MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis-Shelby County School Board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss terminating Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins’ contract, according to the MSCS Board agenda.
The meeting was added on Monday and is set to take place on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
This comes after months of reported strife between the MSCS Board and Feagins, who was hired back in February.
In September, some school board members claimed it was a “mistake” to hire Dr. Feagins and have said under her regime district morale has “hit a new low.”
In letters written by outgoing board members Mauricio Calvo and Althea Greene, they advised 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.”
We will update this story as more information becomes available.