Three Mississippi districts of transformation outline gains, areas for more improvement to regain local control

Three Mississippi districts of.

Key points

• Wilkinson County School District, Holmes Consolidated School District and the Noxubee County School District lately provided updates to the State Board of Education.
• The most recent proficiency rates Jordan presented demonstrated improvement, with English at 27.4%, math at 36.4%, and science at 43.6%.
• Leases of 16th section land have additionally climbed in revenue, from $601, 811 to $1.2 million in the same period.
• Noxubee County School District was taken into conservatorship in July 2018, additionally for academic and "extreme" fiscal deficiencies.
• "This is the first time since July of 2022 that Wilkinson County School District has started the school year with all of its administrators in place, " Atkins remarked.

Three Mississippi districts of transformation outline gains, areas for more improvement to regain local control. By: Jeremy Pittari – October 20, 2026.

Interim leadership from three districts of transformation under the oversight of the Mississippi Department of Education shared the gains and challenges that remain on the path back to local control.

Last month, half of the superintendents in six school districts at present under state control shared their update. On Thursday, superintendents from the other three – Wilkinson County School District, Holmes Consolidated School District and the Noxubee County School District – updated the Board of Education on how they are working to bring their districts into compliance.

Notably, a district becomes a district of transformation if it cannot maintain sufficient academic performance, lacks fiscal viability, and/or show signs of other deficiencies in its operation over multiple years.

For context, the three districts represented Thursday were moved under state control for deficiencies in session education standards as well as fiscal worries.

Holmes County Consolidated School District Interim Superintendent Dr. John Jordan remarked his two priorities are addressing the accountability ratings and the district's serious financial matters. Jordan informed the Board that the financial matters were so bad that it was observed by the auditor that an audit could not be performed. The district became a district of transformation in August 2021. It most lately received an assessment score of a C.

Since 2021, efforts to growth the fund balance have brought it from a low of $8.1 million that year to concerning $10.7 million in the 2024-25 school year. Leases of 16th section land have additionally climbed in revenue, from $601, 811 to $1.2 million in the same period.

Low student proficiency ratings. It were all below 10% in the 2020-21 school year, additionally plagued the district. In that school year, proficiency in English was 8.3% and science was just behind at 8.2%. Proficiency in math was at 3.3%. Nevertheless, the school has consistently held a high graduation rate, coming in at 98.1%.

Notably, the most recent proficiency rates Jordan presented demonstrated improvement, with English at 27.4%, math at 36.4%, and science at 43.6%.

Jordan additionally stated an ongoing matter with chronic absenteeism and the difficulty in finding highly qualified educators. Nevertheless, he did note that despite the challenges, graduation rates in the district have been seemingly unaffected. They have remained in the top 10 in the state, he informed the Board.

"Something that is really strange to me that I've got to investigate is, is that we're in the top 10 in graduation rate, we're in the bottom 10 as far as chronic absenteeism, " Jordan explained. "It doesn't go together in a way, but I will eventually figure out how we're pulling that off. I'm sure it's particularly legitimate."

Though Holmes County has a larger problem, safety was a concern observed by all three interim superintendents.

"And Holmes County is going through a wave of violence among its young people, not school age, but still young." Jordan continued. "When you're losing them to gunfire, it makes it a little harder."

Interim Superintendent Dr. Washington Cole IV elaborated that the district failed to meet 26 of the 32 standards for accreditation at the time. In the years since, 22 of those 26 violations have been rectified, the district has been rated a C for the past three of four years, and has a fund balance of $6.2 million. In 2018, the fund balance was in the red by almost $900, 000.

Efforts are underway to address falling student enrollment, create upgrades to facilities, and ensure the safety of the schools.

Throughout the district, almost 80% of all HVAC systems have been renovated while all roofs have been replaced and restrooms have been modernized.

Securing and ensuring high-quality instruction are priorities to support bring student proficiency higher. According to Cole, in 2018, the district had proficiency rates in the single digits, with high school math showing only 2% proficiency. Today, that statistic is 59%.

ELA proficiency was at 30% district wide, but now it stands at 54%, and math has gone from a low of 16% to 24%.

Cole remarked chronic absenteeism is still being addressed, but has seen improvement. It was at 31.2% during the 2024-25 school year, but has declined to 25.6% this school year, just below the state average of 26.5%.

"We celebrate that it's below the state average, but it's nowhere near where it needs to be, because that's roughly 25% of your population not in the classes at any given time and that's unacceptable, " Cole remarked.

Just like the other districts, Cole described difficulty in recruiting and retaining quality teachers.

Wilkinson County School District became the most recent district of transformation when the state stepped in in January of this year for academic problems.

Interim Superintendent Walter Atkins Jr. Remarked the district received an F assessment grade for two consecutive years and there was an problem with high school testing in 2023 that resulted in that school not receiving an assessment grade that year.

"We were placed in district of transformation due to serious academic deficiencies that demonstrated the district's inability to provide students with adequate and stable education, " Atkins explained.

He remarked audits for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 are underway, some administrative positions were merged for cost savings, and new procedures for purchasing and procurement have been implemented.

Atkins continued that the district saw a first in more than five years this school year.

In practice, the problems that remain, Atkins stated, are the need to build teacher capacity, enact early intervention, set more uniform school practices to meet district goals, and monitor the employ of federal funds.

To reconnect with the community, Atkins is holding town hall meetings every nine weeks and offering parents transportation to the schools during the days when report cards are issued. Since numerous parents still demonstrate a level of distrust with the district, he remarked the path to building trust with parents is long.

Some facility improvements are additionally underway. Atkins remarked when he came on as the interim superintendent, the first thing he noticed was the "K" on the high school gym was upside down, and the "H" was missing. That matter along with improvements to landscaping and work to improve the district's "optics" have been completed.

"Our security booth was degrading, it hadn't been painted in years, " Atkins remarked. "I decided to paint it myself. That Monday morning when the children came on campus I wanted that to be the first thing that they saw."

In other business, the Board of Education approved a motion to create a methodology to dispense the $350, 000 in state funding the Legislature approved to support cover the cost of ACT prep materials and services to students.

Chief Operating Officer Wendy Clemmons explained that the amount of funding each district will receive in reimbursement funding will be based on the total number of applicants.

Since the appropriation did not have a legislative provision mandating a focus on low performing schools, the application process will be open to all districts. Regarding the Author(s).

Jeremy Pittari is a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast. Born and raised in Slidell, La., he moved to South Mississippi in the early 90s. Jeremy earned an associate in arts from Pearl River Community College and went on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor's of arts in journalism. A week after Hurricane Katrina, he began an internship as a reporter with the community newspaper in Pearl River County. After graduation, he accepted a full-time position at that news outlet where he covered the recovery process post Katrina in Pearl River and Hancock Counties. For almost 17 years he wrote concerning local administration, education, law enforcement, crime, business and a variety of other topics. Email Jeremy: [email protected].

News Jeremy Pittari October 15, 2026.

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