Committee advances bill to create oversight board for Memphis-Shelby County Schools after extended debate

NASHVILLE — The House Finance, Ways and Means Committee on April 17 advanced House Bill 6 62, a bill sponsored by Representative Kevin White (sponsor), that would create a nine-member oversight board for Memphis‑Shelby County Schools and give that body authorities over budgets, contracts, facilities and charter approvals for that district.

The bill cleared the committee on a 16–5 vote and was sent to calendar and rules. Committee members spent more than an hour debating whether the legislation amounts to state takeover or a targeted oversight mechanism and whether reforms already underway — including a forensic audit — should be given more time to work.

Sponsor and bill purpose Representative Kevin White described the proposal as a targeted oversight measure for Memphis‑Shelby County Schools, which he said faces persistent academic and operational challenges. “We have a lot of bureaucracy in the system,” White said, adding the oversight board is intended to “peel back the layers of bureaucracy” and…