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Yahoo
a day ago
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Looking deeper into Carter Malone Group's invoices to Memphis Shelby County Schools
SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — The Memphis Shelby County School board hired a public relations firm behind closed doors last fall. It sparked concerns among some taxpayers as they demanded to see how the board is spending their money. 'Who's paying the fees for outside legal and PR firms? Is it us taxpayers?' one taxpayer asked the board during a meeting in January. The hire came just weeks before the board voted to fire the MSCS Superintendent, Dr. Marie Feagins. How much is MSCS paying Carter Malone Group for public relations? 'I think people were more concerned about it being done at the time it was done,' said school board Chairwoman Joyce Dorse-Coleman. This wasn't the first time the board hired the Carter Malone Group to help them with their PR. Last summer, Feagins cancelled the previous contract. Dorse-Coleman said that soon after, the internal communications department fell apart. Records WREG obtained show that at least four communications staffers resigned within months. 'When we were reaching out for communications support, we weren't receiving it,' said Dorse-Coleman. 'We had no support.' The board entered into another contract with the Carter Malone Group in November. A move that wasn't discussed or voted on publicly, because the bill would 'not exceed $70,000.' The policy states board approval is only necessary for professional service contracts above $75,000. Because there was no vote, the contract wasn't posted for you to see, either. WREG Investigators received a copy through someone connected within the district. It stated the firm would keep a detailed log of their work and then bill the board every month based on the hourly rates listed in the contract. Deidre Malone opens up about why MSCS hired her PR firm 'A public relations agency is just like a law firm. We believe it is important for our clients to know everything that we do for them,' said the firm's president and CEO, Deidre Malone. 'If my director of public relations is writing the chair's report, then she's going to document that. What that time looks like and what that costs.' In January, we asked for those invoices, and four months later, the district handed them over. In December, the invoice totaled more than $23,000. A majority of it had to do with the board's efforts to fire Feagins. The firm charged $900 for a communications strategy with the chair and another $1,200 to attend the meeting. They also prepared videos, statements and press releases based on various outcomes and provided media training and scripts. MSCS-Dec-2024-SubstantiationDownload The line items are similar in January's invoice, but the bill was slightly cheaper at around $19,000. The firm was again charged to prep for and attend the second special-called meeting where Feagins was terminated. They also charged $40 for a snow day social media post that month, $150 to meet with a lawmaker, and another $200 to tag along for an appearance on Your News Leader. That's right, their bill grew with each media appearance as the media asked your questions. 'It shouldn't be awkward because our role is to work with the media to get you what you need, and if your interview is an interview with the chair or one of the board members, then it's our role to coordinate that,' Green stated. The firm also charged $175 to help the chair draft a response in April when another board member threatened to deport a Hispanic woman who criticized her work. Original story: School board member won't apologize for deportation threat Followup story: School board member apologizes for deportation threat MSCS-Apr-2025-SubstantiationDownload There were more interview preps, press releases, and phone calls. Plus, another $1,700 for the new interim superintendent's media training. Malone said they wanted to detail everything they did, so the public could understand what they were paying for. 'When you're dealing with clients that are government clients, it's so important for them to understand everything that an agency does for them, so that's the reason why we itemize,' she said. The chair admits that information should be easier to obtain. 'We as a district have to do better at explaining why and the hows of certain things, like why do we have to feel like we needed an outside PR firm?' Dorse-Coleman said. 'Yes, the trust has been distorted. We know that,' Dorse-Coleman said. 'We have to do better, and our interim superintendent is committed and the board is committed to being more transparent.' The chair said she wanted every contract published, but it's unclear when that will happen. Get the latest from the WREG Investigators in your inbox The Carter Malone Group's contract ended last month. They reached the $70,000 limit before that, but continued to work through May without charging the district. Dorse-Coleman said the board is now utilizing the internal communications team again, but stated if they do not provide the support they need, she's not opposed to entering into another contract with the Carter Malone Group. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MSCS passes resolution to protect students from immigration policies
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis-Shelby County School board members approved a resolution that will protect vulnerable students in the community. This comes as federal and state laws continue to tighten around policies regarding immigration. 'I just wanted to be reflective that we abide by the state laws and the federal laws,' said MSCS Vice Chair Stephanie Love. The resolution read in part: 'Memphis Shelby County Schools has a responsibility to ensure all students who reside within its boundaries, regardless of immigration status, can safely access a free public K-12 education.' 'That means a lot to all of us to make sure that our immigrants are protected on the federal level and on the state level,' said board member Towanna Murphy. HS seniors' families stress over limited graduation tickets The response from MSCS comes after state lawmakers considered a bill that would allow schools to deny enrollment of undocumented students. That bill is currently on hold. 'When you have a high population of English as a second language, some of them could be legal here, but when it comes time for growing season, they just don't pick up and they leave school,' said Republican Speaker Cameron Sexton. 'They don't come back, so that's detrimental to the school system.' MSCS board members said federal law requires school districts to educate students regardless of their immigration status. CBU to partner with university in Illinois to boost academic success 'These children don't have — They should not suffer from something that we think their parents did right or wrong,' said board member Natalie McKinney. 'So, I think using children to get to their parents is not right.' 'We had already put that extra layer of protection out there to protect our immigrants and for stopping ICE from coming into our schools,' Murphy said. Both Murphy and McKinney said they have heard concerns from local immigrant community leaders and both said those concerns surround the safety of their children. They said that as long as the federal law allows it, they will fight for their students. 'I can say that for majority of our board- we are going to fight for the rights of children,' McKinney said. 'This is about children. It doesn't matter where you come from, doesn't matter about who your parents are — if you're here, you should be educated.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
