Legislation that would consolidate six of Mississippi’s community colleges failed to advance in the state’s House of Representatives.
After receiving widespread pushback, especially from leaders at Southwest Mississippi Community College, House Bill 1284 was rejected by a majority of the chamber’s Universities and Colleges Committee on Wednesday, meaning it will not be brought to a floor vote. The legislation was drafted by Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, to merge nearly half of Mississippi’s 15 community colleges.
Per the text, Coahoma Community College would have been absorbed by Mississippi Delta Community College; Meridian Community College would have been absorbed by East Mississippi Community College; and Southwest Mississippi Community College would have been absorbed by Copiah-Lincoln Community College.
“House Bill 1284 is DEAD!!! The Bill did not make it out of the House Universities and Colleges Committee,” Dr. Wendy Smith, Southwest Mississippi Community College associate vice president for workforce training,” SMCC Associated Vice President for Workforce Training Wendy Saba Smith wrote on Facebook. “We have the greatest community in the country!!! We spoke up and were heard!!!”
Lamar’s justification for writing the bill was to “start a conversation” about administrative costs at the community college level in Mississippi, where he believes unnecessary expenditures could be trimmed. The process by which he selected the six schools included in the bill was based on geography, the number of students enrolled at each community college, and the populations of the regions they serve.
“Few people love and understand our community college system as well as I do. Northwest Community College is a big part of my life. However, Northwest Community College serves a geographic area of 11 counties and over 8,000 students,” Lamar said. “In comparison, Meridian Community College’s district is simply the city limits of Meridian, and Southwest Community College enrolls less than 2,000 students, all while the Mississippi Delta has lost more than 100,000 residents.
“To fund these institutions, state taxpayers are continually asked to increase funding, and landowners in several counties are forced to pay double taxation to support two separate community college districts. Most people don’t understand this, and continuing to turn a blind eye is just not fair to the taxpayers.”
Officials at SMCC, on the other hand, argued that the school is more than just a place where students gather to be educated. Dr. Steven Bishop, the community college’s president, referred to SMCC as a “hub” of the Summit community, where locals gather to watch athletic events, attend concerts and plays, take community classes, participate in festivals, and use campus facilities for a myriad of activities.
“Southwest has a long tradition of excellence in providing quality academic instruction, career technical instruction, and career training for nearly 100 years. Our alumni are influential leaders within the state and throughout this country,” Bishop said. “We take pride in being the ‘hub’ of our community while providing a wide range of community services and support. Our college remains fiscally sound, evidenced by over 20 years of [clean] financial audits, and our investments and assets continue to grow.”
Academic outcomes were not taken into consideration for consolidation, per the now-failed bill’s text. SMCC was recently ranked the No. 1 community college in Mississippi and the No. 6 community college in the U.S. by Niche, which considered academic opportunities and outcomes as part of its rankings.
Now that HB 1284 has been rejected in committee, it is unlikely that it will be revived at any point during the current session. On the Senate side, no legislation had been introduced to consolidate any community colleges in Mississippi by the deadline to file general bills.