Suburban leaders vote to enter municipal school legal fight | News

MEMPHIS, TN- (WMC-TV) - Germantown's mayor and board of aldermen voted Friday to join a federal lawsuit regarding the future of suburban education.

"I believe the voters of Germantown have the right to vote for municipal schools," said alderman Mark Billingsley.

The emergency meeting was called a week after the Shelby County Commission filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the August 2nd vote on the formation of municipal districts. However, immediate action did not become necessary until a judge set an initial hearing date for this coming Monday.

"We've always understood it was sitting there as a question that would be raised in all of these proceedings," said Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy. "That time has arrived," she added.

Like Germantown, the decision by Collierville's mayor and board of aldermen to join the lawsuit was unanimous as well.

"Things like this just increase our resolve," said Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner. "And we'll push forward with it," he added. "We're not gonna crumble," said Joyner.

The law firm of Burch, Porter, and Johnson was hired by both legislative bodies. Costs are expected to be shared among the suburbs no matter how much money it may take.

"We will simply expect timely reports as well as probably timely bills," said Goldsworthy. "And we'll deal with that as we proceed," she added.

"We'll stay in and if we go down, we'll go down at the count," said Joyner.

City leaders in Bartlett will likely join the fray during their own emergency meeting Saturday. Other suburbs are expected to follow suit.

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