MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s down to the wire with less than two weeks before the Memphis Shelby County School Board is due to finalize its budget, but many questions are unanswered.

Last week, Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins announced plans to cut 1,100 jobs in an effort to restructure the district. But after a special meeting was called by the board of education, that plan was put on hold.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Feagins said she is confident the budget will be finalized by the July 1 deadline, but she’s still juggling questions, comments, and concerns from the public, and members of her own administration, about her proposal.

A letter was sent out Monday, alerting those in positions that are set to be cut at the end of the month.

But when WREG spoke with Feagins Tuesday, she said she highly encourages those people to apply for the hundreds of vacancies the district currently has available.

“We have more than 200 roles that were posted on the website,” Dr. Feagins said. “And so, I think earlier on, I shared if anyone wanted to have a job with the district, (they) could have a job. It may just not look like what you’re doing right now or have that same title.”

She says this is not a decision she has taken lightly, but one that she believes is best for the students.

“I think as we think about overall where we’re going, it’s important to have the right leader in the right place at the right time, which is something that I shared during my interview and that goes across the board, not just in the capacity of superintendent,” she said.

And while the overall response from the public appears to be mixed, Dr. Feagins had her fair share of supporters during the MSCS Working board meeting.

“There’s no need to hire people off the streets and train them to be teachers while they’re in our classrooms when we have qualified people at the board who could be in the classroom,” retired MSCS teacher Judy Brown said. “They have degrees.” 

There were former and current teachers at the meeting wearing shirts that read, “New is Now” to show their acknowledgment of the Superintendent’s efforts.

Dr. Feagins explained in the meeting that $10 million would be allocated towards realigning open positions, including nurses, social workers and behavioral specialists.

“And thankfully today alone, two individuals who were impacted emailed and shared, ‘Hey, I’m a licensed social worker,” Dr. Feagins said. “Absolutely and we (will) take you.”

The board asked questions throughout the presentation and expressed a better understanding of the proposal.

However, how they may vote is still up in the air.

“It needs to get passed,” Brown said. “We need not only just teachers, but we need parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, to come out and support us because these are your children. This is our future of Memphis.”

Again, the board could meet again as soon as Thursday, but at the latest, they will vote during next Tuesday’s board meeting.