With news that Gov. Bill Haslam and House speaker Beth Harwell have each made their single appointments to the schools merger transition commission, 12 of the 18 appointees are now known (with the caveat that the Shelby County Commission must sign off on the five picks Mayor Mark Luttrell made yesterday).
The Memphis City Schools made its five picks the day after the settlement agreement was reached; the suburban Shelby County Schools plans to make its five picks next week. State Senate speaker and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey also gets one pick. The 12 so far, all from Shelby County, break down like this:
The Memphis City Schools made its five picks the day after the settlement agreement was reached; the suburban Shelby County Schools plans to make its five picks next week. State Senate speaker and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey also gets one pick. The 12 so far, all from Shelby County, break down like this:
- Eight are Memphis residents, four from the suburbs (though Ramsey and SCS figure to appoint most if not all suburbanites). Add the non-voting members Martavius Jones (MCS board president), David Pickler (SCS board chairman) and Luttrell, and the breakdown right now is 10 Memphians, five suburbanites.
- Seven are men, five are women.
- Seven are white, five are black.
- Nine are or have been closely involved in education in some capacity, including a Shelby County Schools principal, a former SCS superintendent and board member, another former schools superintendent elsewhere, a university president, a law professor, a community college educator and administrator, a former veteran MCS board member, a community activist for improving education and a founder and president of a faith-based high-poverty private school in Frayser.
MEMPHIS CITY SCHOOLS PICKS (CA story)
In making its Norris-Todd transition commission selections, the MCS board gave a gesture toward the suburbs by choosing Fred Johnson, a former SCS superintendent and board member who also worked in MCS administration; and Collierville resident Reginald Green, a University of Memphis education professor who helped in the Louisville and Jefferson County, Ky., schools merger.
Also selected were:
Kenya Bradshaw, local and state director of education activist group Stand for Children;
Barbara Prescott, longtime community leader and former three-term MCS school board member;
U of M law professor Daniel Kiel, an MCS and Harvard Law School graduate who helped people understand the objectives of both school districts last winter when civic groups across the county invited him to lead panel discussions.
MAYOR LUTTRELL'S PICKS
(from the release)
Christine P. Richards-Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
FedEx Corporation-Ms. Richards is responsible for ensuring the corporation's global activities are in compliance with international, federal, state and local government regulations, and handles international and domestic legal, security and government affairs for all FedEx operating companies and subsidiaries. Born in Amityville, N.Y., Richards earned her Bachelor's degree from Bucknell University and her Juris Doctorate from Duke University.
John Smarrelli, Jr., Ph.D-President, Christian Brothers University-During the past 25 years, Dr. John Smarrelli has also served in senior administrative positions at Loyola University in Chicago, IL and Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. He earned his Doctorate and Masters' degrees from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and has conducted postdoctoral work in biology at the University of Virginia.
Barbara Roseborough-Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs
Southwest Tennessee Community College-With more than 20 years of educational service at Southwest, she has also served as Associate Professor of English, Department Chair for the Fine Arts, Languages and Literature Department, and Dean of Liberal Studies and Education. Ms. Roseborough holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from LeMoyne-Owen College, a Masters of English from Atlanta University, and a second Masters plus 45 hours of additional studies in Education from the University of Memphis.
Jim Boyd, President-Bridges USA-Jim Boyd is President/CEO of BRIDGES, USA, an organization dedicated to racial, economic, educational and environmental justice. An ordained Episcopal priest, he served local Episcopal churches by helping to establish the emergency assistance fund at MIFA and SMART (St. Mary's Manassas Alabama Redevelopment Team) at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral. He also has served parishes in North Carolina and Oregon. Boyd received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science from Vanderbilt University and a Masters of Divinity from Intermet Seminary, in Washington, D.C.
Louis Padgett, III-Principal, Northaven Elementary School-Mr. Padgett is a 24-year employee of the Shelby County School System, and is starting his seventh year as principal of Northaven Elementary School. Padgett received his undergraduate degree in Health and Physical Education from Rust College and earned a Master's degree in Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Memphis.
GOV. HASLAM and SPEAKER HARWELL PICKS
(from our story)
Gov. Bill Haslam appointed Memphis entrepreneur Staley Cates, and House Speaker Beth Harwell appointed former Shelby County Commission member Joyce Avery.
Cates, 46, is a Memphis native. He was a co-founder of and now chairman of New Hope Christian Academy. He also chairs the Urban Youth Initiative and Memphis Athletic Ministries and is board president of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation. He serves on the boards of the Soulsville Foundation and the Poplar Foundation, which has been involved in private and charter school efforts in Memphis.
"I appreciate Staley's willingness to serve in this important role," Haslam said. "He is an active Memphian through youth-related and other community-focused efforts and will be a productive member of this group. The planning commission has a lot of work to do for the future of Memphis students, but it also must focus on the students in school today. I look forward to the commission beginning its work."
Cates said, through a statement issued by the governor's office, that he is "honored to serve the governor and people of Memphis in this capacity, and I look forward to working with the rest of the commission on this critical step for Memphis and Shelby County. Nothing is more important than working to make the state's largest school system a resounding success for the community's children."
He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Texas and he and his wife, Elizabeth, have two children.
