[Editor’s note: This story updates a previous version from Monday night, and clarifies the difference between an open-enrollment policy and “grandfathering” of out-of-district students.]

As the negotiations between the Jefferson County Board of Education and the new Gardendale City School System continue, the latter has broken its silence to establish one very large point: it wants all students who are currently in the Gardendale High feeder pattern to continue in that path, whether they live within the city limits or not.

The Gardendale Board of Education issued a written statement on Monday, which was also read aloud by President Chris Segroves during their regular monthly meeting.

The statement sets forth the board’s support of the concept of open enrollment — allowing students from Mt. Olive and surrounding neighborhoods, who have traditionally attended Gardendale High and Bragg Middle schools for decades, or even those who don’t but would like to.

The statement does not address the issue of “grandfathering,” which is the outright admission of out-of-district students who have traditionally attended the Gardendale feeder pattern. Grandfathering is a separate and distinct concept, Supt. Dr. Patrick Martin explained on Tuesday after comments on social media seemed to blur that line.

“Grandfathering is an issue that has to be spelled out in the separation agreement,” Martin said.

“We just wanted to give comfort to those families who want their children in our system, and let them know they are wanted,” Martin said.

By law, the new city system’s boundaries are those of the city limits, and Gardendale is not obliged to accommodate those students from outside the system. The issue was a hot point in the referendum to levy a property tax to help pay for the new system, with a number of Mt. Olive residents expressing a desire to annex the so-called “red zone” into Gardendale to ensure a place in the new system for their children. Conversely, many Mt. Olive residents opposed such an effort.

A key paragraph in the statement, which Segroves said was taken from similar separation agreements negotiated by other breakaway systems, reads: “…the immediate removal of county students from the city school system and certain city students from the county system is not in the best interest of students, families, communities or the respective school systems, and that appropriate measures to ease the transition of students into the respective school zones are needed and will benefit both school boards and the students that they serve.”

The statement went on to say that the Gardendale board is “steadfastly committed to this principle,” and asserts that the new system seeks to have an open attendance policy that allows out-of-district students to stay in the system.

The legal and logistical distinctions between grandfathering and open enrollment will be spelled out more clearly once State Supt. Dr. Tommy Bice settles any issues the two systems can’t agree to. The Gardendale Board statement confirmed “a detailed account of the critical issues needing resolution” has been sent to Bice; that statement echoes what JefCoEd Supt. Dr. Craig Pouncey told The North Jefferson News last week. Neither would say if grandfathering is one of those issues; open enrollment is not a part of the separation, and would be enacted solely by Gardendale once they assume control.

How the mediation process will affect the timetable for Gardendale to assume control of the new system for the 2015-16 academic year remains to be seen. But in response to a question posed at the meeting by former Rockets football standout Mike “Bucket” Burkett about any possible delays, Martin was unequivocal in his response.

“I remain confident that this will not affect the schedule,” Martin said.