Jackson Free Press

Monday, Feb. 1, the Commission on Education Structure will hold its second meeting to discuss how best to achieve school district consolidation in Mississippi. The meeting is scheduled for Room 216 in the state capitol building, starting at 1 p.m., and the public is invited to attend.

Gov. Haley Barbour created the commission through an executive order after recommending that many of the state's school public school districts be merged to achieve budgetary savings. Its mandate is to recommend consolidations and calculate the potential savings.

Bancorp South Chairman and CEO Aubrey Patterson of Tupelo is chairman of the commission. Other members include: House Education Chairman Cecil Brown; Senate Education Chairman Videt Carmichael; Rep. Robert Johnson; Sen. Sampson Jackson; State Superintendent Tom Burnham; Institutions of Higher Learning Commissioner Hank Bounds; State Board of Education member Howell Gage; State Board of Education member and Pass Christian Superintendent Sue Matheson; Barksdale Reading Institute CEO Claiborne Barksdale; Jackson businessman Socrates Garrett; Madison County Superintendent Mike Kent; South Delta Superintendent Katherine Tankson; Gulf Coast businessman Stephen Renfroe; Meridian businesswoman Mary Peavey; Senate Universities and Colleges Chairman Doug Davis; and Rep. Herb Frierson.

For additional information, contact Pete Smith with the governor's office at 601-359-1336