County Commission discussing rescinding MSCS no confidence vote
Mar 25, 2025
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- State lawmakers are inching closer to deciding whether they will "take over" or "makeover" the Memphis-Shelby County Schools district.
As lawmakers meet at the State Capitol on Tuesday, some elected leaders in Memphis are weighing whether the county commission should rescind its
no confidence vote of the school board.
The possibility of the Shelby County Commission rescinding its no confidence vote of the MSCS Board is a proposal Your News Leader first told you about last week when Commissioner Erika Sugarmon floated her ideas on WREG at 3 p.m.
"What I'm hearing from people if the county commission rescinds the no-confidence, then that doesn't give the state the right," Sugarmon said.
The bill proposed by Representative Mark White of Memphis uses a vote of no confidence as a measure that the state can use to take over a school district.
Shelby County Commissioner Amber Mills said the commission's vote shouldn't be reversed.
"It's a lousy idea. There's no putting the toothpaste back in the tube," Mill said. "First of all, it's not a takeover. It is an intervention. It is local Shelby County people with expertise to help correct our schools."
County OKs ‘no confidence’ vote against school board
Commissioner Mickell Lowery said rescinding the vote should be considered.
"Sure, I support that, Alex. Hopefully, we'll see what the chair decides to bring to the body," Lowery said. "I told you two months ago on your show that the reason why I voted the way I did is that we should not be telling elected bodies if they're doing a good job or bad job. So, I abstained from that vote. That's not our place as a commission."
The debate over state intervention and the possible consequences of the county commission's no confidence vote continues to heat up.
"I definitely support anything we can do to support Shelby County and being responsible for governing in Shelby County," Lowery said.
"I don't have confidence in the members of the board that handled the school board meeting that terminated Dr. Feagan's role as superintendent, so I don't see that changing," Mills said. ...read more read less