NEWS RELEASE

Release Date: January 14, 2010

Contact: Pete Smith, Director of Communications 601.359.1336

Commission on Mississippi Education Structure to hold first meeting

Jackson, Miss –The Commission on Education Structure, created by Governor Barbour’s executive order and chaired by Bancorp south Chairman and CEO Aubrey Patterson, of Tupelo will hold its first meeting Monday, January 18, 2010. The Commission will meet in Room 216 of the State Capitol at 2:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Under the executive order, the commission will recommend how school district consolidation can best be achieved, and calculate the savings that would result from consolidation. The recommendation shall detail standards and priorities to be used by the State Board of Education in selecting those school districts to consolidate.

Other members of the committee 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.