MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) hosted a Family & Community Huddle event Monday, Sept. 16, at Bert Ferguson Community Center in Cordova.
During the meeting, the district's superintendent, Dr. Marie Feagins, spoke out for the first time since the communication issues involving early school dismissal due to remnants of Hurricane Francine.
On Thursday, Sept. 12, parents shared how they were not pleased with how MSCS dismissed the students early and sent out a late notice. While several school districts across the Mid-South announced cancelation early because of the then incoming inclement weather, MSCS only sent out a post shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday on social media.
This stands in contrast to the Collierville School District, as officials announced a day before the storms came through that schools would be dismissing early the next day.
Feagins told the crowd during the event that she's aware of all the criticism they received and said she's committed to improving their communication as a whole.
"Certainly, in many areas, we've heightened it, we've strengthened it and improved it," Feagins said. "Then in many areas, we have an opportunity for growth, and so that's the commitment that the administration makes."
The lack of communication has continued to become a problem for MSCS. Earlier this month, a six-year-old brought a loaded gun to Geeter K-8. Parents told ABC24 they were not alerted about the incident until the end of the day.
Another similar situation happened a few days later when another six-year-old brought an unloaded gun to Germanshire Elementary School.
Tracey Jefferson was one of the many MSCS parents whose child had to stand in the rain because she wasn't aware school was being dismissed early.
"In the future, I would really like for them to make a decision the night before," Jefferson said. "I appreciate that some of the other suburban areas decided the night before that they were even going to close school or dismiss early to give parents a chance to plan better."
During the district's community event, Jefferson confronted Feagins about what needs to be done to make necessary changes. She also expressed the faith she has in Feagins' leadership.
"I feel like she genuinely said they take ownership of it," Jefferson said. "It's hindsight now and hopefully they are going to learn from it, so I'm confident in their abilities."
Feagins said the district is going to continue taking the steps, perform the analysis, look at the reviews and look at the gaps in how they can get into those areas of improvement. She said at this time they are looking to see what consequences will be made for those incidents involving the students bringing a gun to school.
"What we're working through right now is what those implications and consequences would be, making sure we take a stance, that we take all threats seriously and certainly do the degree possible," Feagins said.
Feagins also told ABC24 her administration met with Interim Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. about the district's communication and how they can be more proactive about preventing future incidents. Feagins said at a later date she will unveil how the district plans to improve those issues.