Shelby County Board approves 10-year charter renewal for City University School of Independence

The Shelby County Board of Education voted 6-2 on Jan. 28 to approve a 10-year charter renewal for City University School of Independence after declining to adopt the administration's recommendation to deny the application.

Board counsel told members that if the board did not adopt a formal denial, the charter would automatically renew; the board then voted on a motion to approve the 10-year renewal and adopted it 6-2.

The meeting opened with Interim Superintendent Dr. Rob Richmond recusing himself from the City University discussion. "I'm recusing myself from participating in the City University School of Independence discussion during the special call meeting today. I have relationships with people within the organization, and it may give the appearance of a conflict of interest for me to participate in the discussion," Richmond said. He asked Ms. Parker, director of the charter school program, to lead the administration's presentation and recommendation.

Public comment preceding the vote included criticism of district transparency and requests for accounting of outside contracts. Latasha Griggs told the board, "I don't trust you," and called for better attention to students' needs. Erwin Pernell asked, "Who is paying for the services of the Carter Malone Group PR firm? Are we, the taxpayers, funding this?" He also asked who was covering outside legal services by "attorney Spence." Damon Curry Morris accused leaders of misconduct during the process, saying, "We're not gonna sit here and pretend that this wasn't corruption at the highest level." Anthony Coleman offered a different tone, praising staff work and saying he had seen "traction" on a pay issue he raised in August.

During debate, some commissioners cited declining enrollment and questioned whether City University provides services different from those available in Memphis Shelby County Schools. Commissioner Huey Garcia said he would base his vote on whether "you are doing something differently than what a Memphis Shelby County School could do." Commissioner Porter also cited enrollment as a particular concern. Commissioner Murphy said she would base her decision on student experience, adding, "those children love being there at that school," and that the school had room to grow.

The board first considered a motion to adopt the administration's recommendation to deny the charter's 10-year renewal. That motion failed on a roll call vote, 3 in favor and 5 opposed (Commissioners Huey Garcia, Porter and O'Tay voted yes; Commissioners Murphy, Love, McKinney, Williams and Board Chair Coleman voted no). After board counsel noted the automatic-renewal consequence of not adopting a denial, board members moved and seconded a motion to approve the 10-year charter renewal. On the subsequent roll call, Commissioners Murphy, Love, McKinney, O'Tay, Williams and Board Chair Coleman voted yes; Commissioners Huey Garcia and Porter voted no. The board announced, "You have 6 in the affirmative and 2 nays. The motion is adopted."

The board did not specify in the meeting record a dollar amount for any outside contracts mentioned by public commenters, nor did staff provide a numeric enrollment figure in the discussion. The administration's original recommendation to deny and the reasons for that recommendation were presented by the charter office but the board's adopted action was to grant the renewal for a 10-year term as required by board policy.

There being no further business, the chair adjourned the special call meeting.