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Chief among those questions is how much in financial incentives would be needed to encourage districts to consolidate.
During a meeting Monday at the state Capitol, a commission subgroup presented draft "suggestions" for ways to encourage voluntary consolidation of districts and to force the consolidation of smaller, poorer performing districts.
The meeting concluded with Aubrey Patterson of Tupelo, the chair of the commission, asking the working group to refine its draft report based on input from Monday's gathering.
The refined draft report will be recirculated to commission members to see if a final version can be adopted without another meeting.
Barbour had suggested the commission finish its work by early April, but said he was less concerned about the time frame than about the quality of the work.
Barbour had originally proposed that the state's 152 school district be reduced by one-third and estimated that action would save an estimated $65 million to help deal with Mississippi's dire budget woes.
But a consultant hired on the governor's recommendations said last month that the savings to the state would be minimal and that the state would incur additional costs in the short run.
"Any consolidation will have to take place over a considerable length of time," said state Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds, a member of the working group and former state superintendent of education. "What we do know is there will be a need for some additional revenue flow" to the districts involved in the consolidation.
"There are investments that need to be made," agreed Patterson.
The suggestions of the working group included incentives, both financial and otherwise, to encourage consolidation, particularly for the successful district with a struggling district.
The other incentives could be the relaxing of accreditation standards for a length of time for the successful district that was absorbing the poor-performing system.
Sen. Doug Davis, R-Hernando, a member of the commission, asked what type of money would be needed for the consolidation effort. No one could answer his question.
State Superintendent Tom Burnham, also a member of the working group, said it could depend on a number of factors, such as the debt of the districts involved in the consolidation.
Patterson said it could be "case specific" to each consolidation effort.
The working group suggested that the criteria developed by the consultants be adopted by the Legislature as a mandate for districts that should be consolidated.
Under that criteria, districts with fewer than 2,000 students that fall a certain percentage below the average on accreditation standards and spend a certain amount above the average on administrative costs would be absorbed by other districts.
Using that criteria, 18 districts would be merged with others, including Aberdeen, Okolona and Oktibbeha in Northeast Mississippi.
The working group also suggested that poor-performing districts that are placed under state conservatorship be forced to merge with successful districts.
The state Board of Education already has the authority to merge districts that it takes over with successful districts, but cannot force the successful district to accept the poor-performing system.
That is another example of where incentives would be needed, Burnham said.
Another suggestion of the working group was to mandate that ancillary services, such as purchasing and some non-academic administrative functions, be merged within each county.
Bounds said he has seen research indicating that real savings and academic improvements can be achieved not by consolidating districts, but by merging schools, particularly at the high school and middle school levels.
He said that provides the opportunity for more higher level courses to be offered.
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