(Collierville, TN) Collierville is prepping to get into the business of educating kids.
After 94 percent of voters said it’s something they want, now the city must deliver.
“This is a monumental task, but it is one that our residents told us loud and clear what they want the government to do. It’s going to be a big job and not just this coming year every year,” said Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner.
He says the city is ready and will start the process for election of a school board next month.
That school board will then find a superintendent and hopefully set up the school system to open in the fall of 2014.
One of the big issues will be schools like Houston High. The school is located in Germantown, but more than half of its students live in Collierville. The big question: what happens to them?
“We are prepared to observe the same attendance zones that students currently are in today. That means children outside of our municipal boundaries will attend our municipal schools,” said Joyner.
He says making the systems work will depend on cooperation.
Germantown city leaders are already talking about creating a top-school system, with top teachers and award-winning programs.
“How bad could it get really? How bad could it get? I can understand the reason behind wanting to start their own school system. So I’m glad they’re able to have a choice to form their own system. That’s a good thing right to have a choice,” said Lisa Hill, who lives in Germantown and has a son at Houston High.
Collierville’s mayor said there will likely be some school services the municipalities want to share, like transportation and maintenance.
Over the next few months, there will be plenty of meetings to lay out plans and figure out how the systems will work.
