MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Shelby County School Board will consider a resolution to stop the search for a new superintendent.
Before proposing the resolution, Board Vice-Chair Stephanie Love asked the board if moving forward with a search was the best thing to do.
“I posed the question, because I know in the beginning you had board members, and I was one of them, that stated we need to do a superintendent search,” she said.
But just a few months later, some board members acknowledged the positive impact Dr. Joris Ray has made in a short time.
“We’ve not heard any negative comments about the superintendent. He seems to be doing well with the community, with the teachers, with the principals,” board member Scott McCormick said.
Yet, some parents feel like their voices aren’t being heard. “We haven’t had time to say what we want and what a great superintendent looks like. Dr. Ray could be that person and very well may be, but again I say do a process. We want a process,” Sarah Carpenter, with Memphis Lift, said.
Community groups and parents say their call for a nationwide search is about building trust, transparency and making sure the best decisions are being made for their kids.
“We want to feel like it’s fair and it’s a process to be done, and that builds trust again in the community. The community has the chance to site there and ask questions of those candidates,” Carpenter said. She says all their asking for is a say in what happens to their kids.
The board hasn’t used a national search for a superintendent in 10 years. But now, there are two options on the table for the board to vote on.
They will either vote on a resolution to end the superintendent search and name Dr. Ray as superintendent, or pay a firm $44,000 to conduct a nationwide search.