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Millington schools suspend Millington Primary PTO pending investigation; district reports staffing and special-education shortages
Summary
At the June board meeting, Director of Schools reported suspension of Millington Primary School PTO activities pending an investigation, outlined staffing updates and shortages in special education and related services, and gave registration and opening-week events for the 2025–26 year.
Director of Schools Mister Griffin told the Millington Municipal Schools Board of Education on Tuesday that the district has suspended all Millington Primary School PTO activities, fundraising and expenditures while officials investigate a formal complaint.
Griffin said the district “received a formal complaint against Millington Primary School PTO. As a response to the complaint, MMSD will suspend all MPS PTO activities, fundraising, and expenditures until after a thorough investigation, which started. Once that is done, I will report to you on that.”
The announcement came during the director’s report, which also included staffing and operations updates for the 2025–26 school year. Griffin said summer camps and course recovery have finished; three students will be retained because they did not meet requirements or were retained by parents. He confirmed in-person registration will be July 22 in the Performing Arts Center from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and new-teacher orientation is scheduled for July 23 in the high school library from 8 a.m. to noon.
Griffin summarized scheduled in-service dates: an educators’ breakfast on Aug. 4 at 7 a.m., convocation at 8:30 a.m., and an open-house/ribbon-cutting in August with a board preview in July. He also said an annual AI usage report (policy 4.214) is included in the board packet and outlines the district’s current artificial-intelligence usage and expectations for 2025–26.
On staffing, Griffin said the district has filled most coaching and athletic-director positions: Hank Hawkins is the new high-school athletic director; Travis Lockhart is the middle-school athletic director; several coaches and teachers were named. He said the intermediate school is fully staffed; the district still has one open counseling position at the middle-high school with interviews scheduled. Griffin reported Mila is “fully staffed under the direction of Miss Georgette Farmer” and on schedule despite recent weather.
Griffin and staff addressed related services and special-education staffing. He said the teacher-consultant position (Miss Carmen Lawrence) has existed for about three years and is part time; the role was being added to the organizational chart for clarity and carries no new budget impact. For related services — occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT) and speech-language pathology (SLP) — Griffin and staff said the district has moved some contracts and providers in recent years. The district has hired an in-house OT, Danielle Stork, and previously used Grind City for speech services; this year the district contracted with Advanced Therapy, but staff said Advanced has been unable to find in-person therapists in some cases and the district may use virtual services. Griffin said the district is exploring Stellar Therapy as an alternative; Stellar provides virtual services and helps locate in-person therapists where possible. Laura Reisinger, who worked as the district’s SLP last year, provides services through Stellar, staff said.
Board members asked whether changes to related services or other moves would affect the budget. Griffin said some positions were already budgeted and are being added to the organizational chart for clarity. He said federal funding for certain federal programs remains uncertain: the district has been approved for IDEA and Title I funding though amounts were not yet known; Title II, III and IV funding were still unclear at the time of the meeting.
Several board members pressed for clarity on traffic flow during construction at the intermediate school; Griffin and staff said planning is underway and the district is coordinating with city leadership to provide support during the first weeks of school. Griffin warned the district is concerned about filling certain special-education roles, calling it “a nationwide crisis” and emphasizing the need for consistent, qualified staff rather than substitutes in functional-skills classrooms.
Griffin closed his report by saying the investigation of the PTO complaint has begun and that the district will inform the board when it concludes.
