Yalobusha School Recommended For Consolidation

Superintendent Sammy Higdon

By David Howell
Editor

COFFEEVILLE – A Yalobusha school is one of 18 identified in the state that would benefit from consolidation according to a study from a Colorado consulting firm.

    Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, Inc. recommended that the Coffeeville School District and Water Valley District should consolidate, a move that could yield cost savings and improved test scores.

    The factors identified in the data driven study include low performing schools with higher spending for district-level administration, John Augenblick, president of the Colorado company, told the Clarion Ledger.

    Augenblick also said the study found the more money a district spent on top administration, the lower its ranking on the state’s accountability model.

    Consolidation can happen if two or more districts agree to it. And that rarely happens.

    “Other than districts agreeing to consolidate, we don’t really have much authority in this state to force consolidation,” said James Keith, a partner with Adams and Reese LLP told the Clarion Ledger.

    Coffeeville Superintendent Eddie Anderson reported his district would support what the people in the county want.

    “If the people in the county decide to consolidate, we will be for it,”Anderson told the Herald Tuesday. The superintendent added that if the people in the county favor the current system, “We will be for it,” referring to not consolidating the two districts.

    “This is a local decision and not a state decision,” Anderson added.

    Anderson also stressed that his district’s priority remains to provide the best education possible for their students.

    “Areas like ours that do not have a large economic base, anytime the state cuts funding it does hurt us,” Anderson said. “Our priority is to make sure the dollars make it to the children.”

    Water Valley School Superintendent Sammy Higdon is more opinionated, favoring consolidating the two districts,  but adds it would be an emotional issue.

    “It is understandable, we are related to our past. A lot of our memories involve school experiences,” Higdon told the Herald.

    Like Anderson, Higdon stresses that the most important component of this issue is the students. He is also quick to point out the move could improve education in the county.

    “The high school is a major part of this issue. We need to have more course offerings, more extra-curricular activities for the kids. We could build a brand new, state-of-the-art high school between here and Coffeeville,” Higdon said.

    Without change Higdon points to the declining number of students in the Water Valley School District, especially during the last decade, as an obstacle that would continue to challenge the school’s financial and educational resources.

    “Basically the only difference between now and a couple of decades ago is we offer technology prep courses,” Higdon reported.

    “We need smart boards, we don’t even have one in our entire district,” Higdon added. “We need  more vocational opportunities, to offer welding, mechanics, robotics. This would help prepare these students for the future.”

    And this isn’t the first time the issue has surfaced.

    “Nine years ago, the superintendents from both districts did have a discussion concerning consolidation,” Higdon recalled.     Higdon is not an advocate of forced consolidation by the legislature. Instead it should be a decision made by the community.

    “There is already a mechanism in place,” he adds. Both school boards would have to vote in favor of consolidation, according to Higdon.

    If that step occurs, voters could still ultimately determine the fate of consolidation with a referendum.

    “If 15 percent of the voters in either district signed a petition, you could have an election in that district,” Higdon explained.

    “This study is strictly based on data, there are no emotional strings tied to it,” Higdon said about the report released Tuesday. “I would have been shocked if we were not on that list.

    “I think in the near future both communities should have an open discussion regarding consolidation,” Higdon added.

    According to the latest figures available, during the 2009/2010 school year Water Valley had 1,313 students enrolled and the Coffeeville School District had 625.

    “Any school that has less than 1,000 students should be consolidated,” Higdon concluded.

    Other schools recommended for consolidation include Benoit, Shaw, Okolona, Hazlehurst, Jefferson Davis County, Aberdeen, Montgomery County, Oktibbeha County, Quitman County, Drew, Indianola, West Tallahatchie, Hollandale, Coahoma County, Kemper County and North Panola.