A U.S. District Court for North Mississippi lifted a desegregation order covering the Rankin County School District Tuesday, granting the district’s motion for a declaration of unitary status, the court order said.
The district requested removal from the order in August 2024, and a hearing was held in September 2025, where the NAACP argued the district still had work to do, the order said. The original case, Adams v. Rankin County Board of Education, was filed in 1967 and led to court orders in 1970, 1973 and 1978, the order said.
The court credited the district’s efforts to ensure equal access to advanced courses. “In the Court’s view, the record proves the District’s advanced study policies and practices are race-neutral, and the District administers them without regard to race,” the order said. The ruling noted the district now allows parents to request a child’s placement in accelerated classes and provides a “needs-based fee-waiver program” to remove financial barriers.
The court also found student assignment policies and employment practices to be nondiscriminatory. The order said the district follows an Equal Opportunity Employment policy and that human resources takes steps to ensure a diverse final candidate pool. It cited recruitment methods including social media, weekend career days and partnerships with institutions of higher learning, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The order pointed to increases in black staff as evidence of compliance. It said the district went from 97 black teachers in 2017-18 to 238 currently, representing about 15% of teachers compared with a national average of roughly 7%. Across 28 schools, the order said the district now has seven black lead principals and 14 black assistant principals. “The standard is whether the District has made ‘every reasonable effort … to eradicate segregation.’ And the district has satisfied that standard,” the order said, adding that the plaintiffs’ arguments were unfounded.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
