The Memphis-Shelby County Schools administration may soon begin moving to reach an agreement with two suburban districts before it loses ownership of four campuses at the end of the year.

On Tuesday, Aug. 30, the MSCS Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution allowing the district’s administration to “explore any and all options and remedies in response to (the legislation).”

Passed earlier this year, the legislation impacts Lucy Elementary in Millington and the 3Gs — Germantown Elementary, Germantown Middle and Germantown High. All four schools are run by MSCS but located within the suburban limits, which are also the boundaries of the municipal school systems, according to a 2013 settlement. A 2017 state attorney general opinion states that one school system cannot operate within the boundaries of another. Legislators codified the opinion with the legislation passed during the recent session.

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The law signed by Gov. Bill Lee forces MSCS to reach individual agreements with the boards of Germantown Municipal School District and Millington Municipal Schools. The Jan. 1 deadline to reach an agreement is looming.

MSCS Chairwoman Michelle McKissack said the resolution gives the administration some flexibility as the board has few meetings scheduled between now and Jan. 1.

“This simply allows them to have conversations with all types of parties regarding the future status of the three Germantown schools and Lucy Elementary School,” McKissack said by phone Wednesday morning.

She said the administration apprises the board of conversations related to the four schools.

“This allows the administration to have all sorts of ‘what if’ conversations to try to anticipate, plan for these different scenarios, and they are now authorized to do that as a result of the resolution the board approved.” she said.

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The resolution was brought forward by board member Althea Greene, but McKissack said the MSCS administration sought the board’s authorization. All members signed on to the resolution before passing it.

Tony Thompson, a lobbyist for MSCS, told legislators to expect litigation if the legislation passed. Tuesday’s resolution does not explicitly state litigation. However, McKissack said administration may not pursue litigation without a vote by the board.

A sale of one of the properties is possible, but that would also require board approval by vote.

Earlier this summer, Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, who sponsored the legislation, confirmed Methodist was interested in purchasing the Germantown High School property. He said by phone Wednesday, he last talked to Methodist mid-summer.

In an Aug. 1 work session, Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo said MSCS leaders wanted to start working on the issue once the new school year was underway. However, Palazzolo also alluded to the investigation of then-Superintendent Joris Ray as a factor that could delay conversations.