Two Oktibbeha County representatives say they favor the original language of local school consolidation bills that called upon Starkville School District Superintendent Lewis Holloway to lead the county school district in July.
As originally filed, HB 833 and SB 2813 called for Holloway’s early appointment as Oktibbeha County School District conservator and gave him the power to issue notes that would finance school repairs in both districts before state-mandated consolidation occurs in 2015.
Two bill substitutes were introduced last week which state the county system shall remain under Mississippi Department of Education control until June 30, 2015, without explicitly calling for a new conservator.
Local Reps. Gary Chism, R-Columbus, and Tyrone Ellis, D-Starkville, both said they support the bills as originally written and Holloway’s early appointment.
Both pieces of Starkville-Oktibbeha County consolidation legislation remain in their respective chambers. SB 2818 is listed No. 77 on the Senate’s calendar Wednesday, while HB 833 is No. 75 on the House calendar. Chism lamented the House’s speed in tackling pending legislation, alluding to the 8 p.m. Thursday deadline for bills to move forward.
He also said the provision to name Holloway as OCSD’s conservator this year could be again added later on in the legislative process.
“It can come back when it goes to conference and not have a problem on our side,” Chism said. “It makes sense — that’s my frame of mind.”
“To me, that’s the proper thing to do,” Ellis added. “Why spend that money for another conservator during the transition?”
Ellis said he would meet again with key House Education Committee members today about the future of that chamber’s bill.
A call to Sen. Gary Jackson, R-French Camp, went unreturned Tuesday. He also represents a portion of Oktibbeha County.
Language preserving prior Commission on Starkville Consolidated School District Structure requests was preserved in both committee substitutes, including calls for future attorney general representation involving the districts’ desegregation orders and the extension of an expiring 2016 school board seat into 2017; however, the Senate version maintains lines allowing reverse referendum mechanisms for bond issuances that the House version drops.
The Senate substitute also directs OCSD Conservator Margie Pulley to issue notes for repairs and renovations to both systems’ campuses “as soon as practicable after passage” and allows her to issue bonds for similar upgrades from July 1 to June 30, 2015. Holloway would then have the ability to issue bonds through 2024 as the consolidated school district’s leader.
Due to the varying language of each bill, a conference committee is expected to form and hammer out differences if both chambers pass their respective substitutes as written.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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