This story on the list of 10 finalists for Shelby County Schools five picks on the schools merger transition team should post to the main website shortly, but for those who just cannot wait, see below for the details.
The list of 10 finalists the Shelby County Schools board will consider today for five spots on the schools merger transition team is heavy on people closely associated with the suburban school system, as well as a suburban mayor exploring ways to opt out of the unified system and a former county mayor who once helped create a schools plan that envisioned splitting the county's schools into several smaller districts.
The pool includes eight men and two women for consideration by the board, which is itself comprised of six men and one woman. The five selected will join the so far 12 other picks made by Memphis City Schools (five), Shelby County mayor Mark Luttrell (five), Gov. Bill Haslam (one) and state House speaker Beth Harwell (one).
The Commercial Appeal obtained a list of finalists and they are:
One board member, Diane George of Collierville, has objected to Pickler's handling of the process, saying she believes it has not been transparent and may have violated the state's "Sunshine Law" outlining rules for open meetings.
Pickler said Thursday morning he will provide copies of all emails between board members. That will include, Pickler said, the correspondence he asked for from board members ranking a larger pool of 19 of their recommendations.
"The state gave me the right to pick these on my own if I wanted, but I wanted to make this as open and inclusive as possible," Pickler said.
Pickler said board members will discuss the candidates and he will ask for each to submit a list of their top five picks, which will then be scored (five points for a No. 1 pick, one point for a No. 5 pick). Pickler said board members may still nominate people not in the final 10.
Once those picks are made, only one transition team choice will remain, that of Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey. Luttrell's picks are subject to approval by the County Commission, and it plans to consider them at a meeting Monday.
Luttrell, Pickler and MCS president Martavius Jones will be non-voting members on the 21-member team, which is charged with creating a plan for consolidating MCS with SCS in time for the beginning of the 2013-14 school year.
According to terms of a federal court settlement, that plan must be approved by the state department of education before going to a 23-member unified countywide school board for approval.
The list of 10 finalists the Shelby County Schools board will consider today for five spots on the schools merger transition team is heavy on people closely associated with the suburban school system, as well as a suburban mayor exploring ways to opt out of the unified system and a former county mayor who once helped create a schools plan that envisioned splitting the county's schools into several smaller districts.
The pool includes eight men and two women for consideration by the board, which is itself comprised of six men and one woman. The five selected will join the so far 12 other picks made by Memphis City Schools (five), Shelby County mayor Mark Luttrell (five), Gov. Bill Haslam (one) and state House speaker Beth Harwell (one).
The Commercial Appeal obtained a list of finalists and they are:
- Tommy Hart, real-estate investor and a former Shelby County Commissioner;
- Richard Holden, SCS's recently retired chief of operations;
- Ricky Jeans, an insurance agent with an office in Memphis and SCS parent whose testimony helped lift SCS's desegregation court order;
- Keith McDonald, the Bartlett mayor who in 2009 turned down an appointment to be part of the Memphis/Shelby County Metropolitan Charter Commission and is looking at establishing municipal schools;
- Jeff Norris, an administrator at Rhodes College;
- Chris Price, a car salesman who was a strident opponent of the MCS charter surrender and whose wife transitioned from SCS board member to employee last year;
- Jim Rout, a former Shelby County mayor who as county commissioner led a committee that created a plan that envisioned splitting all of the county's schools into smaller multiple districts;
- Katie Stanton, former SCS administrator and former president of the non-union Shelby County Education Association which represents SCS employees;
- Kay Williams, a former SCS principal and former SCEA president;
- and, Lang Wiseman, former chair of the county's Republicans, former Bolton High School basketball star and brother of Arlington mayor Russell Wiseman.
One board member, Diane George of Collierville, has objected to Pickler's handling of the process, saying she believes it has not been transparent and may have violated the state's "Sunshine Law" outlining rules for open meetings.
Pickler said Thursday morning he will provide copies of all emails between board members. That will include, Pickler said, the correspondence he asked for from board members ranking a larger pool of 19 of their recommendations.
"The state gave me the right to pick these on my own if I wanted, but I wanted to make this as open and inclusive as possible," Pickler said.
Pickler said board members will discuss the candidates and he will ask for each to submit a list of their top five picks, which will then be scored (five points for a No. 1 pick, one point for a No. 5 pick). Pickler said board members may still nominate people not in the final 10.
Once those picks are made, only one transition team choice will remain, that of Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey. Luttrell's picks are subject to approval by the County Commission, and it plans to consider them at a meeting Monday.
Luttrell, Pickler and MCS president Martavius Jones will be non-voting members on the 21-member team, which is charged with creating a plan for consolidating MCS with SCS in time for the beginning of the 2013-14 school year.
According to terms of a federal court settlement, that plan must be approved by the state department of education before going to a 23-member unified countywide school board for approval.
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