Gov. Haley Barbour’s budget recommendations have brought thepossibility of school district consolidation to the forefront ofstate policy, but it is unlikely that a merger of Lincoln County’sdistricts will occur as a result, local school officialsbelieve.

Brookhaven School District Superintendent Lea Barrett said thegovernor’s suggestion to consolidate one-third of the state’s 152school districts, part of a plan to close a $715 million budgetgap, would not likely have its desired effect in Lincoln County.Though combining the city and county school districts would likelyeliminate a handful of administrative jobs, those savings wouldlikely be spent hiring the extra manpower that would be needed tooperate a new, combined 6,200-student district, she said.

“The savings could easily be lost,” Barrett said. “If youconsolidate, you’re going to eliminate one or two superintendents’positions, but those are locally funded. I can see where therewould be local savings, but I don’t see where there would besavings to the state.”

Savings in state education spending can be found in otherdistricts, Barrett said. Speaking to the Brookhaven Kiwanis ClubWednesday, she shared financial statistics on several districtsaround the state she believes are more likely candidates forconsolidation. Until the governor’s commission on consolidation isformed the criteria will be unclear, but she reckons fact-finderswill look at a district’s student achievement, location andenrollment.

Barrett said there are 45 districts in the state at risk offailing and eight districts currently classified as failing, basedon results of the latest student achievement analysis. All thosecombined total 53 school districts – approximately equal to theone-third number the governor recommended for consolidation.

“Maybe he’s looking at those districts to combine them withdistricts that are more successful,” Barrett said.

As for location, Barrett said there are 34 counties in the statewith one school district and 32 counties with one county and onemunicipal district, like Lincoln County.

However, there are 15 counties with three or more districts.Bolivar County contains six districts, with the smallest servingonly 293 students. Forrest County holds four districts.

In enrollment, Barrett said 45 districts have less than 1,500students. There are 25 districts with less than 1,000 students.Five districts serve more than 10,000 students, and DeSoto andJackson Public Schools serve more than 30,000 students each.

“Unless consolidation legislation would also change the(Mississippi Adequate Education Program) formula, the amount ofstate money wouldn’t change,” Barrett said. “MAEP is funded basedon average daily attendance – it is unrelated to the number ofadministrators and teachers.”

Another factor in consolidation Barrett said that isn’treceiving much notice is that Mississippi law already allows forconsolidation. She said Brookhaven and Lincoln County voters couldhave already combined their two districts if they desired, but theyhaven’t.

Lincoln County School District Superintendent Terry Bristerknows why.

“Lincoln County schools have their own identity,” he said. “Thechurch is No. 1 in the community, and outside of that, the hub inour communities are our schools. Brookhaven has their identity,too, and we’ve all met our requirements.”

Barrett and Brister agreed the possibility of consolidation inLincoln County is a long, long shot. The governor’s proposal to cuteducation spending by 10.9 percent, however, is very real.

“I’m not worried about consolidation, my focus is on the fundingcuts,” Brister said.

Both superintendents said a 10.9 percent cut to MAEP wouldreduce their districts’ funding by $1.4 million each, a reductionthat would likely mean personnel lost. Districts have already lostclose to $1 million in a pair of cuts made earlier this year, andthe stimulus funding that has filled in funding gaps will be absentin fiscal year 2011.

Barrett and Brister hope to use attrition – not replacingteachers who retire or move away – and reserve funds to reducetheir spending. If worse comes to worse, districts will reduce thenumber of support personnel and cut programs before lettingteachers go.

“You have to look at everything and try not to tear anythingdown,” Brister said. “You whittle where you can whittle. We’ll faceit head-on, and we’ll make it work.”