MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis-Shelby County School district has come to a hiring decision, not on the superintendent, but instead, on a liaison that will assist by bettering communication between the Shelby County Commissioners and MSCS.
Commissioner Britney Thornton said MSCS named James Nelson to the new position. ABC24 reached out to MSCS to confirm the new hire and the annual salary for the role.
While this is not the position most Shelby County parents and activists have been waiting for, it seems to be an unexpected blessing as Commissioner Thornton explained that the role is crucial to bridging the communication gap between the two entities.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ proposed budget outlines more than $400 million towards education. Thornton said investing in children by being on the same page as, or at least by being in constant communication with the school board is the least board commissioners and MSCS can do.
"It just seems practical you know a low-level streamlining of resources to be able to get a great impact and so I’m excited to see that there is a liaison," Thornton said.
But it’s not looking like a missed opportunity now, as the new liaison briefly met with Thornton after she spoke at Tuesday night's special called school board meeting. Thornton said the short conversation went well and that she looks forward to working with the liaison to create more seamless communication paths between MSCS and the commissioners.
While there's not a clear list of guidelines from county commissioners and MSCS on what issues will be tackled first, Thornton said minority contractors are fairly high up on her list of priorities.
"I think there's some really interesting leads there where we continue to see minorities not get prime contracts and this wealth of career opportunities that I wonder if our kids are exposed to,” Thornton said. “And there are definitely some places where minorities are particularly underrepresented and there's no representation and so for me that becomes a school issue. Like what are our schools doing to ensure they're creating pipelines into certain opportunities."
In the meantime, Thornton said she’s prioritizing data-driven goals.
"I wanna know that when I allocate 100 million dollars toward something, this is the impact that I’m gonna get because I really thought through that."
Thornton said she's looks forward to working alongside the new liaison to ensure the budget reflects the school board's and community's wishes before the budget deadline comes up.