized that putting Ray on leave does not suggest the outcome of the investigation.

McKissack could not yet say how much the investigation will cost the district. As for the timeline, she said only that it would be conducted as quickly as possible, noting that school starts in less than a month.

“We want to be focused on the families,” McKissack said outside the district’s administrative offices. “We do not want any distractions.” 

The investigation, which officially began after Wednesday’s board meeting, comes at a time of transition on the school board.

Four seats on the MSCS board will be up for grabs in elections on Aug. 4, including those of incumbents McKissack, Dorse-Coleman, and Charles Everett, who was appointed to represent District 6 earlier this year after Shante Avant resigned. In addition, board members Billy Orgel and Miska Clay-Bibbs are set to leave the board at the end of the month. Orgel did not run for reelection; Clay-Bibbs is running for a seat on the Shelby County Commission.

Ray became superintendent of MSCS in April 2019, after the school board opted to ditch a national search. Board members at the time called him an “exceedingly qualified candidate” and said they felt a national search was unnecessary as Ray, who had been serving as interim superintendent for months, could step in immediately. 

But some Memphians disagreed and protested the appointment. Others expressed concern about allegations of sexual harassment lodged against Ray months earlier. A district investigation concluded the complaints were “without merit.”

Throughout Ray’s turbulent tenure — the pandemic, his clash with Gov. Bill Lee and GOP leaders over his decision to keep students learning remotely for much of the 2020-21 school year, and his later efforts to lead COVID recovery — he has enjoyed steadfast support from the school board. Ray secured an early contract extension through 2025, and he garnered high marks on all his evaluations. 

On his most recent review in August 2021, Ray got an overall score of 4.2 out of 5 — or “completely meets expectations.” His highest marks were in the management of business and finance and community relations categories. His lowest were for governance and relations with the board and staff.

The board decision Wednesday followed a public comment period during which more than a dozen people, mostly principals and other district employees, vouched for Ray’s leadership, some of them dismissing the allegations against him as a distraction.

Steevon Hunter, principal of Kirby High School and the father of two MSCS students, said “people from all over” look to the district as an example because of Ray’s “inspiration and innovation.”

Renee Smith of Memphis Lift, a parent advocacy group that protested Ray’s appointment in 2019, was one of several community members to call on the board to take swift action against Ray.

“Our superintendent is the distraction,” Smith said during public comment. “And we all know it’s time for him to go.”

Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.