MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A couple of school board members who lost their jobs in last month’s election are now saying they may have made a mistake in hiring Marie Feagins as superintendent.
WREG obtained two letters ahead of the superintendent’s six-month evaluation, one from outgoing board member Mauricio Calvo and the other from outgoing member Althea Greene.
Both said they wanted to advise incoming board members on who they’d be working with.
Calvo wrote, “I tried to be as objective as possible in balancing some of her attributes, strong communicator, a super hard worker.”
But, he said, he also has two major concerns, claiming the superintendent has an inability to listen to others, and too often pushes back on checks and balances.
“It really created a culture that was very toxic,” Calvo said. “Now she inherited a very toxic culture, she didn’t create that, but she didn’t make it any better.”
Some of this was echoed in another letter from Greene, the former school board chairwoman. She complained that Feagins fails to communicate with the board about personnel changes.
She also now says Feagins was the “least qualified” candidate, even going so far as to say hiring her was a “mistake.”
“As a board, we made a decision to hire Dr. Marie Feagins, and if I’m being honest with you, it was a mistake,” Greene wrote. “She was the least qualified candidate for the position, and her actions since coming onboard have shown her lack of experience as a leader.”
“I agree, and I am going to say that on record, because I was one of the constituents that did interview her and I thought that she was an amazing woman from when we first interviewed her,” MSCS board member Towanna Murphy said.
The school board voted overwhelmingly back in February to hire Feagins, claiming it chose the new superintendent after learning of Dr. Feagins’ deep understanding of urban education, commitment to equity, and academic vision for MSCS. One board member called her the “visionary changemaker” the district needs.
Now, barely six months into the job, some board members are having buyer’s remorse, claiming district morale has hit a new low.
“I’ve talked to some the cafeteria workers and the things that have been going on inside there and, like you said they are not getting they money that they’ve been promised,” Murphy said.
We reached out to Memphis-Shelby County Schools for comment and we are waiting to hear back.
But some have heard and seen enough.
“This is the perfect opportunity for her if she wants to take it to look at herself, look around her and say, take stock and say yeah I need to grow in these areas,” Calvo said.
“The key point to this is, it’s about the children, it is about the teachers,” Murphy said. “And if it’s not about the teachers and the rest of the employees then there is no need to have her.”
