House Bill 154

[Rebel Bert]

If passed and signed into law will require counties multiple school districts to put forth certain data. By July 1, 2025 consolidating to one school district per county. Here we go again but probably needed.

[maroontide06]

The author of this bill is a Democrat.  What else is needed to be said about this?

[RMcCormick66]

Yea that bill is dead on arrival. 

[coastfootballfanman]

1 hour ago, Rebel Bert said:

If passed and signed into law will require counties multiple school districts to put forth certain data. By July 1, 2025 consolidating to one school district per county. Here we go again but probably needed.

So this would force all schools in say Jackson County to fall under one regime?? 

[JagsFan77]

So all those city schools would suddenly be lumped in with county schools administration wise? That's not gonna fly. 

[Vott]

9 minutes ago, coastfootballfanman said:

So this would force all schools in say Jackson County to fall under one regime?? 

So if that passes, would that mean that Gautier and Pascagoula would have to possibly be one school and be called say Jackson Co. High School

[4-3 Guru]

very interesting.....

[TK_on_the_Coast]

49 minutes ago, Vott said:

So if that passes, would that mean that Gautier and Pascagoula would have to possibly be one school and be called say Jackson Co. High School

No.  It would make Pascagoula, Gautier, Ocean Springs, Moss Point, Vancleave, St Martin, and East Central all located in one Jackson County School District.  The individual high schools can still operate. 

[Bulldogs4]

This is something that should have happened years ago. One school district per county. 
The schools can still operate as they are.

 

Just to give you one example. In Lauderdale County you have two school districts. Lauderdale County and the City of Meridian.

It is beyond stupid the waste that goes on in those two central offices.
 

First there is duplication. What need is there to have two central offices about a mile or two apart doing the same work. 

Second they have created so many new positions in the central offices to protect employees/teachers/principals who should be fired that it is beyond ridiculous. 

 

Combine the districts are under one superintendent and one office and more money could be freed up for the classroom. What a concept.  Spend more money where the students are. That seems to be a foreign concept with schools today. 
 

I could write more but you all get the picture. 

[MSSportsGuy]

This bill has no shot of passing but this will only happen with their actions. There are simply too many districts in the state for our size. The average resident will agree with that statement but when "their" district gets mentioned they immediately throw their hands up and cry foul. I grew up in Northeast Mississippi in a county with two districts for literally no reason other than "always been that way". Neither of those boards or leadership structures would ever voluntarily merge themselves out of a job. The only way to get it done is by law.

 

I will stop short of saying one district per county is all that is needed, but there are about 30 or so districts at first glance that could merge and it would have zero impact on the quality of education the students get but plenty of impact on the politics and comfort levels of administrators and community leaders. 

[pancho]

this will eliminate too many gravy jobs 

[maroontide06]

26 minutes ago, Raiderguy said:

It is ridiculous to have multiple districts in a County, complete waste of money

These "multiple districts" have been around a whole lot longer than you and I have been alive.  You are entitled to your opinion, but things have been just fine for years.  I can promise you that things wouldn't go too well if something like this passes.

[maroontide06]

Now I will say this, if there is a need for districts to consolidate then it needs to be done on a local, county wide level and not done through the legislature.  Government is already big enough, don't you think?  What may work well in one county, may not work well in another.  Just take Carroll County and Harrison County as examples.  Carroll County has one district for the entire county and that works because the population is so sparse there.  In Harrison County you have multiple districts because the population is so big there.  I realize there's give and take with all of this, but it obviously would need to make sense.  I understand the "elimination of duplication" argument, but when districts are already so big, why do you want to put more on their plate?

[Rebel Bert]

15 hours ago, coastfootballfanman said:

So this would force all schools in say Jackson County to fall under one regime?? 

I think so.

[Rebel Bert]

I think each County involved has period of time to put forth data from the school districts as required by the Bill. I can see larger populated counties dropping to 2 school districts if they have say 4 or 5 like Bolivar County had. The smaller populated areas like Jasper, Clarke, Newton, Scott, and Neshoba come to mind as needing to be consolidated.

Examples:

East Jasper (1) / West Jasper (2)

Clarke (1), Enterprise (1)

Newton County (2), Newton City (1)

Scott County (4), Forest Municipal (1)

Neshoba (1), Philadelphia (1)

 

[Rebel Bert]

18 hours ago, TK_on_the_Coast said:

No.  It would make Pascagoula, Gautier, Ocean Springs, Moss Point, Vancleave, St Martin, and East Central all located in one Jackson County School District.  The individual high schools can still operate. 

