(Memphis) A unified school board member says the school merger is a chaotic and massive waste of time.
Kenneth Whalum is introducing a resolution at Tuesday’s meeting that would as a federal judge to stop the merger.
Some others feel like his resolution is a waste of time with just months to go before the schools merge, but mountains of productive work to be done.
Whalum says the governor basically created municipal schools when the he signed a bill into law last week.
Whalum says it’s pointless to merge now because the unified board is putting all this time and money into merged district that will only be unified one year.
“It`s time now for people to grow up. It`s time for the adults in the room to say you know what we made a mistake,” said Whalum.
Whalum thinks that mistake is moving forward with the plan to open merged schools this fall.
He is introducing a resolution at Tuesday`s board meeting asking a federal judge to stop the merger.
“The judge hasn`t indicated he is receptive to anything that makes common sense. He probably won’t receive it at all. He’ll say ‘oh no we gotta do this we have to… ‘man whatever,” said Whallum about Federal Judge Samuel Hardy Mays.
Earlier this year board member Tomeka Hart introduced a similar plan to delay the merger.
It didn`t go anywhere.
Whalum says the situation changed, “The governor has signed the bill into law that says there are going to be municipal schools next year. That is the difference. We don`t have to wonder about it it`s not a pipe dream anymore.”
A lot of you call the unified district being ready to open in two months a pipe dream.
A “special master” appointed by a federal judge to speed the process up hasn’t.
All anyone’s really seen Rick Masson do is collect two hundred fifty dollars an hour to quietly sit at board meetings with people’s time and patience running out.
“I dare you, the judge, the master or anyone else to contradict what I`m saying,” said Whalum.
Whallum says at this point it’s he doesn’t know how the board will vote, and I have spoken to several board members who are for and against the resolution, and also members who say they haven’t made their mind up yet.