Mississippi cites 14 school districts for accreditation violations
The Mississippi Department of Education has downgraded the accreditation status of 14 school districts and approved corrective action plans that require the districts to address problems ranging from late audits and poor recordkeeping to significant debt and dysfunctional leadership, state officials said.
Two districts, North Bolivar and Hazlehurst, face a possible state takeover or an unannounced investigative audit of all district records if they cannot clear outstanding violations by the end of the year, the agency said, noting the districts made little meaningful progress toward resolving prior findings. Hazlehurst, North Bolivar and Jackson Public Schools have been on probation for nearly a decade for failing to clear accreditation violations, the department said.
Department inspectors cited a range of violations across the districts, including missing or late financial audits, fiscal mismanagement, governance breaches and testing irregularities. The Greenwood-Leflore Consolidated School District was found to have violated governance rules after board members hired a superintendent without properly advertising the position, and inspectors reported testing problems at Moorhead Central School and A.W. James Elementary, the agency said. The department also said it received confidential complaints alleging Jackson Public Schools board members interfered in day-to-day operations.
North Bolivar’s alternative school drew particular scrutiny after inspectors reported a paraprofessional, not a licensed teacher, supervised a class in 2024, and that inspectors observed little or no instruction during some visits. Inspectors also reported missing progress reports, disciplinary histories and documentation of due-process hearings, the department said. Superintendent Jeremiah Burks said the district is seeking an online course contract, plans to relocate the alternative school to a compliant site and has assembled teams to review student records. “We took to heart (MDE’s) suggestions, and we have been implementing new plans,” he said.
State inspectors also flagged serious budgeting problems in several districts. Greenville omitted some restricted funds from ledgers, overstated its account balance by $869,692 and owed vendors $79,737, the agency said. Natchez-Adams reported a $1.3 million deficit in its main operating fund in its 2022 audit and failed to submit the 2024 audit on time, according to the department. Everett Chinn, a Greenville district spokesperson, said the district “is committed to and currently working to ensure that these deficiencies are corrected from previous years of past administrations.” Kym Wiggins, chief operating officer at the Mississippi Department of Education, said the agency is expanding technical assistance because “there is such a profound lack of skilled persons to do that work.”
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