First meeting about schools held

The topic of school consolidation in Neshoba County has sparked passionate discussions among residents, drawing clear lines of agreement and disagreement after the first community meeting. 

As Philadelphia High School graduate, Lee Smith, 30, is spearheading an effort to further engage the community. The path forward remains a focal point for many.

“The first meeting served a great purpose because it got people talking openly. That was the ultimate goal,” said Smith, a local sales professional in the construction equipment industry. The meeting was held on Monday, March 25.

“There is no correct way to go about getting the community started in discussing a topic as sensitive as school consolidation, but I think it’s best to just hit the ground running and open the floor up for anybody and everybody.”

Smith said he anticipates that these conversations will evolve, with more people voicing their opinions, and he envisions widespread support.

“I am a single male with no wife and no kids, but this school issue is important to me personally because I would like to stay in Philadelphia and raise a family if that’s in the cards for me,” said Smith whose mother and father are Sue Ellen Carleton Smith and Steve Smith who grew up in Union and moved to Neshoba County. “The likelihood of doing that decreases if the schools don’t consolidate.”

He added, “I along with many other citizens believe it is the best path forward from an educational standpoint for the longevity and well-being of Philadelphia. So many towns throughout the South have experienced this same predicament and have failed to act proactively, which has resulted in a lot of small towns dying.”

Smith referenced neighboring towns like Newton, Meridian, Laurel, Louisville, and Dekalb, where failure to consolidate has negatively impacted community development.

“I believe consolidation is inevitable. It’s a matter of when, not if in my opinion,” Smith said. “It would prevent the town from falling into despair on many different fronts, primarily the property value front and would not create as deep of a hole to dig out of, as opposed to waiting 20 years when the state may finally act.”

Smith said voluntary consolidation offers a proactive approach by preventing long-term economic decline, boosting property values, and that reducing administrative overhead through consolidation could offset potential tax implications. 

“I do not think the cost to educate our children will go up if we consolidate schools,” Smith said. “If there’s any change, over the long haul it will become more cost-efficient to educate our children in a higher quality if it becomes one school, as opposed to continue operating the way we are operating.”

He stressed that valuable taxpayers are currently receiving minimal returns on their investment due to Philadelphia’s underperformance, and have since moved their children, money, and influence to Neshoba Central and Leake Academy.

“There will be more and more valuable taxpayers who will not want to continue paying those taxes for an underperforming school. Then it becomes a vicious cycle,” Smith said. “What this causes over time is for the school to have fewer resources in relation to their number of students.”

“If you take the 2023 enrollment numbers for both schools, Philadelphia has right at 800 kids (K-12) and almost 200 children in the high school,” he said. “If you add that number into Neshoba Central’s 2023 numbers, it makes Neshoba the second-highest 6-A school in the state. It doesn’t even push Neshoba into the largest classification in the state of Mississippi.”

Smith believes that over time, Neshoba will likely move into a 7-A classification, and he views this potential change positively due to the excellent facilities available between the two schools to accommodate the students.

“It’s obvious that we have enough facilities because we are accommodating all the children we have right now with the same facilities,” he said. 

Smith said the benefits of consolidating Neshoba Central and Philadelphia high schools far outweigh any drawbacks, and the biggest advantage lies in bringing more children to a higher-performing district, which exposes them to a higher quality of education.

“As a result, we have a higher educated society which makes our workforce more attractive to not only existing businesses but outside industries who may consider Philadelphia a destination,” he said. 

He said the second biggest advantage would be pulling all of the community’s resources together to provide greater benefits to current Philadelphia and Neshoba students.

“There’s no agenda with these meetings other than getting the people of the community in a room and hearing what people’s concerns and opinions are and formulating a path forward based on that,” Smith said. “We’ve gotten away from having tough conversations in this country, and we have to get back to doing that and solving the problems, not just sweeping them under the rug.”

The next community meeting on school consolidation is scheduled for April 30 at 6 p.m., at the Senior Citizen’s Building in Northside Park.

For more information on the upcoming meeting, contact Lee Smith at (601) 663-6848 or via email at leecarletonsmith@gmail.com.