5 key points MSCS will face this college 12 months

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Memphis-Shelby County Colleges college students return to class Monday for the 2023-24 college 12 months.

This one could possibly be much less turbulent than current years, however no much less consequential, because the district confronts key selections about its subsequent chief, the way forward for its college buildings, its technique for bettering pupil educational efficiency and wellness, and its finances for the post-pandemic period.

Right here’s a more in-depth have a look at 5 key points that the district will face this college 12 months:

Seek for a superintendent is on — once more

MSCS continues to be looking for candidates for its superintendent job, almost a 12 months after Joris Ray resigned amid a scandal. 

The primary try to discover a chief unraveled, exposing disagreements on the board, fueling public doubts about whether or not the physique may execute a search efficiently, and forcing a tough reset.

The board stays dedicated to the nationwide search it promised Memphians final 12 months. Interim Superintendent Toni Williams, who had as soon as been a finalist for the everlasting job, received’t be a candidate. She agreed to drop out of the search beneath the phrases of a brand new contract she signed to proceed as interim chief via one other college 12 months. 

To date, Take 2 of the search has been in keeping with the parameters and the that timeline board members set out of their discussions: The brand new job posting, which went up initially of August, displays the management qualities board members collectively selected, and all candidates will probably be evaluated in opposition to the board’s coverage on minimal {qualifications}. 

If the second try goes based on plan, functions will shut by November, and a brand new superintendent will probably be chosen by February, with a begin date of July 1, 2024. By that schedule, the brand new superintendent would have an opportunity to ease into the management function throughout a transition interval with Williams, who by that time may have led the district for shut to 2 years.  

College constructing tasks will maintain college students transferring

District officers will introduce a brand new services plan this college 12 months that can suggest methods to deal with a backlog of expensive upkeep points. A mixture of building tasks, closures, and consolidations will probably have an effect on 1000’s of scholars, requiring that some transfer out of their college buildings and into others. 

MSCS is working with Extra for Memphis, a consortium spearheaded by nonprofit Seeding Success, to develop the plans and set up funding sources. 

The plan will describe 110 college investments over the subsequent decade, and officers say they’re looking for thousands and thousands of {dollars} in personal funds for the primary 5 years of facility upgrades and educational enhancements. Along with colleges, the district may additionally consolidate administrative places of work, reviving efforts began years in the past with the acquisition of the outdated Bayer Constructing.

Some college communities are already getting ready for modifications, separate from the brand new districtwide plan. Underneath agreements between MSCS and neighboring districts to adjust to a brand new state regulation, Germantown Excessive College is because of be changed by a brand new constructing in Cordova, principally paid for via native tax will increase. Germantown Elementary and Center colleges can even shut in coming years, as will Lucy Elementary College in Millington. 

In the meantime, LaRose Elementary will proceed to accommodate college students from Cummings Ok-8, the place falling ceiling tiles pressured the constructing to shut for repairs simply weeks into the 2022-23 college 12 months.

And in Frayser, college students at Trezevant Excessive and at MLK Faculty Prep Excessive, which is a part of the state’s Achievement College District for low-performing colleges, can anticipate a brand new highschool constructing within the coming years. Hanley, a Ok-8 college that was additionally within the ASD, is returning to MSCS. 

The district’s broader plan is more likely to deal with different Memphis colleges which might be at the moment within the ASD or anticipated to exit in coming years. 

Educational wants will get a more in-depth look

MSCS will stay centered on bettering educational efficiency for particular person college students, however modifications are additionally occurring on the college and district ranges to enhance accountability for lecturers.

Whereas MSCS college students are making progress of their restoration from studying losses through the pandemic, math scores nonetheless lag, particularly for center schoolers. 

And in studying, scores on state standardized assessments have rebounded, however proficiency charges for the district have traditionally been among the many lowest within the state. The studying check scores are notably consequential for third graders, who face the chance of being held again in the event that they don’t efficiently full sure intervention packages.

Interim Superintendent Williams has supported a assessment of district educational departments and initiatives with a give attention to literacy. The assessment would have a look at the place the district is spending funds for educational programming and assess how efficient these packages have been. That evaluation would inform the event of an educational plan that board members would monitor every month for progress. 

On the college stage, the district has expanded its personal turnaround program, referred to as the Innovation Zone, or iZone, to incorporate a number of extra colleges, together with 4 colleges which have returned from the ASD. Colleges within the iZone have an extended college day to supply extra instruction for college kids and assist the faculties carry out higher general. 

The iZone growth comes as new accountability measures take impact in Tennessee. The Tennessee Division of Schooling is anticipated to start assigning letter grades to public colleges this fall, after years of delays. 

District should adapt to finish of some federal funding

MSCS bolstered its finances over the past a number of years with some $775 million in one-time federal funds to assist colleges take care of the pandemic and help their restoration efforts. The {dollars} come from the Elementary and Secondary College Emergency Aid Fund and are generally known as ESSER funds.

Districts have till September 2024 to spend their funds, so officers must wrap up the spending this college 12 months. 

MSCS has already budgeted funds for educational restoration packages, salaries for instructional assistants in early grades, and enhancements to varsities’ heating and air programs. Early rounds of funding had been used to purchase computer systems and tablets so college students may be taught from dwelling on-line. (Precise spending within the district has been tough for the general public to trace.)

Because the federal funds run out, Memphis and different districts throughout the nation should resolve which packages they’ll maintain with different funding sources, and which of them they may minimize.

However the adjustment will probably be much less harsh for Tennessee college districts, due to the state’s new college funding system, which got here alongside a $1 billion improve in schooling spending. Memphis was projected to obtain about $114 million extra in recurring funds via the brand new system, which takes impact this college 12 months. 

Metropolis’s crises problem pupil well being, educational success

MSCS has spent extra on social emotional studying and help for college kids, together with new wellness facilities as some colleges. Psychological well being staff will get the wage schedule they sought final college 12 months.

Elements outdoors of the district, although, proceed to create obstacles. Youth homelessness in MSCS, as an example, has climbed to its highest measured depend in 4 years, to 2,880 college students on the finish of the final college 12 months. 

Help companies for Memphis college students and households outdoors of the classroom have grown in significance for the reason that begin of the pandemic.

How Memphis and Shelby County deal with persistent social points similar to violence, policing, justice, and poverty will probably be a vital issue for pupil wellness and educational success within the district. Candidates in October’s crowded mayoral election have supplied many concepts, together with some that mirror present MSCS packages.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Colleges for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Attain Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.