Shelby County Commission approves deals with Bartlett, Collierville, Millington

The Shelby County Commission voted unanimously to approve settlements with Bartlett, Collierville, and Millington Monday. The settlements will facilitate the suburbs’ plans to open their own school districts. The commission also approved the quitclaim deeds that transfer school buildings from the merged Shelby County school system to the municipalities.

The Shelby County School Board voted to approve the settlements with the three suburbs at a meeting last week. Agreements with Lakeland and Arlington were reached the week before, and the commission also approved those agreements.

The suburbs, which had previously been part of the Shelby County School system, have been part of a merged school system encompassing the former Shelby County schools and the former Memphis City Schools since July 1.

The settlements with the suburbs were approved in a single 10-0 vote.

The agreement with Bartlett transfers 11 schools to the town and requires the Bartlett board of education to pay $608,193 per year for 12 years, or $7.3 million in all. The agreement with Collierville transfers eight schools to the town and requires the Collierville board to pay $507,819 per year for 12 years, or $6.1 million in all. The agreement with Millington transfers four schools to the town and requires Millington to pay $230,219 per year for 12 years, or $2.8 million in all.

Commissioner Henri Brooks, who voted against the agreement with Arlington and abstained from the Lakeland vote, was not present.

An agreement with Germantown is still pending.