By Sherri Drake Silence - The Commercial Appeal -

The Shelby County school board passed a resolution this afternoon promising not to pursue special-school-district status prior to Dec. 31, 2013, if Memphis City school leaders commit to not surrender the district's charter prior to that date.

The "good-faith deal" asks that by Jan. 31, 2011, both districts would assign four staff members to be part of a joint advisory panel to study the issues of school funding and school district boundaries.

Board chairman David Pickler asked that the Memphis City school board place the resolution on its agenda Monday night, prior to any vote on surrendering the district's charter.

"The board of Memphis City Schools needs to take a look at this resolution and have a conversation about it," MCS school board president Freda Williams said after the meeting.

Earlier, about a dozen Memphis-area ministers gathered in the cold this afternoon in front of the Memphis City Schools district offices and prayed for the leaders of the city and county school systems.

Shelby County Schools Supt. John Aitken, Pickler and MCS Deputy Supt. Irving Hamer joined in the prayer. The group held hands in a circle, with Pickler and Hamer holding hands during the prayer.

"We've come together because we love our children," said Rev. Dwight Montgomery, who referred to the Shelby school board chairman as "Brother Pickler." "We are not some militant group of individuals ... but we believe in standing up for what is right."

The ministers, who are calling for the school districts to compromise on the controversial special school district issue, want more of a say in school business and have pledged to resort to boycott practices from the civil rights era if the school boards ignore their concerns.

The city school board will vote Monday on whether to surrender the district's charter.

This afternoon, during a special business meeting, Aitken presented a Power Point concerning "the reality of school consolidation" to a packed auditorium at the Shelby County school board, with ministers and Memphis City Schools board members in the crowd.

Aitken said consolidation of the two systems would lead to increased operating costs (by at least $100 million), increased taxes and decreased enrollment. The superintendent cited previous consolidation of school systems in Tennessee.

A consolidated Memphis City and Shelby County Schools would become the 14th largest school system in the nation, Aitken said. "Bigger, we feel, is not better."

"The focus on improving student performance will be lost in the maze of consolidation issues."