The Greenville City Council will consider funding a study on the feasibility of a city school system.

The item will be on the agenda at the Council’s July 11 meeting, said Mayor Dexter McLendon.

The Council is expected to vote on a $43,500 proposal to hire Birmingham-based firm Construction Program Management to lead a 120-day, independent study of Greenville schools. CPM would partner with educational consultant Anne Jolly to complete the project, McLendon said.

Greenville’s public schools are part of the Butler County School District. Four of the district’s six schools are in Greenville.

“This is only a feasibility study,” McLendon said. “We’re not saying we don’t have a good school system, we’re just saying we want a better one.”

McLendon said education plays a key role in recruiting business and spurring economic development.

“When you’re building your town, everything has to do with your school system,” he said.

McLendon said he has met with leaders from the Butler County Board of Education and with private school Fort Dale Academy. Both have agreed to help provide information for the feasibility study, he said.

The proposed study would explore how the city might “give our children a better education and a better quality of life,” McLendon said, and does not necessarily mean the city will create a new school system.

“I know there are a lot of questions on how this will work,” he said. “But we won’t know until we do the feasibility study.”

If approved by the council, the study would conclude around December with a public power-point-style presentation revealing the results.

The Greenville City Council meets July 11 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.