MEMPHIS, Tenn — As discourse continues to spread through the community and several board terms end, many wonder if there is an internal struggle for power between Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins and other members of the board.
A letter sent Wednesday morning to state representatives outlines support for Feagins and the 'evil, disrespect, witch hunt' made by certain members of the board. Chair Althea Greene said this is adding to a narrative that simply isn't true.
"There are many different versions of that letter," she said. "I received one version. Somebody else received another version, and so when people send things like that, and they're just full of malicious gossip and lies, I just don't entertain it."
This letter follows a vote Tuesday that returns general counsel, which provides legal counsel and recommendations, under the board's authority and could limit approvals from the superintendent. Board member Mauricio Calvo introduced this resolution and said this is not meant to limit Feagins but instead bring more opportunity and supervision to the board.
"I hope that with yesterday's resolution, we are having better governance and we have more tools just to look at allegations again, whether it's this allegation two months ago or the one in two months." he said. "Because when you have 14,000 employees and 110,000, children, there are going to be things that happen every single day."
As his term comes to an end, he provided parting words for the school district.
"At the end of the day, we're trying to improve the educational outcomes of children," he said. "So you and I may disagree on something. Fine, we can move on, but there's something out of the thousands of things that we have to agree on that we can work on."
Calvo and Greene have another business meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 27, before new members are installed on Sept. 1.