Legislation to help Germantown gain ‘3Gs’ moves forward

A bill that will allow Germantown to get local control of the city’s eponymous high, middle and elementary schools is headed to the House and Senate floors.
House Bill 2430/Senate Bill 2315 was approved by the House K-12 Subcommittee, the House Education Administration Committee and the Senate Education Committee last week.
The exact dates have not been determined, the bill is expected to be heard by the Tennessee Senate and House in April.
Sponsored by District 83 Rep. Mark White, the legislation prevents a school district from operating within the boundaries of another Local Educational Agency without having an agreement between the parties in place.
Germantown High, Middle and Elementary schools are currently operated by Shelby County Schools inside the municipality’s boundaries
The bill codifies two opinions issued by the state attorney general on the topic.
If approved by state legislators, the new rules would go into effect in July 2023.
At that time, any school district that operates schools within the geographical boundaries of another school district serving grades kindergarten through twelfth (K-12) grade would either need to enter into an agreement authorizing their operations outside of their jurisdiction, or immediately transfer all property used in the operation of the schools to the municipal district.
At that time, any school district that operates schools within the geographical boundaries of another school district serving grades kindergarten through twelfth (K-12) grade would either need to enter into an agreement authorizing their operations outside of their jurisdiction, or immediately transfer all property used in the operation of the schools to the municipal district.
Locally, the legislation would mean that MSCS would no longer be allowed to operate Germantown Elementary, Middle and High Schools without an agreement with GMSD, as they fall within the boundaries of the GMSD and the City of Germantown.
After months of negotiations, House Bill No. 2430 was presented to the House K-12 Education Subcommittee on March 8.
Early in the meeting, Rep. Kirk Haston (R-Lobelville) said the item would be “rolled to the hill,” allowing it to move to the Senate Education Committee on March 9.
The legislation prevents a “local educational agency” from operating within the boundaries of another “local educational agency” without having an agreement between the parties in place.
City officials stated that the bill “codifies two opinions issued by the state attorney general on the topic.”
“We went into this process with a cooperative spirit, meeting more than 10 times with Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) officials in meetings led by Representative White,” said Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo. “We hoped that we would be able to come to a consensus that would result in a lengthy transition plan to provide certainty for our teachers, students and families. However, we were unable to come to an agreement.”
Currently, Germantown Municipal School District operates six schools in Germantown. MSCS currently operates the remaining three.
Germantown leaders offered Shelby County Schools $25 million for Germantown Elementary, Middle and High Schools in 2017. The schools, often referred to as the “Three Gs,” stayed with Shelby County Schools (now MSCS) in the 2014 demerger of public education in Shelby County.
MSCS is working toward fulfilling goals contained in the Reimagining 901 Plan which focuses on the importance of efficient and full-capacity neighborhood schools. In fact, according to enrollment data, MSCS has capacity at several schools within close proximity to Germantown.
“This legislation achieves goals for both districts – Germantown has long wanted to regain local control of the “Three-G” schools since GMSD was created. GMSD was created because a large majority of Germantown residents voted for local control over public education,” said Palazzolo. “The filing of this bill gets the city one step closer to making that a reality for Germantown.”
Germantown is one of two municipalities in Shelby County that was not granted complete control over all of the public schools within its municipal boundaries when local municipal school districts were created in 2014. The City has worked to regain control of Germantown Elementary, Middle and High Schools since that time.
“I am a proud graduate of Germantown High School as are my sisters,” said Vice Mayor Mary Anne Gibson. “Those namesake schools mean so much to our community. With this legislation we can eliminate confusion when having to explain to prospective residents that GMSD doesn’t operate the public schools that carry our City’s name.”