NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Senate Education Committee has voted to kick out the entire Tennessee State University Board of Trustees.
This is not final unless it passes in the House and Senate.
If it passes, Gov. Bill Lee will appoint eight out of 10 new members to the body.
How did we get here?
Last year, Tennessee comptroller Jason Mumpower issued an audit criticizing TSU's management on scholarship oversights, housing and finances — saying in an interview with NewsChannel 5 that TSU "has not been run the way it should be."
When this originally happened, the House and Senate extended the board's term by a year.
Republicans are now saying that the year is up.
A vote in February from the lawmakers in the Tennessee Senate Government Operations Committee was supported by all Republicans and passed along party lines — with all Republicans in support. But it still has to go to the House to pass.
What did the one-year extension accomplish?
One argument at the time was this extension would leave enough time for a forensic audit of TSU's finances.
But, we previously reported speaking with Sen. Jon Lundberg about this — though he sponsored an amendment to make vacating the Board immediate.
"That audit was due December 15," Sen. Lundberg replied. "If you talk to them, I think you’d find out that they don’t have enough information to complete that audit. That’s a problem in itself."
At the time, a spokesperson for TSU declined to comment on the outside audit.
When we then reached out to the Comptroller's office, they said TSU had struggled at times to produce the paperwork, communications and emails needed to complete the audit, causing delays.
According to the firm hired to conduct the audit, they hoped to complete it by the end of February, but may need additional time to complete the report.
The bill is now headed to the full Senate.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
