Let’s dispense with the polished district press releases and carefully crafted talking points: Memphis-Shelby County Schools leadership has looked taxpayers in the eye and lied once again. While classroom teachers reach into their own pockets to buy basic supplies, and parents plead for functional heating and air conditioning in aging neighborhood schools, the institutional machinery on Avery Avenue has spent years running a masterclass in deflection, self-preservation, and financial negligence.

The numbers from the State Comptroller’s definitive forensic audit don't lie, even if district officials try to spin them. We are not talking about standard accounting oversights or misplaced receipts. We are looking at a documented ledger of more than $119 million in questioned transactions, potential fraud, deliberate policy bypasses, and an entrenched culture where public dollars are treated like monopoly money.

The Paper Trail: Follow the Questioned Millions

Every time an uncomfortable truth surfaces at school board meetings, the default playbook remains identical: blame previous leadership, point fingers at state lawmakers, bury critical records beneath administrative delays, and pretend reform is underway. Yet, independent investigators from CliftonLarsonAllen LLP uncovered 185 distinct operational failures and over 130 specific corrective mandates.

From an infamous $48 million custodial contract referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation following whistleblower allegations of leadership kickbacks, to the vacant, unfulfilled promises of the Whitehaven High Herbert STEM Center, the pattern is undeniable: cronyism over classrooms, every single time.

The Shadow Operators: Who Really Runs Avery Avenue?

The financial wreckage at MSCS was not created in a vacuum. Leaked emails, communications strategy memos, and behind-the-scenes text exchanges reveal an orchestrated shadow campaign driven by political consultants, charter school advocates, and insiders who maneuvered to oust leadership and install their preferred candidates long before the public ever heard a vote.

Dr. Roderick Richmond

The Beneficiary

Dr. Roderick Richmond

Richmond is now MSCS superintendent. He stepped in as interim in January 2025 after Marie Feagins was removed, and in February 2026 the board voted to make him permanent under an interim contract paying a $325,000 salary.

The documents show his role began far earlier than the public was told. A communications plan dated December 7, 2024, written for the board by the PR firm The Carter Malone Group, already named him as Feagins' replacement—more than a month before the January 21 vote.

On December 13, Richmond emailed a list titled “Top 5 Highlights of Dr. Roderick Richmond's Candidacy for Superintendent” to Justin Bailey's personal Gmail account. Minutes later he sent a follow-up correcting a typo. Bailey forwarded it directly to Deidre Malone. Richmond was actively editing his own promotional material for the consultants who were preparing the case against his sitting boss.

Cardell Orrin

The Advocate on the Inside

Cardell Orrin

Orrin is Executive Director of Stand for Children Tennessee, a group that presents itself as an independent voice for parents. He also chairs the board of Memphis charter school Freedom Prep, and is credited with an election cycle where he helped elect five of the nine sitting school board members.

The emails place him squarely inside the effort to remove Feagins. On January 14, 2025—the day of the vote to cancel the board's motion on her termination—Malone wrote that she had included “Cardell Orrin who is on my team.”

That same afternoon, New York PR firm Hiltzik Strategies sent Orrin its edits to Board Member Natalie McKinney's statement and confirmed the strategy to give a “friendly reporter” an embargoed version before the meeting. A nonprofit leader who helped elect board members was actively scripting their public statements.

Deidre Malone

The Architect

Deidre Malone

Malone is president and CEO of The Carter Malone Group, a former chair of the Shelby County Commission, a former nominee for county mayor, and sits on the ownership group of the New Tri-State Defender—one of the outlets that received the embargoed statement.

Her firm's internal files lay out the anatomy of the entire campaign:

• The Master Plan: The December 7 memo laid out the firing, the replacement, a scripted meeting, a security escort out of the building for Feagins, and cutting off her district email “that night.”
• The Board Vote Count: A January 13 email sorted board members into supporters, undecided members, and Feagins backers—complete with cell numbers sent to outside consultants tasked with calling them.
• The Media Plan: A January 13 strategy document scheduled an exclusive with a “friendly” outlet, coordinated social posts for “influencers,” and ghostwrote an op-ed for the board chair.
• Ghostwriting for the Former Chair: In September 2024, she drafted a memo for former Chair Althea Greene telling new board members that hiring Feagins “was a mistake,” while mentioning asking a contact for help with “debt reduction for your campaign.”

The Bottom Line: Time for Real Accountability

Memphis children deserve world-class classrooms, safe buildings, and fully funded educational programs. Memphis teachers deserve administrative leadership that values their sacrifice instead of burning public trust on shady procurement deals and backroom political theater.

We are done accepting the excuse that these are merely "legacy issues" or "clerical errors." When $119 million is called into question by state forensic auditors, and leaked memos prove public decisions were scripted weeks in advance by private consultants, it isn't an accounting error—it is institutional betrayal. The time for curated press statements is over. Memphis is demanding subpoenas, true audits, and full accountability for everyone who signed off on the deception.