The chairman of the House Education Committee has confirmed that the Carroll County public school district has been removed from a bill that would have merged it with the Montgomery County and Winona districts.
The House Education Committee passed Senate Bill 2495 on Friday. Up to that point, the bill, which originated in the Senate, had provided for the consolidation of the Carroll County, Montgomery County and Winona districts.
There was some confusion about the fate of the merger over the weekend. Although the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported Saturday that the Carroll County district had been removed from the legislation, it remained in the most recent version of the bill available on the Legislature’s website as of Tuesday morning.
Rep. John Moore, R-Brandon, head of the House Education Committee, said that the subcommittee considering consolidation had made the decision to remove the Carroll County district so that the bill would have a better chance of passing in both houses.
Rep. Toby Barker, R-Hattiesburg, chairman of the subcommittee, could not be reached for comment.
Moore emphasized that the Legislature is “a long way from coming to a final version on any of these bills.”
The bill now goes to the House Appropriations Committee for further debate. The deadline for bills from the opposite chamber to be approved by committees is today.
If the bill passes in the House, it will be sent back to the Senate, which will either accept or reject changes made to it. Bills must be passed by the House and Senate by March 30.
A coalition of Carroll school and county officials traveled to the state Capitol to make a case against including Carroll in the merger.
Carroll Superintendent Billy Joe Ferguson said he was relieved to hear that his district seemed to be in the clear.
“I don’t think people grasp what you’re talking about when you talk about making a school district the size of Carroll and Montgomery together,” said Ferguson, who earlier this month held a mock funeral for the district.
In addition to increased operational costs engendered by a larger district, Ferguson said a merger would have affected the culture of the area.
“How can I explain to our students, ‘You’re not going to graduate from J.Z. George High School. You’re going to go to another town. You’re going to graduate from a place that’s not even there’?” he said.
• Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
