U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Wednesday called the 667-page audit published this week by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury “deeply disturbing,” highlighting the more than $100 million in suspicious spending outlined by investigators.
“This audit is deeply disturbing. Instead of prioritizing our children, the Memphis-Shelby County School system spent nearly $100 million on waste, fraud, and abuse,” wrote Blackburn in a post to X.
“Nearly 1 out of every 10 students in our state attends a Memphis-Shelby County School. In order for the next generation of Tennesseans to have access to a world-class education, Memphis-Shelby County Schools must be successful,” wrote Blackburn, whom polls suggest is the front runner to win the Republican Party nomination to become Tennessee’s next governor.
This audit is deeply disturbing. Instead of prioritizing our children, the Memphis-Shelby County School system spent nearly $100 million on waste, fraud, and abuse.
Nearly 1 out of every 10 students in our state attends a Memphis-Shelby County School. In order for the next…
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) July 8, 2026
Comptroller Jason Mumpower similarly called the findings “unacceptable,” and declared them the result of “years of poor management, weak internal controls, inadequate oversight, and a culture where policies were too often ignored instead of followed.”
Detailing Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) operations between 2022-2024, the report identifies $54.2 million in expenditures “consistent with evidence of potential fraud, waste or abuse.”
More than $48 million of this figure was represented by payments made to one janitorial company, ServiceMaster Clean, which was contracted to perform janitorial services for the entire MSCS district in 2022, in defiance of a committee recommendation to hire three separate companies.
Emails included in the report reveal the decision to disregard the recommendation and award the contract to one company was announced by the district’s former Chief of Business Operations in an email sent at 5:57 p.m. on April 11, 2022. The email contained instructions to, “Please keep this information close to the vest for now.”
The report also noted that a former employee claimed during an internal audit that the contract’s value had been inflated by as much as $4 million, intended to be “diverted as kickbacks to a member of management and to an individual not employed by the District,” but that the investigators were unable to independently determine the veracity of this claim because they lacked sufficient records.
Despite their limitations regarding the kickback allegations, the Comptroller did highlight about $3.1 million in payments to Mid-South Renovations which contained evidence of a potential conflict of interest between the vendor and a former Director of Facilities Maintenance for the district.
According to the Comptroller’s Office, “The report also identified $400,000 in work the district determined was performed negligently and $250,000 paid for work the district determined was never completed. Portions of those expenditures involved federal grant funds.”
In addition to more than $54 million identified as potential fraud, waste, or abuse, the report also identified $65.1 million in transactions where investigators determined, “evidence exists suggesting noncompliance with district policies and procedures, as well as approximately $291,000 involving potential noncompliance with federal grant requirements.”
Beyond the issues related to the actual contracts, the report revealed that MSCS struggled to provide an accurate number of contracts during the investigation.
According to the report, MSCS originally provided a list of 2,914 contracts to review. When it sent another list specifically containing 1,190 professional-services contracts, Comptroller’s report states that MSCS was unable to explain why 287 contracts were missing from the first list it sent.
In a statement, Mumpower said the report identified more than “isolated mistakes” by the district.
“It documents systemic failures throughout the organization’s governance, procurement, contracting, financial management, and recordkeeping,” Mumpower stated. “While many dedicated teachers and employees serve students every day, the administrative failures identified in these reports demanded an independent review and now require sustained corrective action.”
The report was released amid the ongoing takeover of the district by the state, which will create a 9-member board to manage the district for four years. The elected MSCS board members will continue to serve in an advisory role.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
