MEMPHIS, TN - The 7 member Shelby County School board voted unanimously to accept the terms of a memorandum of agreement proposed on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, to merge with the Memphis City School System.
abc24.com's Marcus Holliday was in attendance for the vote.
When it comes to a merged Memphis-Shelby County school district, change is coming, slowly but surely.
On Wednesday, August 24, 2011, representatives from Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools announced they reached a tentative agreement on a merger plan.
Under the agreement, a new 23-member, joint school board will be created. The board will consist of the 9 current MCS board members, 7 existing Shelby County Board of Education members and 7 new members to be appointed by the Shelby County Commission. The new board will start October 1st, 2011.
The agreement states the Shelby County Commission will create seven districts encompassing the city and county, and a member will be appointed from each district.
As for this new board, it will be responsible for adopting a transition plan, making all decisions related to the transition and it will oversee the operation of both school districts.
For the next two years, on the school level at least, MCS and SCS will operate independently, with its own superintendents and finances.
The schools will officially merge on September 1, 2013.
The tentative agreement still must be approved by each district's school board, the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Commission.
Both school boards were set to meet independently on Thursday, August 25th, to consider the agreement.