1 Superintendent and his staff to run the whole county.

[Bulldogs4]

One district office with one superintendent per county. No need to have duplicate offices with multiples of people doing the same job. It is a very inefficient way to operate schools. That will put more money in the classroom. The amount of waste in the central district office is abysmal. 
How many times have you seen a principal/coach/teacher promoted/reassigned to a newly created post in the central office? Oftentimes it is to handle this Federal grant program or this other new initiative that they have come up with specifically designed to protect a person’s employment status. 
 

Law enforcement is another parallel. Have one County wide police force per county. Have all the LE’s under one umbrella. One dispatch center. One sheriff/chief or whatever you want to call the person. They would no longer be elected. They would be appointed by the county board of supervisors. So much duplication in counties with multiple police forces. Very inefficient. 

[maroontide06]

16 minutes ago, Raiderguy said:

Just because we have done something "stupid" longer that we have been alive, doesn't make it the best choice for Mississippi tax dollars.  The administrative waste by having almost twice as many school districts as counties, is huge.  Other than "we have always done it that way", give me one legitimate reason we shouldn't change

I'm not going to argue with you and I'm not trying to "win" an argument.  You have every right to your opinion, but if doing that lowers your millage rate then by all means go for it.  I think there's bigger fish to fry than to worry about consolidating school districts.  If you want consolidated districts so badly then there needs to be freedom of choice.  In other words parents should have the right to send their child to any school within that district without having to pay an out of district tuition.  For example:  If a family of a child lives in Picayune and wants to send their kid to Poplarville, then they should be able to do that without penalty or without having to pay tuition.  See how this works?

[maroontide06]

6 minutes ago, Raiderguy said:

I wasn't arguing, I was discussing, if you took it that way I am sorry.  People like you have held Mississippi back for years, and may continue to do so, but absolutely, you have a right to an opinion, flawed or not.

As to freedom of choice, that is laughable, we aren't talking school consolidation, we are talking administrative consolidation, however, once again, you certainly are entitled to your opinion.  

What have I done to hold Mississippi back?  I'm certainly not a politician by any means and why is my opinion flawed?  I haven't attacked you on your political beliefs, so why are you attacking mine?  I can agree to disagree with you and that's perfectly fine and you have made your point.  This is my last post on this subject and I won't continue this so called "discussion."  I certainly have no beef with you or anyone else here on this board.

[JagsFan77]

Look at Hinds county alone... That would be a nightmare. JPS can't get its act together by itself, then throw in Terry, Raymond, and Clinton. 

[MSSportsGuy]

Just reading a few posts about this underscores why this is such a touchy subject. People are quick to say it needs to happen but when a district close to them gets impacted, people react strongly. I live in Rankin County and I can almost guarantee that no one with the Pearl School District wants to merge with the county administratively. Additionally, Clinton probably wants nothing to do with JPS or Hinds County Schools, and I would say Madison County (where I once lived) would prefer to keep the Canton district out of their hair for a variety of reasons.

 

I posted earlier that I would stop short of saying one district per county is all that is needed, but I can think of probably 20 small districts that don't have many more students than a large high school and are currently paying a 6 figure superintendent and staff. That is an area where consolidation should happen. The legislature forced many consolidations in the delta years back and how we took Bolivar County from 6 to 3 districts, Sunflower from 3 to 1, and others as well. I won't name names but anyone is free to search how many students are in a district and how much their superintendent makes and see what could potentially be money back in a classroom. 

[Bulldogs4]

And to the point of freedom of choice. 
By having one district per county , students could select the schools of their choice. 
No need to restrict students to a certain school because of geography. 
If you are worried about schools being overcrowded, then students could select their choices 1/2/3.

Once they start at a school they would be grandfathered in unless they chose to move to another school. 

 

[maroontide06]

28 minutes ago, Raiderguy said:

I don't feel I have attacked you, simply stated my opinion and stated what I thought of yours, I respect your right to be right or wrong, smart or stupid

5. Remain respectful of other members at all times

All posts should be courteous. You have every right to disagree with your fellow community members and explain your perspective; however, you are not free to attack, degrade, insult, or otherwise belittle them.

[pancho]

So what all are the ole miss folk a doing about Kiffin's contract?

[Rebel Bert]

Bill died in committee