Covington County School District (Mississippi)

Last updated

Covington County Schools
Covington County School District Logo.png
Location

Failed to render property P969: P969 property not found.

Contents

Pine Belt
Collins , 39428
United States of America
Coordinates 31°38′13″N89°33′00″W / 31.63701°N 89.549894°W / 31.63701; -89.549894
District information
TypePublic
MottoEducate. Motivate. Graduate.
GradesK-12
SuperintendentBabette Duty [1]
Asst. superintendent(s)Susan Deen, Director of Curriculum
Missy Rogers, Federal Programs
Rachel Rogers, Special Programs
Business administratorRita Clark
School boardRené Shoemaker
Scott McRaney
Charles Beasley
Sammy Herrin
Terry Bryant
Governing agency Mississippi Department of Education
Accreditation(s)MDE Office of Accreditation
SchoolsElementary 4
Middle 2
High 3
Alternative 1
Vocational 1
Budget$29,825,026 (FY 2016 estimate) [2]
NCES District ID 2801290
Students and staff
Students2,605 (21-22) [3]
Staff210 (21-22) [3]
Student–teacher ratio12.36:1 (21-22) [3]
Athletic conference MHSAA
Other information
ScheduleM-F from August to May (except state and federal holidays)
Website http://www.covingtoncountyschools.org

Covington County Schools is a public school district in Covington County, Mississippi that serves students living in the county, as well as the towns of Collins, Seminary, and Mount Olive. The district serves approximately 2,600 students within its boundaries.

In the district, there are ten schools located across seven different campuses. For the majority of its existence, the district has struggle with integration efforts. In 2021, federal courts released the district from oversight concerning desegregation efforts and declared the district to have unitary status.

Overview

Early history

The first public school established in Covington County was in the Salem community. Little is known about the date of establishment, only that a Mr. James Hill led instruction. The legislature of Covington County passed an act in 1837 which created the now-defunct Male and Female Academy in present day Mt. Carmel. In subsequent years, the legislature created the Male and Female College (1841) in Williamsburg, Mississippi and the Zion Seminary College (1846) at the present day site of Seminary Attendance Center. In the past, Covington County School District consisted of over 100 small, rural schools. [4] So many schools caused problems regarding funding, with superintendent N. B. Holcomb reporting in 1895 that "funds are so divided as to place so little to each school that it don't [sic] amount to much after it is placed". Holcomb also noted that there were no secondary education schools located in the county, although the district planned for their development. [5] In the report to the Mississippi Department of Education, superintendent N. B. Holcomb also reports that the introduction of a Teachers' Institute and Teachers' Library into the district was "the most factor in enabling teachers to secure prompt attendance and good deportment".

Desegregation

Throughout much of the history of Covington County, the school system was under de jure segregation. On December 12, 1966, the United States Department of Justice filed a case against the school district to challenge a "freedom of choice" school desegregation plan in place, which was combined in a suit against 25 other districts. [6] A report from the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission dated July 7, 1967 relays the situation in Mount Olive, saying:

I then proceeded to Mount Olive, Mississippi and found that there is no racial trouble or subversive persons operating in that area at this time. Their elementary schools are integrated and their high school did have two Negros enrolled but they dropped out after the first few weeks. There is no trouble in Mt. Olive at the present time and they do not anticipate any unless it occurs during the primaries. [7]

— A. L. Hopkins, Investigation in Rankin, Scott, Covington, and Simpson counties for the purposes of ascertaining if subversive persons were operating in this area at this time, page 2

Eventually, on November 7, 1969, the courts issued an order to desegregate the county schools. In 1970, sixteen years after the Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs. Board of Education , the Covington County School District began integration of all its schools, [4] with the exception of Hopewell Elementary. [6] There was a small demonstration of approximately 25 parents, who gathered in front of three schools to picket the decision to integrate schools, as well as white students who stayed home. [8] However, there was little white flight or protest in response to the move, in spite of "an effort [by Citizens for Local Control of Education] to get 1,000 mothers in ... Covington County to picket against the massive integration orders..." (Bolton, 2007, p. 182). [9]

