MEMPHIS, Tenn. — From the firing of its latest superintendent to the hiring of another one, and all the chaos in between, Memphis Shelby County Schools is in the midst of yet more controversy and the WREG Investigators are taking a closer look at concerns about how much it’s costing you.
At Sherrie Partee’s home daycare, there are signs all over the wall, signifying the lessons children learn.
As a concerned grandparent with Memphis Shelby County Schools, Partee says she’s been thinking about the math, and it doesn’t make sense, she told WREG, for the board to have fired Dr. Marie Feagins, leaving them now, having to possibly look for another leader.
“We waste so much money and time and it’s just like it’s done without thinking,” said Partee.
WREG asked, “And you don’t feel like the board has been a good steward of taxpayer dollars?”
She replied, “No, I don’t, I don’t I really don’t.”
When the school board tapped Dr. Roderick Richmond to serve as interim superintendent some 10 minutes after firing Feagins, that made him the fourth to hold the position in three years.
It’s a move that costs taxpayers more money.
Partee exclaimed, “It’s like, oh, we got the money. You know, the money is here. We can just do that. That’s not what it’s about!”
The WREG Investigators decided to do the math and add it all up for you. We started with what it cost to part ways with former superintendent Dr. Joris Ray. His severance was $480,000.
In addition, records obtained by NewsChannel 3 reveal the district paid two attorneys $52,223 to investigate misconduct allegations against Ray. That probe ended abruptly and never became public. The total so far is more than $532,000.
Ray’s contract also called for him to be paid hourly expenses for up to one year, plus his unused vacation and sick time. WREG filed an open records request for those payments and we’re still waiting to hear back from the district.
“That’s cost, you taking money out of the district to have to do something else,” said Partee.
Based on what the WREG Investigators uncovered, that cost continues to add up.
The contract for the firm that handled the last superintendent search included a $38,000 consulting fee. That figure doesn’t include travel reimbursements, or what the district could add on through “optional enhancements” as outlined in the contract. If used, the latter two were not to exceed $31,600.
Then, there’s the buyout for Dr. Feagins for $487,500, per calculations based on her contract.
So far, that adds up to more than $1 million of your taxpayer money.
Feagins’ contract also calls for her to be paid for unused vacation and sick days.
It’s important to note, however, MSCS won’t have to pay her buyout if they prove she was terminated for cause.
Sarah Carpenter is the Executive Director of parent organization Memphis Lift.
“It’s a waste, a total waste,” Carpenter told WREG.
She continued, “They paid an outside attorney, they got an attorney over there. They paid Malone and Carter Group.”
Carpenter’s first reference is to Robert Spence, the lawyer who proudly touted the results of his investigation into policy violations against Feagins just before she was fired.
As Spence held up documents while speaking to the board during that tense January meeting, he said, “Here are the facts!”
Meanwhile, someone in the crowd yelled a question in reference to how much Spence was paid for his work.
WREG filed a public records request to get an answer to that question and we’re still waiting to hear back.
Partee told NewsChannel 3 she wants answers too. “I want the books open, all the way down to a pen!”
WREG asked, “You want to see what’s been happening?”
She replied, “What’s been happening with the money.”
Meanwhile, WREG Investigators did obtain a copy of the six-month contract for the Carter Malone Group to handle public relations for the board. The cost is $70,000.
Add that to our running total and the new total is $1,127,724.
Carpenter said, “It’s so many ways you could spend money on kids in the classroom. I want our teachers to be paid correctly.”
Standing outside a recent board meeting, some parents, educators and stakeholders held up signs expressing frustration with how taxpayer funds are spent.
An entry-level teacher with MSCS, on a 10-month contract, makes just over $50,000 according to a publicly available district salary chart for the most recent school year.
At that rate, the $1.1 million in costs we calculated could pay the salary of 22 classroom teachers.
“This is a waste of time and money,” said MSCS Board Member Michelle McKissack when talking with WREG about what might be spent on a new superintendent search.
She continued, “And this is not what anyone wants, not what the taxpayer wants. Whether you have a child in this district or not.”
Which is why board member Towanna Murphy says Interim Superintendent Dr. Roderick Richmond should have the job permanently.
Murphy told the WREG Investigators, “I don’t want to look for no anybody else. I don’t want to spend more money to find another superintendent.”
Meanwhile, former board member Maurico Calvo told NewsChannel 3 he considers it the cost of doing business, especially if it means getting to the bottom of what’s best for the district.
“I will never say that $400,000 or a thousand dollars, is a good use. It’s all about the return on the investment,” explained Calvo.
An investment, that should be made into children, said Partee.
“Y’all give our money to these people and then when they leave, our children are still where they were or lower. So when we gonna care about the children?”
WREG also asked board attorney Justin Bailey if and how much former Superintendent Dr. Willie Herenton is being paid for his consultation, and Bailey told us he hadn’t seen a contract.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners recently requested a state audit of the school district’s finances that would cover the last five years.
Click here to watch the full special.
