State Supt. Dr. Tommy Bice has told the Jefferson County Schools and the Gardendale City Schools to continue negotiating their separation agreement for another month.

That word came Friday morning from JefCoEd Supt. Dr. Craig Pouncey, after their board of education met in executive session for an hour.

Bice was originally scheduled to rule on the request for adjudication from the two systems, in which he was supposed to settle the difference on issues on which the two sides could not agree. That ruling, which was to come two weeks after Bice made a preliminary ruling on which the sides would base rebuttal responses, was originally scheduled to be issued on Monday. Bice’s staff then requested a three-day extension, which was agreed to by the two systems.

Instead, the ruling that Bice handed down on Thursday did not settle any disputed issues at all, but instead directed the two sides to go back to the bargaining table and hammer out their differences, then report back to him by the end of March.

“He expects us, both parties, to come together to try to reach a local decision on a separation of these matters,” Pouncey said. “Other than that, I think we need to honor his charge. I personally feel like that, as matters are unresolved, then we need to keep those confidential until we get those worked out.”

Pouncey said that Bice did not address any disputed issues at all in Thursday’s ruling. “Those are left for us to try to resolve.”

Pouncey’s remark came on the heels of a statement by the Gardendale Board of Education following a special meeting Thursday night at the law offices of Bradley Arant in downtown Birmingham. The statement acknowledged that Bice had issued a “final order,” but did not address any specifics. According their attorneys, members of the board and Supt. Dr. Patrick Martin refused to comment further.

“Dr. Martin and myself both understand the importance of trying to reach these kinds of decisions as soon as possible,” Pouncey said.

The delays in settling the disputed issues has not only affected the startup of Gardendale’s takeover of the local schools, but has also affected more mundane activities such as cheerleader and athletic tryouts for the next school year. Schools don’t know who to choose if they don’t know for sure which students will attend a certain school.

“We were hoping that today things would be kind of winding up, but there’s still a long ways to go,” JefCoEd Board President Dean Taylor said. “I believe now we’re going to have business as usual,” Taylor added. “I’m really looking forward to getting this wrapped up so that we can get back to educating kids, and Gardendale can get to educating kids.”