Eventually, the case returned to the court system when it was discovered that 25 white students in the Hopewell zone were not attending the school. The Fifth Circuit required the district to modify attendance requirements so that all students in Hopewell would attend the school. [6] After no activity for almost 30 years, the Department of Justice filed a motion for further relief that required Covington County Schools not use race for selection in extracurricular activities and develop non-discrimination policies to govern this. In addition, a settlement between the Department of Justice and Covington County Schools led to specific provisions which the county must follow relating to desegregation efforts. The Department of Justice received annual reports from the school district throughout the 2010s. In October 2020, Covington County School District filed for a declaration of "unitary status". By March 2021, 67 years after the decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the court concluded that Covington County School District was no longer segregated, lifting the injunctions and releasing jurisdiction. [6]

Current Schools

Elementary SchoolsMiddle SchoolsHigh SchoolsOther
Seminary Elementary SchoolSeminary Middle SchoolSeminary High SchoolCovington County Vocational Center
Collins Elementary SchoolCarver Middle SchoolCollins High SchoolCovington County Alternative School
Mount Olive Elementary SchoolMount Olive High School
Hopewell Elementary School

Lawsuits

Covington County School District vs. G. W., a minor

On December 4, 1998, a teacher reported to the assistant principal that G. W., a student at Seminary High School, had been drinking beer in the school parking lot. The assistant principal and school resource officer investigated and found empty beer cans in a toolbox on the back of the student's truck. When questioned, the student admitted that it was his alcohol. G. W. received a parental contact and five-day suspension. On December 8, a letter was sent to the family concerning an expulsion hearing to occur on December 17. At the hearing, G. W. was officially expelled from Seminary for the remainder of the school year and placed in the district's alternative school. The family appealed to the Chancery Court, which reversed the district's decision. [10]

The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the school board decision and reversed the Chancery Court. The official conclusion, according to FindLaw (COVINGTON COUNTY v. G.W., a Minor., 2000), stated:

"The school district's failure to follow the procedures set forth in the handbook, while problematic, did not deny G.W. any substantive or due process rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Any possible due process violations were cured when G.W. received the second formal hearing. Additionally, we find the search of G.W.'s automobile by a school official, while on school property, did not violate the search and seizure clause of the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, this Court reverses and renders the decision of the Covington County Chancery Court and reinstates the decision of the Covington County School District." [11]

Other lawsuits

Notable events

1985 Teacher strike

Along with teachers in Lamar County, Forrest County, and Stone County, instructors in Covington County participated in a strike against the Governor and Legislature, calling for the state to raise teacher salaries by $7,000 over two years. This occurred in spite of a restraining order against the strike, which was originally endorsed by the Mississippi Educator's Association. The endorsement was eventually rescinded, and the MEA joined the Mississippi American Federation of Teachers to advise against the strike. [14]

Math Institute

During the 2003–04 school year, as part of a project under No Child Left Behind, the University of Southern Mississippi selected Covington County Schools as one of eleven school districts to participate in its Math Institute. At the end, the hope was that the program would lead to a lower percentage of students scoring at the minimal and basic level on state achievement tests. [15]

Adoption of CHART program

In 2012, the Covington County School Board adopted the CHART policy to teach sexual education. Mississippi First reports that this move allows "all [Covington County] public school students in grades 6-9 ... access to evidence-based sex education this fall." The adoption raised the number of Mississippi school districts participating in CHART to 30. [16]

SPEPA Adopt-A-School Program

In 2017, Southern Pine Electric Power Association began a program to adopt various schools in their service areas, choosing Hopewell Elementary as the first school to participate. The elementary school will receive volunteers for projects and donations of school supplies. [17] Under the new program, Southern Pine employees will work with teachers, parents, and community members to provide needed resources for students and young people. [18]

Accountability statistics

Mississippi Academic Achievement Program Scores

The following chart shows the last five years of achievement data according to the Mississippi Succeeds Report Card from the Mississippi Department of Education. An "i" on the chart indicates that scores were not computed for the school year in question due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021-22 [19] 2020-21 [20] 2019-20 [21] 2018-19 [22] 2017-18 [23]
Letter Grade of "A"1ii21
Letter Grade of "B"2ii10
Letter Grade of "C"0ii33
Letter Grade of "D"5ii22
Letter Grade of "F"0ii02
Not Assigned2ii22
Overall DistrictC [19] i [20] i [21] C [22] D [23]
Graduation Program for Class of 1912 Graduating Exercises.png
Graduation Program for Class of 1912

Four-year graduation rates

According to a report by the Division of Research and Development at the Mississippi Department of Education, the school district's current graduation rates for general education students, 77.2%, are below Mississippi's 6-year average of 82.3%. However, district drop-out rates for general education students, at 10.5%, are slightly lower than the state's six-year average of 10.8%. Regarding students with disabilities, the graduation rate is 13.8%, significantly below the statewide graduation rate of 34.7%. The document does not mention drop-out rates for students with disabilities. [24]

