(Photo from Wilkinson County School District on Facebook)
- Wilkinson County School District has a history of persistently poor academic performance and has not completed an annual financial audit since June 2022.
The Mississippi State Board of Education (MDE) announced Thursday that they had placed the Wilkinson County School District into a District of Transformation due to serious academic deficiencies. MDE said the deficiencies demonstrate the district’s inability to provide students with an adequate and stable education.
As such, the Wilkinson County School District is now being led under the supervision of MDE and the State Board of Education (SBE).
According to the district’s website, there are four schools in the district – Wilkinson County High School, Wilkinson County Elementary School, and Martin Luther King Career & Technology Complex. The student population is reported at 697 with a 70.8% graduation rate.
Wilkinson County School District has a history of persistently poor academic performance. It has been F-rated for two consecutive years – the only district with an F-rating for two consecutive years – with 50% of its schools currently being F-rated. It is the state’s lowest-performing district, MDE noted.
MDE reported that the Wilkinson County School District has not completed an annual financial audit since June 2022, has received a probation accreditation status for eight of the past 11 years, and was cited for test security violations in 2023, which resulted in the high school not receiving an accountability grade.
State Superintendent of Education Dr. Lance Evans said thankfully, state law allows the MDE and SBE to intervene when a local school district cannot provide students with an adequate and stable educational environment.
“The MDE and the State Board are committed to ensuring the students of Wilkinson County receive the quality education they deserve,” Evans said in a statement.
Lee Coats has been appointed to serve as Wilkinson County’s interim superintendent. He most recently served as Assistant Superintendent of the Holmes County Consolidated School District.
Wilkinson County joins Noxubee County, Holmes County, Humphreys County, Yazoo City and the Okolona Separate School District as being under state control in a District of Transformation.