MSCS files suit against software company after data breach leaked info to hackers
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of Memphis Shelby County Schools against PowerSchool, a K-12 software provider the school district was using, after a data breach leaked 'highly sensitive' student information. In December 2024, hackers stole student and teacher data from PowerSchool, the company confirms. PowerSchool says it became aware of the breach Dec. 28. School districts were not notified of the breach until nearly two weeks later, according to the lawsuit. Hackers claimed to have obtained information like names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and phone numbers from over 60 million students, parents, and faculty members worldwide. MSCS says in the lawsuit it has verified that nearly 24,000 of the records are from schools in the district. A news release from Frants Law Group states that PowerSchool paid a ransom to the hackers, 'but it is possible that personal information about students and parents has or will be sold on the dark web.' Local grandmother contradicts MSCS statement about release of students' names They say there have been recent reports of hackers doing exactly this — extorting school districts who are PowerSchool users. Frantz Law Group filed the lawsuit on behalf of MSCS. They say the district has paid PowerSchool more than $21 million over the last 12 years for its services, which promised to keep their data safe. The lawsuit includes accusations of negligence, breach of contract, and false advertising. 'The education community reasonably relied on PowerSchool's claims of privacy and security, but the software provider breached numerous contractual and legal duties it owed Memphis-Shelby schools and other districts across the country,' said William Shinoff, trial attorney with Frantz Law Group. Gun pulled during fight at J. Alexander's restaurant: police PowerSchool recently released a statement May 7 saying that a 'threat actor' has reached out to multiple school district customers trying to extort them using data from the December 2024 breach. They believe this is connected to the same incident. 'We sincerely regret these developments – it pains us that our customers are being threatened and re-victimized by bad actors,' said PowerSchool. The company also noted its decision to pay the hackers a ransom after the initial incident last year, saying they felt it was the best option to prevent the data from being made public. 'We made the decision to pay a ransom because we believed it to be in the best interest of our customers and the students and communities we serve. It was a difficult decision, and one which our leadership team did not make lightly,' said PowerSchol. 'But we thought it was the best option for preventing the data from being made public, and we felt it was our duty to take that action.' 📡 for Memphis and the Mid-South. 📧 and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox. Through the lawsuit, MSCS is requesting actual and compensable damages caused by PowerSchool's negligence, including expenses associated with handling the concerns of students and staff who suffered the theft of their personal information, along with the lost time and money used to mitigate the effects of the data breach. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MSCS interim superintendent releases 100-day plan
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Shelby County Schools' interim superintendent, Dr. Roderick Richmond, released his 100-day plan during a board meeting on Tuesday night. The plan focuses on governance and board relations, student achievement, staff relations and capacity, operations and finance, community relations, evaluation, and accountability. Dr. Richmond says it all comes down to more immediate priorities and that his first 100-day plan will go into effect on May 1. Who is MSCS Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond? He took questions from the board when they asked why this process took so long. He says one of the first items he had to complete as interim superintendent was completing outstanding contracts and working on an organizational chart. When it comes to the actual plan, it centers around 'five A's'. Each 'A' stands for academics, attendance, attitude, athletics, and arts. In each category, he presented goals and metrics that they hope to complete within different deadlines. School board members applauded him for the detailed and comprehensive plan, but wanted to get to the meat of it, asking what exactly he plans to do differently this time around. Dr. Richmond says a complete academic plan hasn't existed in the last seven years and that he consulted with outside firms to see what changes need to be made so that the work aligns with the academic plan. MSCS board members express confidence in interim superintendent A major sticking point was also the use of 'feeder patterns', something he says will connect classrooms from elementary to high school to career development. He used an example out of Southwest Memphis, sharing the proximity of the local schools to the Southwest Career and Technology Center and eventually to Elon Musk's xAI supercomputer. 'What if we start teaching coding, start teaching STEM, and that particular feeder pattern, when you look at our CTE center, students can go to that center and start to look at some of the careers around STEM,' Dr. Richmond said. 'In working in partnership, hypothetically, again with xAI, we can turn that whole community around.' Some board members voiced their concerns with the feeder program, like Tamarquez Porter, who says this could limit parents' choice when it comes to schools. But Dr. Richmond says it is just breaking the district down into smaller sections to tailor support and focus on the individual communities. A full copy of the 100-day plan can be found below. 100 Day Plan Presentation Dr. Richmond UPDATED-final0429-3Download Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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.
