MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Within the next month, Memphis-Shelby County Schools superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins may or may not be employed with the district.
During Tuesday night's intense MSCS board meeting, members nearly decided the fate of Dr. Feagins future.
Tennessee and Shelby County officials told ABC24 what could happen if Dr. Feagins' position becomes vacant.
Shelby County Commissioner Brittney Thornton said if Dr. Feagins is fired, it could create huge implications throughout the state.
"In the long term, it just gives a talking point for us to doubt MSCS," Thornton said.
Thornton attended Tuesday's night MSCS board meeting.
She said on Monday, the Shelby County Commission approved an additional $34 million into what could be the new Frayser High School.
Thornton said the MSCS board members timing to potentially fire Dr. Feagins is interesting given they just invested into the district.
According to Thornton, Dr. Feagins made promises to the Shelby County Commission that would give them the confidence the plans leading into building Frayser High School would be met by April 2025.
"So there's a deliverable that she's committed to in April, and so I showed up in firm support of her because I need that process to pan out," she said.
Thornton said there's much more at stake than the allegations that the MSCS board presented to Dr. Feagins.
"We need to understand what the implications are of us terminating her. It's a fiscal impact. Do we have an extra million dollars to go towards a past superintendent that we're already paying for, interim Williams, is on payroll, and then another one, the litigation?" she said.
State Representative Mark White is the state's education chairman. He said Tuesday night's MSCS board meeting could be the final straw before the state could possibly intervene and take over the district.
"I had a conversation with the administration in the governor's office yesterday. I didn't talk to the governor, I talked with administration and also talked to the comptroller about help me out with ways that we can intervene so that we can get this back on track," White said.
White said he is working on creating legislation ahead of next month's General session.
He told ABC24 he believes the issues within the state's largest funded district, at nearly two billion dollars could be the tipping point to push Governor Bill Lee's school voucher proposal to pass.
White said the process for the state to take over MSCS is complicated, but he plans to have a discussion after the holidays are over with each MSCS board meeting and tell them changes that need to be made.
