GERMANTOWN, Tenn. — The City of Germantown offered Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) $5 million to buyout the "3G" schools, according to an email from MSCS.
Those three schools are Germantown Elementary, Germantown Middle School and Germantown High School.
In April, state lawmakers passed a law that would give the "3G" schools back to Germantown, and gave the two districts until January to reach an agreement.
MSCS said these 3 schools are located on 47 acres of land. They also said that the city of Germantown’s offer of $5 million is far below the land’s market value and the price for a new school.
Instead, MSCS puts this price at approximately $125 million.
More than 3,300 students as well as 300 employees are directly impacted by this legislation, according to Chief of Communications for MSCS Dr. Cathryn Stout.
“If our students and staff are forced to relocate, we need the time and funding necessary to ensure that they have the facilities they deserve,” Stout said.
Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo released the following statement:
From the beginning of this process, the City has been and remains committed to working with Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) on an agreement that considers the best interests of all impacted parties. The City has worked aggressively over the last several months to propose terms that are more favorable to MSCS and their families than those prescribed by state law. We have pledged to work with all members of the MSCS team in good faith and will continue to operate within that framework by not negotiating through the media, in the hopes we can be successful in reaching a mutually beneficial solution.
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