Memphis-Shelby County Schools sets start date for new superintendent

Memphis-Shelby County Schools has announced the timeline for the installation of the district's new superintendent, Marie Feagins.

In a statement issued Friday, MSCS Board Chair Althea Greene announced Feagins would start her onboarding process that day. She will be paid on a per-diem basis for her work with the district. If the MSCS board approves Feagins' contract at its next meeting, she will formally start as superintendent on April 1, according to Greene.

The MSCS board has laid out an eight-week transition period that will allow Feagins to settle in as the next district leader. In this transition period, Greene explained, Feagins will be around for the budget process.

"Budget planning is underway," she said in the statement. "Having Dr. Feagins on the ground as soon as possible will provide input and help prepare her for a positive new school year."

The eight-week onboarding plan is also designed to give Feagins time to build community relationships in Memphis and in Nashville as the legislative session continues.

The news of her potential start date comes just a few days after she attended MSCS' February school board meeting, where she was spotlighted by Greene. A release sent out about her visit at the meeting said she was firming up her 100-day plan.

What will Toni Williams do?

The statement did not detail what the interim superintendent, Toni Williams, would do when Feagins takes over. Williams has held the position since former superintendent Joris Ray resigned in August 2022; and, according to her contract, she can be reassigned to her previous role as CFO by the board or Feagins, or serve as a consultant for a year.

If she were to serve as a consultant, she would earn the same pay rate she did as CFO, and her consulting duties would include continued transition support for Feagins, and providing advice on the district’s budget and other financial issues.

How MSCS got here

If the board does vote for Feagins to step into the role on April 1, the district will finish ahead of the schedule it laid out when it relaunched the superintendent search process in August. At the time, the goal was for the next superintendent was slated to be named in January or February and begin on or before July 1.

Feagins was announced as a top candidate on Dec. 15, when she first interviewed with the board, and a few days later, she was named one of three finalists. In early February, she was selected over the other two: Yolonda Brown, chief academic officer for Atlanta Public Schools; and Cheryl Proctor, Ph.D., the deputy superintendent of instruction and school communities for Portland Public Schools.

Feagin's Background

When she was first interviewed by the board in December, Feagins described herself as “a native Alabaman with humble beginnings in public housing.”

“I’m a proud Head Start kid, first-generation college alum, and award-winning educator with a firm, contagious belief that every child can become a success story when they have the tools to write it,” she said at the time.

While she currently works in Detroit, Feagins spent much of her career in Alabama. From 2006 to 2012 she was a teacher and head coach with Jefferson County Schools, and in 2013, she became a senior counselor and building testing coordinator with the district. In 2016, she was named an assistant principal and building safety coordinator with Huntsville City Schools, and, in 2017, she joined Cleveland Metro Schools in Ohio, where she worked as an assistant principal and principal. In 2021, Feagins stepped into her current role with Detroit Public Schools Community District, which has about 51,000 students.

During her tenure in Detroit, she helped raise the graduation rate from 64.5% to 71.1%, which put it above the state average, and marked the first time the graduation rate had risen in nearly a decade. She also helped grow enrollment in advanced placement courses by 19%.

Feagins, however, hasn’t managed a budget close to the size of MSCS.

Though she’s had a hand in the arrangement of Detroit’s overall school budget, the largest budget she’s individually overseen initially amounted to a couple million dollars, then had several million more tacked on for summer school improvements ― which is a far cry from the budget of around $2 billion MSCS currently works with. In her final interview, Feagins acknowledged the discrepancy, but asserted that “it’s tougher to do a lot of work with a little money.”

Looking ahead

She now steps into the lead role at MSCS at a time when the district has set ambitious goals and is facing significant challenges.

Last year, 23.6% of third graders earned proficient results on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program English Language Arts tests, and the district wants that number to grow to 52% by 2030. MSCS has $500 million in deferred maintenance and school buildings with an average age of 64, so it’s putting together a comprehensive infrastructure plan to address a wide variety of needs. And with federal relief funds stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic poised to end, the district is considering a significant realignment to prevent a $150 million budget gap in fiscal year 2025.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Here's when Memphis-Shelby County Schools' new superintendent starts