MEMPHIS — More than 1,500 students in Memphis-Shelby County Schools may lose critical reading assistance as the district delays decision on funding for Literacy Mid-South’s tutoring program with classes starting August 4.
The local nonprofit organization faces financial uncertainty after federal COVID relief funds ended in May, while school board members have yet to approve a drastically reduced proposal to serve 500 students at a fraction of the original cost.
Literacy Mid-South CEO John Nichols said the organization submitted a revised $650,000 request in late June to tutor half the students previously served, but has received no response from district officials despite the approaching school year.
“While we are not actively partnering with Memphis-Shelby County Schools at this time, we remain deeply committed to supporting student learning across the region,” Nichols stated Thursday.
The program previously operated in 18 district schools using $9.6 million in pandemic relief funding since 2022, providing reading support to approximately 1,700 elementary students during regular school hours.
District reading performance underscores the need for intensive intervention. Only 29% of Memphis-Shelby elementary students achieved proficiency on state reading assessments last year, requiring the majority to receive additional academic support under Tennessee law.
Nichols originally requested $2.5 million from the school board in January to maintain full program operations for the 2025-26 academic year. Board member Natalie McKinney rejected that proposal, questioning whether the tutoring model represents “best practice” for improving student outcomes.
“What we cannot do is say that we’re going to spend $2 million on 1,000 students. I don’t know how to justify that,” McKinney told reporters in July, despite Nichols having already reduced his funding request by nearly 75%.
Data from the nonprofit shows participating students improved their reading scores by an average of 5.9 percentage points on district assessments from fall to winter last year, compared to 7.5 percentage points improvement the previous year across the full academic period.
The organization secured federal grant funding to conduct more comprehensive program evaluation, but requires at least 1,000 participating students to meet grant requirements.
To compensate for potential district partnership loss, Literacy Mid-South has expanded relationships with area charter schools. The nonprofit now works with nine charter institutions and one Millington public school, compared to six charter partnerships last year.
Nichols emphasized that in-school tutoring eliminates transportation barriers and scheduling conflicts that limit effectiveness of before- and after-school programs.
“There are so many factors at play with before and after school tutoring,” he explained. “Transportation is a huge issue for our students, as well as after school activities and parental schedules.”
The CEO also explored alternative approaches, including training district staff to implement literacy instruction techniques developed by his organization.
District officials have not responded to requests for comment about alternative tutoring programs or timeline for addressing the nonprofit’s proposal.
With tutor training scheduled to begin in mid-August, Nichols warned about “loss of momentum” in reading progress for students who would miss instruction under the reduced program scope.