District 43 Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, is developing legislation that, if passed, would expand the five-person Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees to seven members and require that five of those seats be elected positions.
Background requirements for school board candidates, including minimum education standards, could be part of the final package, according to Roberson.
The final version of Roberson’s bill is not yet set in stone, and it is not known when he will take the legislation to Jackson for debate.
Under the working proposal, the two non-elected seats would be filled by appointees from the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors and the Starkville Board of Aldermen.
The first-term representative said he wants feedback from SOCSD administrators, the school board and county residents to help shape the bill’s focal points before he moves forward with any changes.
“(An expanded school board) gives more opportunities for people to take part in the process. I want something that works, something that gives all of the taxpayers a voice,” he said. “Nothing’s final yet, and I want to have discussions with all of (SOCSD’s) constituents…we need a good mixture of people on the school board from all walks of life, including those who do not live in the city.”
Four of the five sitting school board members were appointed by city aldermen. Board member Keith Coble is the lone member chosen by an election of county voters residing outside of Starkville but within the former boundaries of Starkville School District.
Legislators changed the board’s composition prior to the state-mandated merger with a bill transitioning the seat currently occupied by Eddie Myles to an elected position decided by county voters in November.
The winner of the election will take over next year.
In forming SOCSD, SSD took in almost 1,000 students from Oktibbeha County School District, which represents about two-fifths to one-fourth of the merged district’s student count. Once Myles’ seat becomes an elected position, the board’s overall composition will closely align to the district’s population of city and county students.
Myles and school board member Lee Brand said school board expansion is unnecessary because the current board’s makeup fairly represents the county as a whole.
“At the end of the day, this format has been laid out by the Legislature, and I really feel it is going as well as it can,” Myles said. ‘We have to grow up, because there should not be this opposing city-county dynamic. It’s not an issue, but there are those who are trying to make it one.”
Both school board members said their focus remains on maintaining quality educational opportunities for all Oktibbeha County students.
“Legislators, whether or not we like or dislike how the bill was set up, took into account county representation by making those two seats elected positions. (With the new student population), that’s a fair representation,” Brand said. “It’s not about the adults. When I come to the board table, I come to advocate for all children, period. I don’t care where they live.”
Tensions between county and city residents became apparent during run up to 2015’s state-mandated consolidation, as many county constituents said they felt underrepresented in the process.
The Legislature’s change to the school board composition came after residents voiced their concerns at numerous public forums.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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