Memphis-Shelby County Schools named a new chief of communications and public relations.
Candice Grose, who previously served as communications chief at Portland Public Schools in Oregon, will take up the position, the school district announced Oct. 7.
Grose also worked in communications roles for the City of Memphis from February 2018 to February 2020, and for former Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris
from July 2020 to February 2021.Grose's resume also includes communications leadership roles at McDonald's, Kraft Heinz and American Airlines.
The position had been vacant since former strategic communications officer Jermaine Johnson left the role in July 2026.
What's going on with the MSCS oversight board?
Is the oversight board allowed to meet or not? What power do they actually have?
Those questions
have been answered in a series of court filings and meetings over the past two weeks as the Memphis-Shelby County Oversight Board begins to find its footing.
The oversight board had been stalled out since July 1, when MSCS leaders filed a lawsuit that claimed the oversight board violated the state constitution because it invalidated voters' choice of locally elected officials.
But in an Oct. 2 hearing held in Nashville, U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw for the Middle District of Tennessee said he was ready to allow the board to meet as soon as the board indicated it was ready to do business. In an Oct. 5 court filing, Crenshaw instructed oversight board chairman Billy Orgel to state when the body was "ready, willing, and able to perform its duties."
Until then, the board could hold meetings to develop its infrastructure but did not have any power to "require anything" of the school system, said Tennessee Senior Deputy Attorney General J.P. Urban, who is acting counsel for the board.
The board held its second meeting on Oct. 8, during which board members laid out operating procedures, established a job description for an executive director and approved a partnership with an educational consulting group, among other items.
In an Oct. 13 court filing, Orgel cited those developments as evidence the board was ready to govern.
"As chair of the Board, and in compliance with the Court's Order, I state under oath that the Board is ready, willing, and able to perform its duties under the Act," the filing read.
That declaration clears the way for the court to allow the board the ability to govern over the school system, which includes the power to require the board's approval of any contracts or expenditures over $50,000.
The board still does not have a website, dedicated emails for its members or an executive director. However, at the Oct. 8 meeting, the board approved a request to the Tennessee Department of Education to fund those items and to post the job description for the executive director.
It's unclear when the board plans to meet next, although board members said they'd prefer to hold meetings a few days after the MSCS board meets, which is the last Tuesday of every month. The next MSCS board meeting is scheduled for Oct. 27.
Jack Armstrong covers breaking news and the environment for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at jack.armstrong@commercialappeal.com and followed on X @jca2902.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis-Shelby County Schools names new chief of communications
