MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Malika Anderson will step down as the superintendent of the state-run Achievement School District at the end of September, Tennessee’s education commissioner announced Wednesday.
Anderson began her tenure as superintendent in January 2016 and has been with the district since 2012. Chief Operations Officer Kathleen Airhart will step in as interim superintendent.
The district oversees 32 schools in the state, and all but two of them are in Memphis. Most are operated by charters.
ASD schools are an intervention by the state to turn around “priority schools,” which are schools in the bottom 5 percent academically.
The search for a new superintendent starts immediately. The state department of education said in a release that the district will look for a superintendent “who is deeply committed to the Memphis community, in particular.”
