← Back to Shelby County, Tennessee: Election on 2024-11-05
Contest for School Board Lakeland
About this office
Members of the Lakeland School System school board govern the Lakeland School System municipal school district, separate from Memphis-Shelby County Schools. Five members are elected to staggered four-year terms. The board hires and evaluates the superintendent, adopts district policies, approves the budget, sets district goals, and oversees compliance with federal and state education law. Members are required to complete seven hours of training annually through the Tennessee School Boards Association School Board Academy.
Compensation: stipend set locally; state law requires a minimum of $4/day (T.C.A. ยง 49-2-202).
Term length: 4 years.
This role calls for
- Policy judgment on a small suburban district within Shelby County โ Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland, or Millington โ typically several thousand students across a single elementary/middle/high feeder pattern.
- Budget literacy for both operating and capital budgets, in coordination with the suburban municipality (which provides matching local funds in some configurations).
- Ability to hire, evaluate, and when necessary replace the superintendent.
- Constituent relations with parents, teachers, and community members across an actively engaged small district.
- Willingness to complete the state-required seven hours of annual training through the Tennessee School Boards Association School Board Academy.
Derived from the office's statutory duties and operational reality. Candidate summaries below map each candidate's documented experience to these requirements.
