(Collierville, TN) Some Collierville students have no idea where they are going to school next year.
This comes after the Shelby County School Board’s decision to keep Germantown Elementary, Middle and High schools’ buildings as part of the county system.
Hundreds of students who go to Houston High in Germantown actually live in Collierville.
The two cities had worked out an agreement to keep all students in their schools, but the decision by Shelby County Schools leaves Germantown just one high school, making space very valuable.
“Obviously I think that may be close to, if not the worst, case scenario,” said Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner.
Germantown now faces the possibility of sending its students at Germantown Elementary, Middle and High to other schools like Houston Middle and High.
This could force out Collierville students out due to space.
Joyner says he hopes everyone will still fit in Houston High, but he says it will be tight.
With everything up in the air, Collierville is coming up with backup plans.
“We’ve got a lot of open space at Collierville High School. We’ve discussed the possibility of portables there,” said Joyner.
Joyner says they’ve also tossed around the idea of turning the old Collierville High School into a 9th-grade academy to create more room.
The University of Memphis in renovating part of the property for itself, but there’s still room.
“We’ve got a number of things we’re considering there that we are doing the background and due diligence on to make sure they are viable and they work,” said Joyner.
Collierville is being allowed to keep all eight of its buildings because the majority of the students there live in Collierville.
That’s not the case in Germantown, where the majority at Germantown Middle and High live outside city limits.
Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy says she’s not done fighting to keep the schools.
