MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis-Shelby County Schools former board chair Rev. Althea Greene sent a letter to current board commissioners on Thursday outlining concerns she has about Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins' leadership since taking over the district.
The letter sent to current MSCS board commissioners was a two-page document with seven concerns coming from Greene.
Greene said that after reflecting on the six months she worked alongside Dr. Feagins, she believes it was a mistake hiring the superintendent.
"I did go back to HYA, who was the company that we hired, and I questioned them. 'When you received her resume, did you go back and check it out in January prior to bringing her as a candidate to Memphis?' And the answer was no," Greene said.
The former MSCS board member shared with ABC24 she doesn't believe the district is going in the right direction.
According to Greene's letter, some of those concerns include Dr. Feagins making personnel changes without consulting the board on the intended job cuts this past summer and Dr. Feagins wanting to transition early as a superintendent without the aid of the board or previous superintendent.
Greene said the overall lack of communication has suffered when Dr. Feagins needs to make tough decisions.
She said there have been several critical situations where actions were not taken, displaying those concerns.
This month, parents were not being informed about children bringing a gun to school, Dr. Feagins made a late-call decision about closing schools due to Hurricane Francine, and the superintendent blamed a software company called Finalsite for not sending emergency notifications to parents.
Greene said when these occurrences have happened, Dr. Feagins has constantly put the blame on everyone else except herself.
"I think a great leader will own problems. What I do see is every time something [goes] wrong, [she says] 'Oh, the communications department didn't do this. Oh, the company didn't send messages to the parents," she said. "A good leader will accept responsibility and stop trying to throw everybody else under the bus because of your mistakes."
Greene said the purpose of her letter was to keep new board commissioners informed on what has taken place in the district.
She said those new board members have only worked with Dr. Feagins for one month and will soon begin evaluating her performance.
Community advocate Sarah Carpenter with Memphis Lift said despite public criticism, she believes Dr. Feagins has not been given a decent amount of time to turn the district around.
"This lady ain't been here a year yet and they nailed her to the cross, man, and it's not fair. It's not fair," Carpenter said.
Carpenter said MSCS students are losing their lives, and the focus should be on helping the children out and not so much on the adults.
Carpenter said while she doesn't like to see district employees lose their jobs, she has faith Dr. Feagins will turn the district in the right direction.
"Who knows? She might bring these departments back...I don't know. But they gotta give this lady a fair chance," she said.
Dr. Feagins mid-term evaluation is expected to be submitted by Nov. 1.
ABC24 reached out the district for a comment about Greene's letter, but they did not respond.