A joint meeting between county commissioners and the three school boards is in the works.

The meeting, which board Chairman James Pierce said would discuss issues ranging from the sharing of mental health services to consolidation, was originally scheduled for March 26.

It was decided, however, that an objective facilitator from the North Carolina Institute of Government was needed, Pierce said during today’s board meeting.

A facilitator comes with a $3,500 price tag to oversee the meeting and plan the meeting, County Attorney Glynn Rollins said, and the recommendation from the county being that all four — the county and three school systems — share in that cost.

Commissioners at the end of discussion on the matter agreed on a split vote on hiring the facilitator with the understanding the three school systems pay their share. Commissioner Rives Manning voted against the proposal, saying the school systems, “Need to put up or shut up.”

Manning, soon after discussion began, also wanted to know the purpose of the meeting.

The reason, Pierce said, was because everyone wanted to sit down to discuss the issues together with a facilitator. At least two of the issues would be school improvement and consolidation, he said.

Manning then asked Pierce whether he was promoting consolidation in discussions of these meetings.

“No,” Pierce replied. “I didn’t think it would have been my place.”

Pierce said meetings with the three school superintendents have yielded some 30 recommendations.

Commissioner Vernon Bryant said one of the things the board has not done is talked about the $115,000 Evergreen study it commissioned, a study which does not recommend school merger. “I think we need to talk about that report prior to meeting with the three school districts. We paid. I don’t feel we as a board have talked about it enough to know where we need to be.”

Commissioner Carolyn Johnson said, “I think we owe it to the children of Halifax County that they have a quality education.”