BILL HASLAM

STATE OF TENNESSEE

CANDICE MCQUEEN

GOVERNOR

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

COMMISSIONER

NINTH FLOOR, ANDREW JOHNSON
TOWER
710 JAMES ROBERTSON PARKWAY
NASHVILLE, TN 37243-0375

Shelby County Schools
Office of the Superintendent
160 S. Hollywood St.
Memphis, TN 38112
December 11, 2017
Superintendent Hopson,
I have received your letter and the associated audit reports you forwarded to me on
December 5. While the findings are extremely troubling, I appreciate your proactive
investigation and your transparency throughout the process.
Due to the nature of the findings, possible scope of the findings, and the discovery that
over 50 students were passed from course to course and then eventually granted diplomas
without completing courses at proficiency, it is critical that the state have assurances that
corrections that can be made at this point have occurred. Additionally, we would like to
more fully understand the quality and frequency of the new trainings, protocols, and
processes that you reference will now be put into practice in Shelby County Schools. To
that end, I am requesting a meeting between you and your team and our department
leadership so you can present details and an implementation timeline of the new practices
and answer related questions. We will also require follow-up audits over the next three
years to monitor adherence to these new practices.
My assistant will be reaching out to you to set this up ASAP.
Sincerely,

Dr. Candice McQueen