Memphis City Schools Beat Blog

Supt. Kriner Cash will be making the rounds this week at city government.

He will appear before the council's Education Committee at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

And Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton is holding a celebration in his honor Thursday at 5:30 in the Hall of Mayors.

Thursday is also when MCS and the city head back to court in their lawsuit over the council's decision to cut $66.2 million in property tax revenue from the school district's budget.

With a signature--and after two hours of chatter about other topics--Dr. Kriner Cash became superintendent of Memphis City Schools Monday night.

Memphis has a way of welcoming people by throwing them in the fire, and Cash's case is no different. His first task is to help the district battle through losing $66.2 million for the fiscal year that starts today.

But the former Martha's Vineyard school leader told reporters Monday night he was up for the task.

Now on to the part many of you have been bugging me about for weeks (and I, in turn, have bugged the MCS lawyers about for weeks).

How much money is he getting?

Assuming his $258,000 base salary went unchanged, Cash would make $ 1,032,000 over the next four years.

But there's more, including a minimum 2.5 percent salary increase every July 1.

He also gets:

• $1,500 per month for the next 6 months in housing allowance
• $10,000 in moving expenses
• $6,000 a year in auto allowance (in addition to use of a district-owned car)
• $10,000 annually in tax sheltered annuities--Cash wouldn't be eligible for Tennessee's state retiree plan unless he serves a fifth year as superintendent.
• a $500,000 life insurance policy

He must give the board 60 days notice if he decides to leave the district, same as in former Superintendent Carol Johnson's contract. If for some unforseen reason he decides to leave by January, he must repay 50 percent of all relocation and housing expenses paid by the district.

But that seems like a far off possibility at the moment. Cash will spend the balance of this short holiday week meeting with district staffers and asking them a list of 60 questions about the district. The answers he does--or does not--get to those questions will help him forumulate a plan for reorganizing the district's much-maligned central office administration.

Next week, Cash will be focused on external relations, meeting with several media representatives, including The Commercial Appeal's editorial board.

The Memphis Board of Education will host a public welcome reception for him Monday at the Teaching and Learning Center, 2485 Union, from 4 to 5 p.m.

Memphis mayor Willie Herenton on Tuesday asked that the City Council to draft a referendum to be put on the November ballot that would allow citizens to say whether they support the city mayor appointing the Memphis City Schools superintendent and school board. Herenton, rebuffing claims that his proposal was a “power grab,” requested that the referendum state that the changes would not take place until 2012, when he is out of office.

“This isn’t about Willie Herenton,” he said.  “I fundamentally believe we can do better with the governance of the Memphis City School system.”

Herenton has proposed creating a mayoral-controlled school board and superintendent several times, most recently in January. The former MCS superintendent made his most recent call during a Monday press conference in the Hall of Mayors.

State law requires all school boards be elected and gives boards sole authority to appoint superintendents. Attempts to change this 1992 law have routinely failed in the General Assembly.

Councilman Bill Morrison rebuffed Herenton’s proposal Tuesday.

“The city of Memphis needs to get out of the education business, not deeper into it,” he said. . “We do not need to appoint a school board or superintendent.”

City Council Atty. Allan Wade said that went Chattanooga stopped funding its city school district, the county picked it up.

State election coordinator Brook Thompson told The Commercial Appeal on Monday his office would have to research whether such a referendum is allowed under Tennessee law. "Generally speaking, you have to have statutory authority to have a city referendum," he said.

In 2003, responding to a request from Herenton, Thompson said that it's up to the school board to call for a referendum on abolishing the city school system.

Memphis City Schools is a special school district with its own charter separate from the city’s.

According to a legal opinion written for the school board by attorney Ernest Kelly, creating a city-run school district would require a combination of a two-thirds majority referendum vote giving the city the power to levy taxes for schools, and a simple-majority referendum vote that the school board surrender its charter.

Board members and school officials said Monday they see no need to change the district's structure. Research doesn't show appointed boards produce better academic results, said board member Martavius Jones.

An indignant interim Supt. Dan Ward told reporters at a Monday press conference he’s tired of hearing weary of blanket statements maligning the school system he’s served for 36 years.

"You've been hearing about waste and mismanagement and inefficiencies in the school system. If you know of any, just call us. We'd be happy to tackle it," he said. "If you don't know of any, put down the epithets."

Board president Tomeka Hart agreed, saying the district is focused on creating better accountability in the wake of operations scandals.

"You get criticized for making changes. (Ward's) made the changes that need to be made."

--Amos Maki and Dakarai I. Aarons

Memphis City Schools officials keep getting bad news these days when it comes to their funding for the new fiscal year, which is just two weeks away.

The district could lose about $70 million in federal funding it uses to help students and schools make the grade for No Child Left Behind.

Aubrey Bond, MCS executive director for federal programs and grants, said federal regulations require a local school district to be in compliance with its state education department to receive the funds.

If the City Council follows through with its $66.2 million cut to city schools' operating budget tomorrow, it will put the district out of compliance with the Tennessee Department of Education and will result in the department withholding MCS' $423 million allocation starting Oct. 1

That money is used to provide additional staff to schools where coaches help guide teachers in teaching math, science and literacy skills.  New classroom computers and software that helps kids learn, like the new Stanford Math computer program the district used this year, are also purchased from that money.

Board members were hesitant Monday night during a capital investments committee meeting to approve any new spending in light of the district's fluid funding situation. They grilled staffers about purchases with a tenacity not seen since shortly after the Central Nutrition Center scandal broke last fall.

District staff, parents and board members will be present during the council's 3:30 p.m. meeting today to see if it decides to take up the budget issue again. If not, a lawsuit against the council is forthcoming, possibly before week's end.

