Shelby County school board to draft RFQ for governance training and advance collaboration resolution with local officials

Shelby County Board of Education committee members agreed to ask legal staff to draft a request for qualifications to hire consultants for board governance training and reviewed a draft resolution that would formalize regular collaboration between the school board and local elected officials.

The committee co-chair, Commissioner Stephanie Love, said the board would "work with legal to get an RFQ drafted" and circulate it to board members for review, aiming to issue the RFQ with a minimum seven-day response window ahead of planned training in the spring. The RFQ will solicit consultants to advise on governance training, roles and responsibilities, and related team-building work.

The meeting also considered a resolution, sponsored by Board Member Saba Otey and Board Member Demarcus Porter, titled in part "Advancing Cross-Sector and Community Partnerships through Collaboration and Accountability." Otey read the revised draft aloud, including its pledge that "the Shelby County Board of Education is committed to working with our local stakeholders, including the county commission, Memphis City Council, the county and city mayors, parents, students, community-based organizations and leaders... to promote best practices to support students, families and the broader community."

Several board members supported the concept but pressed for clearer language and for safeguards around legal authority. Board Member Williams cautioned that "the county commission are just the overseers" and stressed that the board retain its statutory decision-making authority on governance and finances. Others said the resolution was a nonbinding statement of intent and urged concrete steps to put collaboration into practice, including two joint meetings to discuss the district budget and a working group with county representatives.

Next steps included drafting an RFQ with general counsel, polling for a possible special-called meeting to consider the resolution, and continuing internal board work on governance policies and team-building exercises. Committee members asked staff to circulate draft RFQ language and to seek clarifications on timelines so the board could review proposals before any training date.

Quotes in this report come from the committee meeting transcript. No final vote on the resolution or on procurement of a trainer was recorded in committee; staff presented next steps and timelines for bringing formal items to the full board.