MEMPHIS — U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. issued a temporary restraining order on July 1, 2026, halting Tennessee's takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The newly appointed oversight board's first meeting in Nashville was canceled.

On the same day, The Tri-State Defender hosted a TSD in the Community forum on public education at the Alpha Memphis Education Foundation in South Memphis. Lori Spicer Robertson moderated the forum.

Tomeka Hart Wigginton, president and CEO of United Way of the Mid-South, discussed the broad expectations placed on the education system. "Education is the only system in which everybody expects it to do everything — address homelessness, the hunger of kids, transportation," Wigginton said. She added, "It is isolated, but also expected to address every problem without the support of other systems." Wigginton said, "With the halt (of the takeover), there is time to come together as a community and decide what we are trying to accomplish."

Cardell Orrin, executive director of Stand for Children Tennessee, described the progression of public education. "Public education is moving both forward and backward — two steps forward, one step back," Orrin said. He stated, "The data says growth is happening by the state's measurement, but all of our children are not performing where we want them to be."

Sable Otey, a commissioner for the Memphis-Shelby County Board of Education, emphasized the need for better communication. "We need to do a better job of communicating — an overview of meetings, media relations to break things down, reiterate, help people understand," Otey said. She added, "There is a lot more than what you see on television."

Dr. Derek King, principal of Craigmont High School, discussed budget considerations for schools. "The hardest part of what I do when it comes to the budget is having to consider the right now and then tomorrow," King said. He also mentioned student transience, saying, "With the transientness of the city, our enrollment fluctuates."