Town approves consulting contract | Collierville Independent

The Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen has agreed to hire Southern Educational Strategies to perform a second study in preparation for the Collierville School System.

The town will pay Dr. Jim Mitchell, former Shelby County Schools superintendent, and Dr. Tim Fite, former superintendent of Tipton County Schools, $36,000 to provide updated financial data to the Collierville Board of Education, which will be elected in November, and the future Superintendent of Education.

Mitchell and Fite provided the town with a comprehensive study last year to identify the legal and financial feasibility of operating a municipal school system.

According to Town Administrator James Lewellen, the legal data presented in the previous study is “still valid.”

“However, the revenues and expenditures data have changed,” he said. “The proposed study will update the fiscal data section of the feasibility study to take into account the changes that have been made in the Tennessee Basic Education Program funding formula, plus changes in revenues from local and county property and sales taxes.”

The projected student enrollment will also be updated for Collierville schools.

The study will be conducted based on the staffing levels that existed under the Shelby County School System.

“I believe the town will want to restore the staff positions that have been cut in the Unified Schools budget,” he said.

Results from the study will be provided no later than September.

In other news:

n Board members approved an amendment to the Ironwood planned development to allow for the construction of a Storage Towne America on the south side of Winchester east of Houston Levee near Central Church.