Collierville, Bartlett set municipal school votes

In a matter of minutes and with no discussion Thursday night, Collierville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved an ordinance setting up a municipal school board and scheduling elections for school board members.

Bartlett’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen followed suit about an hour later in its meeting on the school elections.

The other four suburbs — Arlington, Lakeland, Germantown and Millington — approved final readings at meetings earlier this week. Most of those cities have delivered the necessary paperwork to the county Election Commission to hold school board elections Nov. 7. The cities were working under a Friday deadline to pass the ordinance and issue requests.

The votes were déjà vu of last year, when the municipalities approved similar ordinances. A ruling by U.S. Dist. Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays voided August 2012 referendums ap- proving municipal schools in the six cities and also the subsequent school board elections. Mays ruled that the legislation allowing those votes was unconstitutional because it applied exclusively to Shelby County. The General Assembly passed a new version this year with statewide application, apparently solving the constitutional question.

With no one in attendance other than a few town staff officials, the Collierville vote was unanimous, 6-0, and took about four minutes. The town’s attorneys left the meeting immediately Thursday night to turn in the ordinance to the Shelby County Election Commission.

In Bartlett, the meeting lasted six minutes. Jason Sykes, a representative of Better Bartlett Schools, thanked the city officials for their work in reaching this point in the pursuit of municipal schools.

Bartlett’s vote also was unanimous. Alderman Bobby Simmons was absent. Staff reporter Clay Bailey contributed to this story.