MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s a new day at Memphis Shelby County Schools in more ways than one. A new interim superintendent is at the helm, but not without a bitter fight.

The school board members must now figure out how to move forward after a firing that has left them divided.

The Memphis Shelby County School Board is coming out of one of the most tumultuous fights in recent years, over a superintendent some wanted to keep and others vehemently didn’t.

Towanna Murphy is new to the board and an early backer of former superintendent Marie Feagins, but that quickly changed.

“So this is the first time they have ever had a board that’s really outspoken and want things done, and we see things as they are and we have facts,” Murphy said. “We were trying to communicate with Dr. Feagins, but we got nothing. And that’s what’s been happening throughout the time I’ve been elected. The communication was not there.”

For Murphy, the final straw was Feagins’ decision to fire hundreds of workers.

“They asked her to halt on terminating any employees until she had a solid plan, and she stated that she wouldn’t fire anybody until after that. But the next day, the letters went out and she terminated 1,100 employees,” she said.

Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond is now leading the district, even as some in the community think the school system needs a new direction.

“We need someone in our district that represents that district, that knows our district,” Murphy said. “Many of us have said something to him like, ‘Don’t do that.’ He’ll say, ‘Okay, I got it.'”

WREG Investigator April Thompson: “Well, some would say that you just want somebody who’s going to answer to you.”

Murphy: “Well, that goes both ways because we have to answer to the superintendent as well. So, it goes both way. The main thing with us is communication.”

She says policy violations showed Feagins had to go, even as others wanted them to wait and give Dr. Feagins more time.

“To wait more time would have hurt us. To wait more time would have destroyed the district,” said Murphy.

Now, some board members are facing calls for them to lose their positions.

“We got the same good old boy network coming in and we are looking in the past bringing in people from the past,” said parent Allie Byrne, who was angry about the decision to terminate Feagins.

But Murphy isn’t worried.

“My district supports me. They supported my decision because a lot of them were affected by what’s happening in central office,” she said. “So you have a set of board members now that actually investigates what’s going on, and they need to give us the opportunity to get the district back on track.”

On the issue of school board training, the board has its state training on January 30 and 31. But, Murphy says they have already done training on etiquette, policy, and parliamentary procedures.