Teacher union director, two MSCS incumbents ahead
Two of three Memphis-Shelby County Schools board incumbents are ahead in their school board races, unofficial and incomplete election results show.
Longtime executive director of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, Keith Williams, is ahead of incumbent Charles Everett, a recent appointee to the board.
Totals reflect unofficial early voting results and Election Day results cast for 40% of all county precincts.
Michelle McKissack, board chair, remains in the lead for District 1 and Joyce Dorse-Coleman in the lead for District 9.
See unofficial and incomplete totals below.
Two of the seats on the nine-member board will turn over this fall. Longtime board member Billy Orgel did not run for re-election, paving the way for Amber Huett-Garcia to secure the District 8 East Memphis seat in an uncontested election.
Miska Clay Bibbs, another longtime school board member, secured her seat on the Shelby County Commission in May when she won the Democratic nomination in the unchallenged race. The commission will be tasked with appointing a successor to her District 7 seat, encompassing southern Shelby County, later this summer or early fall.
It is possible that this newly elected board will be the group to review the first findings of the external investigation into the district’s superintendent, Joris Ray, which the board placed on paid leave in July. The board has yet to announce when the findings are expected or named a date for inaugurating new board members.
Whether the initial findings come before inauguration or after, the board as elected Thursday will see the investigation to a close, and in the process determine the future of the district’s leadership.
MSCS District 1
Candidates and vote percentages are below. The percentages reflect early voting totals and 7 of 18 District 1 precincts on Election Day:
- Chris Caldwell, former school board member and vice president at Raymond James: 26.5%
- Michelle McKissack, incumbent, current board chair who was elected to the board in 2018: 48.2%
- Rachael Goodwin Spriggs, a member of Educational Equity who has worked with MSCS’ research and equity departments: 25%
MSCS District 6
More:Who will join the MSCS school board this month? Here’s who could represent South Memphis
Candidates and vote percentages are below. The percentages reflect early voting totals and 3 of 15 precincts on Election Day:
- Charles Everett, incumbent, who has served on the board of community development corporations and parent teacher associations: 14.7%
- Timothy Green Jr., an education consultant and former teacher: 11.3%
- Kenny Lee, talkshow host and among the leaders of The Ride of Tears: 5%
- David Page, previous school board candidate, current neighborhood association president and former teacher’s union president in West Memphis: 3.8%
- Tiffani Perry, chief of staff at Rust College and former public information officer for MSCS: 21.3%
- Keith Williams, longtime executive director of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, the larger of the two unions representing MSCS teachers: 43.6%
MSCS District 8
Amber Huett-Garcia will be the new board member for District 8.
Longtime board member Billy Orgel did not run for re-election, paving the way for Huett-Garcia to win an uncontested election.
More:Developer Billy Orgel won’t seek school board re-election, state official could run uncontested
Originally from central Illinois, Huett-Garcia has lived in Memphis for the last decade. She was most recently the senior director of Student and Family Supports Comprehensive Planning with the Tennessee Department of Education.
After a failed campaign in 2018 for the District 86 seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives, Huett-Garcia became a board member on First 8 Memphis, the early childhood education group that works with local government on preschool initiatives.
She was a 2019 Public Policy fellow with Leadership for Education Equity, where she worked in Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ office with Cedrick Gray, the county’s education director.
MSCS District 9
Candidates and vote percentages are below. The percentages reflect early voting totals and 8 of 18 precincts on Election Day:
- Joyce Dorse-Coleman, incumbent, who came to the board in 2018 as a parent teacher organization leader: 61.8%
- Rebecca Jane Edwards, founder of an arts organization for under-resourced communities: 37.9%
Laura Testino covers education and children’s issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at [email protected] or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @LDTestino