Montgomery County School Systems Calls Upcoming Consolidation Unconstitutional

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The Consolidation between Winona and Montgomery County School systems is causing some tension.

The smaller of the two districts, Montgomery County isn’t opposed to the consolidation, but they do have problems with the representation on the new school board.

This has been in the works since 2016, and Montgomery County understands the logic behind the state’s decision to consolidate.

However, the setup that will be in the future is something they’re calling unconstitutional.

Montgomery County Schools may be smaller compared to their consolidation partner, Winona, but they aren’t nonexistent.

With the way the new school system is set up, that’s how they feel, nonexistent.

“The county has no representation on the board, on the consolidation board. Winona has all the representation; the county has zero,” said Montgomery County High School Counselor, Lane Townsend.

The consolidation isn’t to take place until July 1st of this year, but Winona apparently found a loophole.

“The bill didn’t state anything about what they could do in advance of that July 1st date,” said Townsend.

Already the 5 board member and Superintendent positions have been filled by the Winona school board.

Montgomery County will get 2 of those 5 board spots in January of 2019, but by then all the major decisions will have already been made.

“They decide what schools to close, who is the superintendent, who gets a job who doesn’t,” said Townsend.

This is the main complaint, according to Townsend, and it isn’t at all about the consolidation.

“We firmly believe that the legislature has the right to consolidate schools,” said Townsend. “That’s not why we’re here. It’s the fact that there’s no representation for a whole side in this when there’s supposed to be negotiations or something. You have to have all parties at the table.”

Townsend reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice, making the case for Montgomery County, and the D.O.J. took an interest.

Townsend hopes the state will take another session to revisit the consolidation bill.

“All we want the court to do is look at the bill and find the problems that we believe are in there, as far as the Constitution, and then send it back to the legislature and let them recraft the bill that would meet constitutional muster and would give representation to this side of the county. We just want a place at the table,” said Townsend.

A community event was held at the Montgomery County courthouse, where members of the D.O.J., the NAACP, and the Office of Congressman Bennie Thompson were present to hear the concerns of county residents.