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Memphis Shelby County Schools urges counselors, outreach to find 6,000 students
Summary
Superintendent Marie Fagan told the ad hoc committee the district has canvassed about 3,400 doors and estimates roughly 6,000 students are missing from school records; she urged prioritizing counselors, social workers, transportation and housing supports as public-safety interventions.
Marie Fagan, superintendent of Memphis Shelby County Schools, told the Shelby County Public Safety Ad Hoc Committee that school safety must include mental-health and social supports in addition to law enforcement. "When we think about safety, we often think about just police officers and go in that direction," Fagan said, and urged the committee to "include the consideration for counselors, counseling, social workers, school psychologists" as part of any intervention strategy.
Fagan described district outreach to locate students who have not shown up this school year: staff canvassed about 3,400 doors over two days and estimated roughly 6,000 students have not been seen in the system; she said many roster addresses are incorrect and some students are moving between hotels. The district also reported launching activity-bus routes on Aug. 5 to support after-school participation and said it will compile a "one-stop shop" list of available programs and connectors so families can more easily learn about local supports.
Committee members voted by voice to prioritize school-based counseling and intervention as a legislative and funding priority and asked district staff to provide further data on attendance, route usage and program participation for upcoming agenda work. "We have to meet them at both levels," Commissioner Caswell said as he committed to follow up with the district and include the superintendent's recommendations in the unified agenda discussions.
