District 38 Rep. Tyrone Ellis, D-Starkville, and District 43 Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, both filed legislation this week that, if approved, would provide state funding for the construction of a grades 6-7 Oktibbeha County partnership school with Mississippi State University.
The Ellis-penned HB 984 and Roberson-backed HB 993 call for the creation of a $30 million model school to open for the 2017-2018 school year. To fund its construction, both bills call for the Legislature to appropriate at least $30 million from available state funding sources or general obligation bonds.
The final state request is expected to be about $10 million, not the full $30 million as written in the legislation.
Local officials are still expected to seek $10 million from a Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District reverse referendum previously authorized by state lawmakers, and MSU previously pledged an additional $10 million – most of which comes from a land donation – toward the project.
Ellis’ bill differentiates from Roberson’s by including language calling for a 99-year lease of the MSU-donated land, which cannot “be cancelled by successor boards based on the binding successor doctrine,” once a deal is authorized by the State College Board.
Additionally, Roberson dropped a separate bill – HB 981 – that puts into action a plan expanding the local school board from five to seven members and forces existing members from their seats in favor of five candidates chosen in November’s presidential.
The five elected seats would come from territories mirroring the five districts comprising the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors. Election winners would serve four-year terms.
The remaining two seats would be at-large appointments made by supervisors and the Starkville Board of Aldermen.
Roberson’s bills come after he told The Dispatch last month he would work to make the partnership school’s funding and construction a legislative priority this session. His SCOSD Board of Trustees composition bill, he said in January, would “give all … taxpayers a voice” in local school matters.
Wednesday, he said his two bills serve as a “vehicle for ongoing discussions” in regard to county residents’ participation on the school board and should not be perceived as a direct attack on its members.
“If I didn’t have this bill filed, then we wouldn’t have the code section open to do anything about it. This is basically all a work in progress, but honestly if everything is resolved, this bill could easily be killed,” Roberson said. “If it gets resolved, then it’s not an issue. Until it’s dealt with, we have to have a vehicle in order to move forward.”
All three bills were sent to the House Education Committee, while the partnership school-specific drafts were also forwarded to the House Universities and Colleges Committee.
School board composition bill has opponents
Upon learning of Roberson’s potential school board changes, SOCSD Board of Trustees President Eddie Myles and school board member Lee Brand joined SOCSD Superintendent Lewis Holloway in opposition to the proposed upheaval.
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 voters residing outside Starkville but within the extended territory of the former Starkville School District.
Legislators previously changed the board’s composition prior to the state-mandated merger with a bill transitioning the seat occupied by Myles into an elected position decided by county voters in November.
The winner of that election will take over next year.
School board members argued that two elected county seats give non-Starkville residents 40 percent of the board of trustees’ seats, a fair amount given SSD took in almost 1,000 students from Oktibbeha County School District during the merger, which represents about 20-25 percent of the overall student body.
Roberson said he’s continuously heard from residents upset by a perceived lack of representation on the current school board.
“There’s a lot of nervousness when dealing with all of this. I didn’t come up with this (bill) because I wanted it. No, I had people contact me and say they’re not being represented. I want to get this worked out, because I don’t want this to be the issue that messes up the possibility of getting the 6-7 school dealt with,” he said. “You can’t say the school board is representing every child but then cut it down to percentages. The adults just need to figure out how to get along. That said, the main objective here is to make sure children are being educated fairly and correctly.”
Roberson also said he filed the bill knowing a movement is coming in the Legislature to support more school consolidations, elected school boards and appointed superintendents.
“I’m not completely crazy about the dynamic, but I’d much rather have a working bill for my community than having a statewide, carte blanche effort of ‘We’re going to elect everyone.’ It’s going to move through the Legislature, and I didn’t want to be behind the eight ball when it happens,” he said. “We have a good group on that school board, and they really care about the schools and are giving of their time. Honestly, it’s one of the most thankless jobs in the world.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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