State cites Hazlehurst schools for failing special education services as parents file complaints

State education officials have cited Hazlehurst City School District for failing to provide federally required services to students with disabilities, and the Mississippi Department of Education said the problems could trigger a state takeover, Mississippi Today reported.

The district removed an 8-year-old student, identified by his grandmother as Cyn’tra Catchings, from special education services after multiple observations and tests, his guardian said. “The department’s decision was devastating,” Cynthia Catchings told Mississippi Today, which reported the boy’s grades fell from B’s and C’s to D’s and F’s after the services ended.

The Mississippi Department of Education told district officials in March that investigators found poor oversight, missing individualized education plans and failures to involve parents, Mississippi Today reported. State regulators also noted the graduation rate for students with disabilities fell from roughly 58% in 2023-24 to less than a third in 2024-25, according to the reporting.

Former district special education staff told Mississippi Today that leaders prioritized paperwork over student services, withheld evaluation reports and pressured teachers. “Those students really got the short end of the stick,” former special educator Gardner Wooten told Mississippi Today. Danita Munday, who previously worked in the state education agency’s special education monitoring division, told Mississippi Today the volume of problems was alarming.

District officials did not answer Mississippi Today requests about the status of special education director Andrea Vasser, and School board President Paul Rhodes declined to comment because of pending litigation, the outlet reported. Superintendent Cloyd Garth Jr. left the district June 8, and the board voted June 5 to hire an interim superintendent, Mississippi Today reported.

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