By Sherri Drake Silence, Jane Roberts - The Commercial Appeal -

Leaders of Shelby County Schools are calling for a truce with their neighbors.

The Shelby school board passed a resolution Thursday promising not to pursue special school district status before Dec. 31, 2013, if Memphis City Schools agrees not to surrender the district's charter prior to that date.

But city school board member Martavius Jones is not swayed.

"Even if we wait until 2014, Memphians will still not have a say-so in the issue," he said. "This is not about Shelby County Schools forming a special district; it's about Memphians having a say-so."

Four members of the nine-member city school board have said they are in favor of surrendering the charter.

The county board wants the city board to consider the resolution Monday before any vote to surrender the city schools charter, which would lead to consolidation of the two school systems if city voters agree with the charter action.

"There is too much at stake for our two school systems not to sit down together and explore what is in the best interest of our children," said SCS Supt. John Aitken.

MCS board president Freda Williams said the city schools board would "look at this resolution and have a conversation about it."

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, said the Shelby County board resolution is meaningless because "other alliances" around the state are pursuing the matter.

"It doesn't matter what they (Shelby County school board members) decide, it's a legislative decision to lift the prohibition," said Hardaway, head of the Shelby County delegation.

County Commissioner Mike Ritz doubts any member of the city school board believes SCS is sincere.

"My personal experience with Mr. (David) Pickler from our school finance committee meetings doesn't give me any confidence that he is being truthful," Ritz said.

Pickler is chairman of the SCS board.

The county school board's "good-faith effort" asks the superintendents of both districts to assign four people to a joint panel by Jan. 31, 2011, to study the issues.

With 151,000 students, the combined districts would become the 14th-largest school system in the nation.

"Bigger, we feel, is not better," Aitken said. "The focus on improving student performance will be lost in the maze of consolidation issues."

Gaining special-school-district status from the state legislature would allow the suburban system to fix its boundaries and possibly gain taxing authority. Opponents argue that the move would hurt city schools financially.

The county board resolution passed unanimously even though some members had concerns about delaying the issue for three years.

The Tennessee School Boards Association wants school districts to be able to collect taxes and has been lobbying 10 years for it.

"If it were just a Memphis-Shelby County issue, we probably would not be involved at all," said Lee Herrell, director of government and labor relations.

"You know how much money is coming year after year. You also know that all the money raised would have to go to education. We see examples year after year of county commissions getting tax increases for this education service only to see them divert the money away."

In Memphis, taxpayers have seen what happens when a local government decides it does not want to contribute what it historically has given. Two courts have ruled that Memphis City Council owes Memphis City Schools the $57 million it withheld in 2008.

If the state school boards association is successful in its lobby, Hardaway expects "Shelby County Schools would run through that door. They would be content to say they lied to us again, but by then, the deed will have been done."

Thursday, about a dozen Memphis-area ministers gathered in the cold in front of the city schools' district offices to pray for a compromise.

"We've come together because we love our children," said Rev. Dwight Montgomery, who referred to the Shelby school board chairman as "Brother Pickler."

"Appreciate your prayers," Pickler said.

School developments

— Ministers prayed for city and county school leaders outside MCS headquarters Thursday.

— SCS offered to hold off on pursuing special school district status until 2014.

— MCS still plans to discuss surrendering the district's charter at Monday's meeting.