Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dr. Roderick Richmond responded to a state-ordered forensic audit that identified approximately $119.5 million in questionable spending during the 2021–2024 school years. The audit, prepared by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, cited systemic failures in governance, procurement, contracting, financial management, and recordkeeping across the district.

Tennessee State Comptroller Jason Mumpower stated that the failures identified in the reports are unacceptable. He said the review documents years of poor management, weak internal controls, inadequate oversight, and a culture where policies were too often ignored instead of followed. Mumpower added that the issues were not isolated mistakes but systemic failures and that public trust has been damaged. He emphasized that sustained corrective action is required to address the problems.

Dr. Roderick Richmond stated that the district is committed to addressing concerns raised in the audit and is not attempting to minimize the auditors’ assessments. He argued that the forensic audit report offers only observations and recommendations for problems already identified and addressed by the district. Richmond noted that many corrective actions were already underway before the release of the report and that the district’s commitment to continuous improvement did not begin with this audit, nor will it end with it.

The audit identified $54.1 million in potential fraud, waste, or abuse and $65.1 million in internal policy noncompliance. Auditors also flagged $291,000 in federal grant noncompliance. CliftonLarsonAllen LLP concluded that evidence of potential fraud, waste, or abuse did exist in specific transactions.

Of the $54.1 million, auditors classified $250,000 as potential fraud, $763,124 as waste, and nearly $53.15 million as abuse. The largest single amount identified was $48.43 million connected to a custodial services contract classified as potential abuse. The report stated that this contract was directed to one vendor outside the evaluation committee’s recommendation and without documented justification.

Richmond placed the questioned amount in context, stating it represents about 2% of the nearly $6 billion in public funds the district managed from July 2021 through June 2024. “Providing that context does not diminish the importance of any concern raised,” he said. “Rather, it reflects the overall scope of the audit while reinforcing our commitment to responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources and continuous improvement.” He added that the report did not contain formal audit findings, which typically identify noncompliance with laws or policies, but instead presented observations and recommendations for strengthening operations, governance, and internal controls.

Questionable transactions included $3.1 million paid to a vendor with a reported conflict of interest involving a district employee who could influence vendor selection, $400,000 for work the district deemed deficient or negligent, and $250,000 for work determined not to have been completed. Auditors based their determinations on factors including payments for work not performed, deficient work, unsupported or duplicative billing, inadequate oversight, and contracting activity outside established procurement controls.

The audit spanned a period marked by leadership instability. Dr. Joris Ray served as superintendent when the review began but resigned in August 2022 amid an investigation into allegations of policy violations. Interim Superintendent Toni Williams succeeded him, followed by Dr. Marie Feagins, who took office in April 2024—three months before the audit period ended—but was fired by the school board in January 2025 after less than 10 months in the role. Forensic auditors stated that this leadership turnover contributed to staff losses, eroded institutional knowledge, and created conditions for the possible loss of records and procedures.

At a July 10 news conference organized by the education advocacy group Memphis Lift outside the former Shannon Elementary School, Memphis parent Marcus Randolph criticized the spending. “All these children can’t read, but we can have reading programs,” he said. “We can have ready-to-work jobs. It’s so much we could’ve done with $119 million.”

The $119.5 million in questioned expenditures represents a significant breach of fiscal accountability in Tennessee’s largest school district, which manages nearly $6 billion in public funds. The audit’s detailed findings—including evidence of potential fraud, abuse, and systemic governance failures—underscore longstanding concerns about oversight in a district that has experienced repeated leadership changes. The state comptroller’s call for sustained corrective action and community demands for transparency signal ongoing scrutiny of how Memphis-Shelby County Schools stewards taxpayer money.