Judge to begin talks to find ‘master’
Delay mires school board
U.S. Dist. Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays held a brief teleconference Friday to inform the parties involved in the schools merger litigation that he planned to begin talking to candidates for the role of “special master.
Nathan Bicks, one of the attorneys for the six Shelby County suburbs, confirmed the subject of the discussion, adding that Mays wanted to make sure the parties were OK with him handling the talks with the special master candidates without them present.
Mays indicated earlier this week that he was leaning toward appointing a special master to oversee the merging of the Memphis and Shelby County school systems under a consent decree signed in 2011. Mays has said he will not allow a delay of the merger, which must be completed by July 1, and took recommendations from the parties for people to consider for the special master’s position.
Bicks said Mays told the parties that he had not yet decided whether to appoint the special master, but indicated he would decide soon. The main parties involved have recommended Mays appoint a master, al- though the unified Shelby County Board of Education chose to remain neutral and not file a recommendation.
According to a transcript of a longer status conference with attorneys on Monday, the judge indicated a strong preference for the school board to move faster in implementing a merger plan finalized last summer by the county’s merger Transition Planning Commission.
Three of the four candidates recommended in legal filings this week played key roles for the TPC — business consultant Barbara Prescott (TPC chairwoman), FedEx vice-president Christine Richards (TPC human resources chairwoman) and mutual fund manager and philanthropist Staley Cates (TPC finance chairman).
Retired judge George Brown also was named as a possibility.
At Thursday’s school board meeting, legal counsel Dorsey Hopson, now acting as interim Memphis City Schools superintendent, referred several times to the looming possibility that delays by the board in making tough decisions could lead to Mays appointing and giving the master authority over the board.
It took nearly four hours for the board to debate the TPC recommendation to save more than $10 million by outsourcing custodial services across the entire district. It eventually approved outsourcing but then delayed approving the administration’s top choice for vendor.