Harwell said Avery "is highly dedicated to ensuring that the merger of Memphis and Shelby County schools is a smooth transition for the students and the teachers. The first priority of this commission is to protect the students so they can receive a first-class education. I know that Joyce is dedicated to that goal."
Elected to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in September 2002, Avery served on the commission for eight years. During her tenure, she served as chairman of the hospitals and health committee, and vice-chairman of the community services committee.
She attended the University of Arkansas and worked at the University of Tennessee dental school. She is also active in the community, including the American Liver Foundation and the National Association of Remodeling Industry.
"I'm honored to serve the people of Memphis and Shelby County in this role, and I look forward to working with the members of the commission to make this a smooth and beneficial transition for the state's largest school system," Avery said in a statement.
In making its Norris-Todd transition commission selections, the MCS board gave a gesture toward the suburbs by choosing Fred Johnson, a former SCS superintendent and board member who also worked in MCS administration; and Collierville resident Reginald Green, a University of Memphis education professor who helped in the Louisville and Jefferson County, Ky., schools merger.
Also selected were:
Kenya Bradshaw, local and state director of education activist group Stand for Children;
Barbara Prescott, longtime community leader and former three-term MCS school board member;
U of M law professor Daniel Kiel, an MCS and Harvard Law School graduate who helped people understand the objectives of both school districts last winter when civic groups across the county invited him to lead panel discussions.
MAYOR LUTTRELL'S PICKS
(from the release)
Christine P. Richards-Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
FedEx Corporation-Ms. Richards is responsible for ensuring the corporation's global activities are in compliance with international, federal, state and local government regulations, and handles international and domestic legal, security and government affairs for all FedEx operating companies and subsidiaries. Born in Amityville, N.Y., Richards earned her Bachelor's degree from Bucknell University and her Juris Doctorate from Duke University.
John Smarrelli, Jr., Ph.D-President, Christian Brothers University-During the past 25 years, Dr. John Smarrelli has also served in senior administrative positions at Loyola University in Chicago, IL and Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. He earned his Doctorate and Masters' degrees from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and has conducted postdoctoral work in biology at the University of Virginia.
Barbara Roseborough-Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs
Southwest Tennessee Community College-With more than 20 years of educational service at Southwest, she has also served as Associate Professor of English, Department Chair for the Fine Arts, Languages and Literature Department, and Dean of Liberal Studies and Education. Ms. Roseborough holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from LeMoyne-Owen College, a Masters of English from Atlanta University, and a second Masters plus 45 hours of additional studies in Education from the University of Memphis.
Jim Boyd, President-Bridges USA-Jim Boyd is President/CEO of BRIDGES, USA, an organization dedicated to racial, economic, educational and environmental justice. An ordained Episcopal priest, he served local Episcopal churches by helping to establish the emergency assistance fund at MIFA and SMART (St. Mary's Manassas Alabama Redevelopment Team) at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral. He also has served parishes in North Carolina and Oregon. Boyd received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science from Vanderbilt University and a Masters of Divinity from Intermet Seminary, in Washington, D.C.
Louis Padgett, III-Principal, Northaven Elementary School-Mr. Padgett is a 24-year employee of the Shelby County School System, and is starting his seventh year as principal of Northaven Elementary School. Padgett received his undergraduate degree in Health and Physical Education from Rust College and earned a Master's degree in Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Memphis.
GOV. HASLAM and SPEAKER HARWELL PICKS
(from our story)
Gov. Bill Haslam appointed Memphis entrepreneur Staley Cates, and House Speaker Beth Harwell appointed former Shelby County Commission member Joyce Avery.
Cates, 46, is a Memphis native. He was a co-founder of and now chairman of New Hope Christian Academy. He also chairs the Urban Youth Initiative and Memphis Athletic Ministries and is board president of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation. He serves on the boards of the Soulsville Foundation and the Poplar Foundation, which has been involved in private and charter school efforts in Memphis.
"I appreciate Staley's willingness to serve in this important role," Haslam said. "He is an active Memphian through youth-related and other community-focused efforts and will be a productive member of this group. The planning commission has a lot of work to do for the future of Memphis students, but it also must focus on the students in school today. I look forward to the commission beginning its work."
Cates said, through a statement issued by the governor's office, that he is "honored to serve the governor and people of Memphis in this capacity, and I look forward to working with the rest of the commission on this critical step for Memphis and Shelby County. Nothing is more important than working to make the state's largest school system a resounding success for the community's children."
He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Texas and he and his wife, Elizabeth, have two children.
Harwell said Avery "is highly dedicated to ensuring that the merger of Memphis and Shelby County schools is a smooth transition for the students and the teachers. The first priority of this commission is to protect the students so they can receive a first-class education. I know that Joyce is dedicated to that goal."
Elected to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in September 2002, Avery served on the commission for eight years. During her tenure, she served as chairman of the hospitals and health committee, and vice-chairman of the community services committee.
She attended the University of Arkansas and worked at the University of Tennessee dental school. She is also active in the community, including the American Liver Foundation and the National Association of Remodeling Industry.
"I'm honored to serve the people of Memphis and Shelby County in this role, and I look forward to working with the members of the commission to make this a smooth and beneficial transition for the state's largest school system," Avery said in a statement.
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