Slow pace on merger irks judge

Meeting transcript reveals ‘grim picture’

The words directly from the federal judge were unequivocal — merger of Memphis schools with suburban schools must be completed by July 1, and he’ll play “king” and force decisions if that’s what it takes.

U. S. Dist. Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays released a transcript of a Monday status conference with attorneys. Based on a status report from Shelby County Board of Education general counsel Valerie Speakman, the judge appeared startled and dissatisfied that the board was not further along in implementing a merger plan finalized last summer by the county’s Transition Planning Commission.

Saying that “time’s a’wasting,” Mays told attorneys representing the parties involved: “I don’t want to de-

cide anything I don’t have to decide. But if I have to decide something, I will. I’ve assumed the responsibility and I don’t know how I could shirk it. ... I don’t care what people decide, as long as they decide something.”

Mays appeared i nclined Monday to appoint a “special master” to push the board to make key decisions — or defer to the judge if it cannot. On Wednesday, filings from four of the parties involved — the Shelby County Commission, Memphis City Council, city of Memphis and the suburban municipalities — all recommended Mays appoint a special master.

When Speakman told Mays that about 20 percent of the TPC plan had been approved, Mays said: “You’re making a pretty good case for a special master.”

City Council attorney Allan Wade added: “I second that.”

Speakman told the board Tuesday she had not been expecting the question and was unsure of her answer. Transition Steering Committee chairman Tim Setterlund, whose team vets TPC recommendations before they’re taken up by the board, said 89 of 172 recommendations had been adopted.

Later in the proceeding, Mays used phrases like “it’s a grim best picture” and “it doesn’t sound like it can get much worse.”

The judge seemed especially concerned with the board’s slow pace in finding a superintendent, with Speakman reporting the current search process envisions not selecting one until May for a merger that must be complete by July 1.

“It’s like we see the iceberg looming in front of the Titanic, and we’re getting nominating speeches for the captain,” Mays said.

In August 2011, after an order from Mays, parties involved agreed to a merger consent agreement that created a unified 23-member county board of education that would guide the merger. That board is composed of seven people from the former suburban-only school board, nine people from the former Memphisonly school board members and seven new permanent board members from districts drawn throughout the county.

The state in 2011 so strongly objected to the mammoth board — it wanted a smaller board with completely new members — that it asked to be released from the agreement. Speakman and other attorneys suggested to Mays that conflicting political agendas, as well as the ongoing push for suburban municipal school districts, have contributed to the slow pace of merger decisions.

Mays emphasized he would accept no excuses: “It’s going to happen. It’s going to be one system with everybody in the county in it who’s not in a private school or a charter school.”

Mays also said he preferred the board not deliberate and second-guess the TPC’s plan, but rather take on the role of “overseeing its implementation.”

Most of the names recommended to Mays in Wednesday’s filings were those of key Transition Planning Commission members — business consultant Barbara Prescott (TPC chairwoman), FedEx vice president Christine Richards (TPC human resources chairman), and mutual fund manager and philanthropist Staley Cates (TPC finance chairman). Retired judge George Brown also was mentioned by the city and County Commission.

Mays said the role would not necessarily require legal expertise, because the special master would bring him relevant information and ask him to act if necessary.

At one point, Leo Bearman, representing the County Commission, said that he knew “what I would do if I were king,” but that he had not gotten the assignment.

“Well,” Mays said, “I’m working on what I would do if I were the king. I tell you, ‘Uneasy lies the head...’” Mays did not complete the Shakespeare quote, which ends, “that wears the crown.”

The judge also told attorneys he’s unlikely to rule before the late spring or summer on two remaining unsettled laws that would allow, upon completion of the merger, for the lifting of the ban on new municipal school districts in Shelby County.