(1) The State Board of Education shall be the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind and shall retain all powers and duties granted by law to the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind. Wherever the term Board of Trustees of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and Mississippi School for the Blind appears in any law the same shall mean the State Board of Education.

(2) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to require any consolidation or combination of the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Mississippi School for the Blind other than where economies can be realized through the common utilization of maintenance personnel and equipment, physical facilities, vehicles and administrative personnel, where the same can be done without impairment of the effectiveness of the educational programs of the two (2) institutions or the welfare of the students.

(3) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to require any consolidation of services involving curriculum or instructional programs of the two (2) institutions.

(4) The State Board of Education, on behalf of each of these institutions, shall have the power to receive and hold property, real and personal, and to accept and use as provided by law, separate from the needs of the other institutions, all bequests, devices and donations made or which may in the future be made to or for it, and shall continue to enjoy the rights and privileges heretofore conferred upon it by law and such as are necessary now, or hereafter, to accomplish the purposes of its own establishment and operation and maintenance hereunder, provided that the same be not inconsistent with or in conflict with this chapter.