Memphis City Schools didn't get much love this morning during a Memphis City Council budget committee.

While ardent schools supporters Joe Brown and Barbara Swearengen Ware did their fiery best to convince colleagues that cutting school funding was a bad idea, other councilmembers seemed unmoved by their arguments, saying that with the poor economy, the council didn't have much choice.

And removing the city government's funding of city schools over the next two years is also a move by some councilmembers to force a look at consolidation.

The burning anger expressed during councilmember (and former school board member) Wanda Halbert's comments before the council led one school official to mutter, "We're screwed."

Once the council votes, the matter will likely end up in a courtroom. But school board president Tomeka Hart doesn't think that's a bad thing.

After so many years of uncertainty, Hart said, it is time to have a resolution to questions about the status of Memphis City Schools and responsibility for funding it.

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First, the Memphis City Council started looking at withdrawing its $93.5 million in funding from Memphis City Schools.

And now, the Shelby County Commission is looking at taking away $60 million in capital funds from MCS and Shelby County Schools, a move that would leave city schools without more than $42 million needed for school construction and renovations.

If the commission's conversation becomes more than just talk, those angry parents at Ross Elementary who came to the board meeting a few weeks ago to complain about overcrowding and safety concerns at the East Memphis school will have to wait longer to see improvements.

The $7 million, 20-classroom addition to the school won't happen without another installment of funding.

Of course, if the county choses to withdraw from the last year of its three-year agreement with schools, a lawsuit is almost inevitable.

Yvonne Brandon and Nicholas Gledich shared a commonality in their interviews before the Memphis Board of Education: sparse audience.

Both interviewed at 1:30 p.m., when most people were at work. That meant the audience of at their interviews for the top schools job was dominated by media representatives and curious members of the superintendent's cabinet. The few other audience members included a former board member, a retired education professor and representatives of the Memphis Education Association.

Rita Cooper, the district's chief communications executive, had cautioned board members during a previous meeting against holding interviews in mid-afternoon because of concerns teachers, parents and other community members would feel disenfranchised.

Perhaps in response to this concern, board members have scheduled the June 5 question and answer sessions with the two superintendent finalists to take place at night .

When we make a mistake at The Commercial Appeal, we admit it. And this morning, we had a serious error.

Because of an editing error, our story this morning about the rape dance controversy at Mitchell High incorrectly listed the name of Hamilton High in the headline.

Below is the text of an apology given to Hamilton High Principal Ike White and the administration of Memphis City Schools.

Mr. White,

On behalf of the staff of The Commercial Appeal, I sincerely apologize to the faculty, staff, students and parents of Hamilton High School for pain caused by our paper's error.

Your school was incorrectly placed in the headline this morning of a story about an incident that took place at another school.

We take any error, especially one of this magnitude, seriously and strive to provide readers with accurate information each day.

Our consistency in doing so is why The Commercial Appeal has long been an integral and well-respected member of the Greater Memphis community.

Our staff immediately corrected the error on commercialappeal.com once we became aware of the error and will ensure that a correction is printed in Friday's editions of The Commercial Appeal.

Again, we apologize for this error that has created much turmoil in the Hamilton community today, and pledge to double our efforts to make sure all information that appears in our editions is accurate and fair to all stakeholders involved.

UPDATE: I have heard from nearly three dozen readers by phone or e-mail on this issue today and I thank all of you for calling.  Not only are you serious about reading your local newspaper, but you also care about the content deeply.

Interim Supt. Dan Ward sent a statement to The Memphis Board of Education and WREG-TV late Wednesday night saying the district is conducting an internal investigation on a YouTube video depicting Mitchell High School students engaged in a "rape dance" at a high school dance. His text follows below.

Board Commissioners:

The district is very aware of the concerns of our employees, parents and the community regarding videos posted on the Internet. We would again like to make you aware of our position in dealing with this troubling matter and remind you that our investigation remains open.  Although we thank the media for bringing this matter to our attention, we now are handling this situation as an internal matter to be investigated and resolved.
Therefore, we have respectfully declined further public comment.  However, we are remaining in communication with our parents and staff, and we will not lose sight of our most important goal -- educating our students in a safe and nurturing learning environment. Additionally, we will continue to inform you all of any developments over the course of this ongoing investigation.

In the meantime, we have included below for your perusal a list of correspondence with WREG and our parents regarding this situation.

Thank you for your understanding.

Respectfully,

Dan Ward
Superintendent
Memphis City Schools
The video, first shown last Monday on WREG-TV, has been a staple of their May sweeps coverage, with stories each night talking to parents and community members about the incident and asking district administrators school board members and parents for their reactions.

The videos have attracted national attention, leading to Ward's appearance on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night.

Ward told The Commercial Appeal today that he does not condone the students' actions and is awaiting a copy of the video requested from WREG-TV before making any decisions about disciplining school administrators involved.

You can read more about this issue in Thursday's editions of The Commercial Appeal.

When students are expelled from Memphis City Schools for committing a serious offense (i.e. drugs or weapons violations),� the district places them in an alternative school during that time before students return to regular school.

But there's nothing in board policy or state law that requires students to go, so sometimes students simply sit at home until its time to go back to their regular school.

Memphis City Schools staffers and board members are contemplating making it part of board policy, requiring students to go. Some principals have long advocated this change, saying that students who don't go through the district's alternative school program often return to school more problematic than before.

But such a move would have a cost. The school district would essentially have to pay for the kids twice because it would have to hire additional teaching staff for the alternative schools.

The district's policy department is studying the issue, but it has support among a number of board members and top district administrators.

What do you think? Should students who commit serious offenses be forced to go to alternative schools? Is it worth the cost?