House of Representatives Education Committee Chair Rob Roberson (R) discusses a bill he introduced on the floor Thursday that aims to establish a task force to gather information to be used to consider school district consolidation statewide. Photo by Jeremy Pittari | Magnolia Tribune
- House Education chairman Roberson has publicly expressed the desire to consolidate school districts, in large part due to the perceived cost savings.
The House of Representatives passed a bill on the floor this week that would establish a task force to determine if and how the state would consolidate school districts.
HB 1431, authored by State Rep. Rob Roberson (R), is now named the “Education Efficiency Act.” A committee substitute was presented on the floor Thursday, which altered the legislation’s original intent of moving forward with consolidating school districts. The original plan would have sought to reduce the number of school districts within Mississippi from 138 to 82.
Instead, House Education Committee chairman Roberson introduced a modified version of the bill, which now proposes the establishment of a 15-person task force to gather insight and information ahead of legislative action. The group would be comprised of lawmakers, the State Superintendent of Education, the Executive Director of the Community College Board, the Commissioner of Higher Education, and others.
“This task force will look at things like, size of school, whether it’s a D or F district, or for that matter, an A, B, C or D district,” Roberson described. “The whole point is to get as much information as we can.”
The task force, with assistance from the Mississippi Department of Education, would gather the information needed to move forward with any consolidation plan as early as the 2026 legislative session.
Roberson said he adjusted the bill to only establish a task force instead of immediately pursing the consolidation of school districts because he saw the need for gathering more information. He has publicly expressed the desire to consolidate school districts, in large part due to the perceived cost savings.
“The intent is to make certain that in the places where we’ve got poor leadership, and good leadership close to each other, I’m hoping to get the good leadership over poor leadership,” Roberson said.
The initial plan would have combined municipal and county school districts within each respective county into one county district. Roberson believes educational administrations within the state could be reduced, noting that there are a number of districts in Mississippi that do not have the local tax base to support themselves.
“We have to do something to plug these holes,” Roberson said while on the House floor. “My personal opinion is that we take the money we are able to save and, in the future, put that into brick-and-mortar and things like that that need to be fixed in these schools.”
The bill passed as amended on Thursday by a vote of 82-18. It now heads to the Senate for consideration.
