2 special school districts on table

City, county boards to talk about action that would knock out Herenton's proposal

By Tom Bailey Jr. and Ruma Banerji Kumar for The Commercial Appeal
January 22, 2005

Memphis City Schools has agreed to talk with Shelby County Schools for the first time about establishing two special school districts, one for the city and one for the county.

Memphis school board president Wanda Halbert on Friday described the development as part of a "new level of openness" between the two boards, "but all we're really doing is putting an issue on the table. We're not saying yes or no."

"This is huge, folks," county school board chairman David Pickler told his board this week. "A massive step forward."

The move is a way for the city school system to take some measure of control over the direction of school issues.

Mayor Willie Herenton recently renewed his push for the city school board to give up its charter and be absorbed into the county system. Herenton also has threatened to end the city's financial support of city schools.

But creation of two special districts would sidestep Herenton's move and prevent what worries many county residents: school consolidation.

The General Assembly would have to create the districts. Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, already has said he will file a bill that would allow the county system's boundaries to be frozen as they are and not be merged with the city schools if the city system surrenders its charter.

Creation of special districts would help free the two systems from financial dependence on local governments, Pickler said. Norris has said his bill would give special districts the authority to set their own tax rates.

The districts would make permanent boundaries between the two systems, regardless of future annexations by Memphis.

The boundaries would enable both the 185-school city disttrict and the 49-school county district to plan new buildings based on true needs "and not where some annexation line is," Pickler said.

The move for new negotiations between the boards happened Thursday morning in a meeting of Pickler, county schools Supt. Bobby Webb, Halbert and city schools Supt. Carol Johnson. The boards have formed an ad hoc committee of the two board chairs, two superintendents, two legislative representatives and two board attorneys.

Halbert said the two school systems wanted to make sure others didn't decide the fate of schools.

"We hear a lot of talk from different places in the community about what should be done, and we (the school boards) are left out of the equation," she said.

"This time, we wanted to serve as the catalyst to make those decisions and start those conversations.

"At the end of the day, it's these two school boards that have to decide on what's best for the children."