Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins narrowly avoided an ouster attempt from school board members during a special-called meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
However, the termination proceedings will continue into the new year and be decided in the board’s business meeting at the end of January. Board members voted 5-4 to postpone the proposed termination based on allegations of professional misconduct.
The board will consider the motion at the end of January after considering Feagins’ written responses to the allegations during a committee meeting scheduled for Jan. 14.
Deliberations Tuesday night illuminated rifts among board members and included back-and-forth debate with audience members who supported the superintendent.
Had the board terminated Feagins during the Tuesday meeting, the vote would have been effective immediately, Chair Joyce Dorse Coleman said. She said the termination resolution has findings of cause, meaning Feagins would not be eligible for severance.
Termination without cause would award the superintendent nearly $500,000 in severance, according to her contract.
After robust public comment, Dorse Coleman read the allegations paraphrased below:
- An inability to substantiate claims that $1 million in overtime was paid for time not worked
- Feagins accepted a donation of $45,000 before receiving board approval
- Feagins was dishonest with board members about the availability of $304,000 in federal pandemic relief grant funds
“This is not an easy decision,” said Dorse Coleman, who called the meeting. Parts of her comments could not be heard over shouts from the audience.
She said at the start of the meeting that the board was prepared to immediately call another meeting Tuesday night to appoint an interim superintendent.
That meeting did not happen. It was ultimately Dorse Coleman who flipped her stance, allowing the delay in termination proceedings. She voted against an earlier motion to postpone a termination vote indefinitely.
That vote failed, with support only from the other four board members who supported the month-long delay and spoke against the termination proposal.
“At the end, my desire was to be fair,” Dorse Coleman told reporters after the vote. She could be seen crying at the dais once the meeting adjourned.
FEAGINS VERBALLY DENIED ALLEGED WRONGDOING
Feagins has retained an attorney and spoke at length refuting the allegations that she called “meritless, baseless.” “I’m not a victim. I came to do a job,” she said. The motion to delay the vote until January came after Feagins requested an opportunity to provide a written response.
