by Stacy Jackson
February 12, 2024
Feagins takes over Memphis-Shelby County Colleges after the previous superintendent’s resigned for alleged sexual relationships with staff.
Dr. Marie Feagins has been elected to function the brand new superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Colleges in Tennessee, the state’s largest public college district.
Fox 13 experiences the vote by the board took two rounds after Feagins initially fell one vote shy, with 5 of the six wanted in spherical one. She finally clinched the put up with unanimous backing.
In a launch, the district famous Feagins’ “enthusiasm for immersing herself within the vibrant tradition of Memphis and Shelby County.” Board members had been impressed by how the Detroit Public Colleges’ Chief of Excessive Colleges “solidified herself as a frontrunner who can unite and uplift” faculties.
Feagins will take over a district that has lacked a everlasting superintendent since August 2022.
Praising her incoming “whole-soul management type,” MSCS mentioned Feagins’ work in Detroit “sparked development in a number of areas throughout excessive faculties, mirrored in scholar and workers accomplishments, and her background in media helps her join with completely different audiences.”
Among the many three last candidates, surveys discovered Feagins earned unanimous instructor backing alongside 70% neighborhood and 78% board member approval scores. Critiques centered on her restricted higher-level district administration expertise over advanced methods.
“Memphis, it’s an honor to be named your subsequent Superintendent,” Feagins mentioned in a press release. “I’m deeply grateful to the Faculty Board, educators, and the neighborhood for putting their belief in me to steer our District ahead. I’m dedicated to doing no matter it takes to maneuver us from good to phenomenal as a result of that’s what OUR metropolis and county deserve.”
She vowed that via collective efforts MSCS will “defy the percentages and turn out to be a nationwide mannequin of daring, transformational training.”
The method concludes a turbulent period for MSCS management.
Earlier Superintendent Dr. Joris Ray confronted suspension in July 2022 amid accusations of inappropriate workers relations. After an investigation for alleged sexual relationships with staff, he resigned a month later with a virtually $500,000 severance package deal.
Interim substitute and district CFO Toni Williams was additionally briefly thought-about earlier than being faraway from rivalry.
Williams welcomed Feagins in a letter to the MSCS neighborhood, writing, “She champions city training & is worked up to hitch this heartfelt work” Williams publicly praised Feagins because the incoming MSCS superintendent in a Feb. 12 put up on X.
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