House lawmakers consider Mississippi school consolidation amid enrollment decline, increased funding

• Mississippi’s public school enrollment is down over 60,000 students in the last decade while the state’s education budget has reached record levels. House lawmakers have discussed consolidation in the past but efforts have stalled.

Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives met with leaders of the Mississippi Department of Education, Institutions for Higher Learning and Community College Board on Thursday to discuss the potential for campus consolidations. 

While there was little appetite for consolidation from community college and university representatives, House Education Committee Chair Rob Roberson (R) told Magnolia Tribune there was extensive discussion with the Mississippi Department of Education about the need to consolidate the state’s public school districts. 

“You have the administrative cost which, you know, is a factor, but it’s [school] buildings,” Roberson explained. “And some of these districts are so small but yet they’re using three and four buildings.”

This is not the first time consolidation has been tossed around at the Capitol. House education leaders have posed the need for action consistently over the last few sessions, but efforts have stalled each time. Previous suggestions have included consolidating municipal and county districts within each respective county into one county district, having one superintendent in each county, and combining administrative functions in each county, among other proposals offered by members.

This latest push for consolidation comes as enrollment data from the Mississippi Department of Education shows that the state’s public K-12 education system has declined by nearly 63,000 students in the last decade, even as Mississippi taxpayers are being asked annually to fund over 130 school districts and the state education system as a whole at record levels. State appropriations to support K-12 education, including both general and special fund support, have risen from $3.427 billion for the 2016-2017 school year to $5.216 billion for the 2025-2026.

A suggestion made by State Superintendent Dr. Lance Evans was to have such districts close one or two school buildings to utilize the funds elsewhere, consolidating the schools within a single district. Those buildings and properties could then be sold. Evans said having districts implement the desired legislative changes with local input could ease the transition.

State Rep. Roberson acknowledges that some view consolidation in a negative light or see it as disruptive to a community. That is one reason why lawmakers are not currently considering changes to school districts that are performing well, choosing instead to first focus on those districts with lower accountability scores and lower student enrollment. 

“The number of students is part of the equation, but also how well they’re doing. If they’re an A district, do we really want to go monkeying around with a district that’s doing well?” Roberson said. “And the other part of that is these communities, how far apart are they? Is there too much distance here in some of these rural places to make kids drive an hour to go to school?”

Lawmakers are considering a proposal that would notify the potentially affected school districts that they have a certain time frame, between five to ten years, to make the necessary changes on their own before the Legislature acts. 

“I don’t like the idea of waiting 10 years to be real honest with you,” Roberson added. “But I am onboard with an approach that maybe gives us some time, but I think there’s some low-hanging fruit that we might need to go ahead and look at closer over the next year or two.”

Those districts with the lowest rankings and enrollment numbers would first be the focus of any consolidation efforts. The 27 districts with a 1,000 students or less could be where lawmakers begin.

“I think the low hanging fruit is the small district with a low number of kids in the district, and D and F districts, and then it’s going to be a harder discussion as we move up that pipeline,” Roberson said.

The House Education chairman said he would like to see public school districts have at least 2,000 students, calling that number the “sweet spot.”

Another consideration discussed among House members focused on the Legislature setting ethical standards for school board members, particularly as it concerns attendance at meetings and appropriate conduct. 

“I think there needs to be an ethical part of this that says that they have a fiduciary duty to do the work that is required of a school board but also having some type of requirement to actually show up at the meetings,” Roberson explained. “Some of these school board members are not showing up to their meetings. It’s mind blowing.”