MSCS report: Schools need more than $1B in repairs
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Decades of deferred maintenance at more than 200 Memphis-Shelby County Schools total more than a billion dollars of major overhauls and replacements, reports from MSCS say.
This comes after a top-to-bottom assessment by an outside consulting agency. The reports, thousands of pages of them, were just received by WREG on Tuesday.
One of the buildings even listed to have major problems is MSCS district headquarters.
Former Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins first talked about this assessment back in October of 2024, saying the findings could lead to school closures and consolidations.
The study was conducted by Bureau Veritas, an inspecting and consulting company.
Woman claims she was fired after comments against school board member
One of the schools is Oakshire Elementary School in Whitehaven, which was built in 1966. Roofing, sidewalks, suspended ceilings, flooring and ancillary buildings are all listed in poor condition, with recommendations to have items isted in poor condition replaced by this year.
The report lists more than $9.7 million in improvements, from immediate to long-term, up to 20 years from now.
Oakshire-Elementary-Memphis-TN-FCAFinal_RedactedDownload
Oakshire is just one of the dozens of buildings the company looked at. Some schools needed more improvements, costing much more than others, and some needing the improvements much sooner too.
White Station High School in East Memphis, with seven buildings developed in 1953, needs more than $42 million in immediate and long-term improvements, according to the report.
White-Station-High-School-Memphis_-TN-FCA_RedactedDownload
We've been asking Memphis Shelby County Schools about these findings for months. When we never received the documents, our team filed a 'Freedom of Information Act' Jan. 7.
Months later, we received the thousands of pages.
But the discussion of crumbling school infrastructure is nothing new. Every summer and winter we tell you about schools with broken heating and air conditioning systems.
The question becomes, where will the tens of millions of dollars needed for improvements come from?
Over the last few months MSCS has been embroiled in discussions about a possible state takeover.
Lawmakers to revive bill after Memphis school audit findings
Tennessee State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, who is against the state stepping in, talked recently about school building maintenance and the lack of a wider discussion.
'We would like to have help on funding the $1 billion of deferred maintenance that our children are having to endure in those raggedy schools every time they go to school. Now we've asked the state to help with that. They have been quiet on that,' Hardaway said.
Tuesday night, the school board is meeting to discuss making these documents public, posting them online so you can take a look at the school in your neighborhood.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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