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Former Memphis-Shelby County Colleges Superintendent Marie Feagins is looking for to void the varsity board’s January vote to oust her.
Feagins claims in a grievance offered by her legal professional Monday that the varsity board violated the Tennessee Open Conferences Act whereas terminating her contract. She alleges that college board members privately mentioned firing her for months forward of her official ousting in January.
All 9 faculty board members are listed as defendants. Feagins additionally alleges that interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond met with board members in November to debate changing into her alternative.
The board’s public relations company didn’t reply to Chalkbeat’s request for remark. The district’s spokesperson advised Chalkbeat that the interim superintendent cannot touch upon an open case.
A Shelby County Circuit Court docket worker advised Chalkbeat that the lawsuit had not been formally filed as of Tuesday morning. Feagins’ legal professional, William Wooten, didn’t reply to further questions.
Board Member Michelle McKissack, a Feagins advocate, stated she shouldn’t be shocked by the lawsuit.
“The night time that Dr. Feagins’ contract was terminated, she stated she was disenchanted that the board selected litigation over management,” McKissack stated. “I’m nonetheless disenchanted on the resolution made that night as nicely. However now that that is formally a authorized matter, and as a member of the MSCS Board, the one remark I’ve is this isn’t a shock.”
The grievance is the newest growth in a yearslong Memphis-Shelby County Colleges management turnover saga.
The district’s board voted 6-3 in January to terminate Feagins’ contract after 10 months on the job, approving a decision that claimed skilled misconduct and insufficient management from Feagins. The board fired her with trigger and prevented paying $487,500 in severance.
That January assembly adopted a specifically known as December assembly centered on whether or not to fireplace Feagins. The board voted to delay a call till January.
Wooten says the varsity board’s December assembly “didn’t present the required enough public discover.” The Open Conferences Act permits the general public to attend conferences and requires the governing physique to offer enough discover to the general public of the assembly, however doesn’t outline how lengthy that discover should be.
The grievance alleges that at a number of unofficial outings, together with at eating places and birthday events, board members mentioned firing Feagins.
Feagin claims that in October, board members circulated a draft decision to droop her. She additionally alleges that Interim Superintendent Richmond, a longtime district administrator who served because the district’s transformation officer, started forming a workforce for his new function after assembly with board members in November.
The grievance additionally stated that three days earlier than the preliminary December assembly to oust Feagins, some board members mentioned firing Feagins whereas attending former Superintendent Joris Ray’s celebration.
Feagins alleges her termination stems from an incident with Charles “Dow” McVean, a board member for the Peer Energy Basis, a tutoring and mentorship nonprofit that had a contract with MSCS.
Feagins claims McVean yelled at her for not renewing Peer Energy’s contract with the district. Feagins then requested a restraining order in opposition to him.
After submitting the protecting order, Feagins alleges that Memphis Metropolis Councilman JB Smiley Jr. shouted at her over the cellphone.
McVean and Smiley didn’t reply to Chalkbeat’s request for remark.
Feagins, a former Detroit faculty administrator, was employed by a earlier MSCS board to guide Tennessee’s largest faculty district after a problem-plagued 18-month seek for a successor to Ray, who agreed to resign in 2022 amid an investigation into alleged misdeeds.
The decision to terminate her, first launched Dec. 17 by Board Chair Joyce Dorse Coleman, claimed that Feagins:
- Failed to offer proof of her assertion that district staff had been paid $1 million in time beyond regulation for time not labored.
- Accepted a donation of greater than $45,000 with out board approval, then misrepresented what occurred.
- Misled the board and public a couple of federal grant and its missed deadline.
Feagins firmly denied any wrongdoing and described herself as a goal of “false accusations and political maneuvering.”
Dorse Coleman, Vice Chair Stephanie Love, Natalie McKinney, Sable Otey, Towanna Murphy and Keith Williams voted to fireplace Feagins in January. McKissack, Tamarques Porter, and Amber Huett-Garcia voted no.
After the board voted to oust Feagins, the previous superintendent advised reporters that she would “see [the board] in court docket.”