N Count (rounded)4 Year Graduation RateDropout Rate
General Education Students22577.2%10.5%
Students with Disabilities3013.8%

Demographics

Financial

According to Empower Mississippi, Covington County Schools spent approximately $8,578.36 per student in the 2013-2014 school year. [25] During the 2017-2018 school year, the district received $1,396,764 in Title I funds. [26] The Mississippi Department of Revenue lists the school district millage rate is 36.31 out of 85.75 total mills; this accounts for 42.34 percent of millage taxes in Covington County. [27]

Racial

The most recent racial demographic data for the district's available on the NCES website. [3] According to it, during the most recent information available, the racial composition of the overall district was as follows:

Race/EthnicityStudent body
Caucasian60%
African-American37%
Hispanic2%
American Indian or Alaskan Native0%
Asian0%
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander0%
Some other race0%
Two or more races0%

See also

Related Research Articles

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality. The decision partially overruled the Court's 1896 decision Plessy v. Ferguson, which had held that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality, a doctrine that had come to be known as "separate but equal". The Court's decision in Brown paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement, and a model for many future impact litigation cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covington County, Mississippi</span> County in Mississippi, United States

Covington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,340. Its county seat is Collins. The county is named for U.S. Army officer and Congressman Leonard Covington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desegregation busing</span> Effort to diversify the racial make-up of schools in the United States

Race-integration busing in the United States was the practice of assigning and transporting students to schools within or outside their local school districts in an effort to diversify the racial make-up of schools. While the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, many American schools continued to remain largely uni-racial due to housing inequality. In an effort to address the ongoing de facto segregation in schools, the 1971 Supreme Court decision, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, ruled that the federal courts could use busing as a further integration tool to achieve racial balance.

Massive resistance was a strategy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. of Virginia and his son Harry Jr.'s brother-in-law, James M. Thomson, who represented Alexandria in the Virginia General Assembly, to get the state's white politicians to pass laws and policies to prevent public school desegregation, particularly after Brown v. Board of Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky)</span>

Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) is a public school district located in Jefferson County, Kentucky and operating all but one of the public schools in the county. It is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education which selects and hires a Superintendent who serves as the system's chief executive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Segregation academy</span> Segregationist private schools in the US

Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend desegregated public schools. They were founded between 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, and 1976, when the court ruled similarly about private schools.

The Hopewell Valley Regional School District is a comprehensive regional public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from three communities in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The municipalities that are part of this district are Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township and Pennington Borough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alachua County Public Schools</span> Public school district in Florida, US

Alachua County Public Schools is a public school district serving Alachua County in North Central Florida. It serves approximately 29,845 students in 64 schools and centers.

The Cleveland School District (CSD) is a public school district based in Cleveland, Mississippi (USA).

DeSoto County Schools is a public school district based in Hernando, Mississippi (USA) and serving all public school students in DeSoto County in the Memphis metropolitan area. With an enrollment of more than 30,000 students, DeSoto County is the largest school district in the state of Mississippi.

The Lumberton Public School District was a public school district based in Lumberton, Mississippi, United States.

The Neshoba County School District is a public school district based in Neshoba County, Mississippi (USA). The district headquarters are in Philadelphia, Mississippi. See Philadelphia.

The Poplarville School District is a public school district based in Poplarville, Mississippi (USA).

The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District (SOCSD), formerly Starkville Public School District, is a public school district in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, headquartered in Starkville. The district serves all children within the county, including Starkville, residents of Mississippi State University, and the other communities and rural areas countywide due to the state legislature mandated consolidation with the Oktibbeha County School District in 2015.

Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. 430 (1968), was an important United States Supreme Court case involving school desegregation. Specifically, the Court dealt with the freedom of choice plans created to avoid compliance with the Supreme Court's mandate in Brown II in 1955. The Court held unanimously that New Kent County's freedom of choice plan did not adequately comply with the school board's responsibility to determine a system of admission to public schools on a non-racial basis. The Supreme Court mandated that the school board must formulate new plans and steps towards realistically converting to a desegregated system. Green v. County School Board of New Kent County was a follow up of Brown v. Board of Education.

Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education, 396 U.S. 19 (1969), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ordered immediate desegregation of public schools in the American South. It followed 15 years of delays to integrate by most Southern school boards after the Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregated public schools were unconstitutional.

Hopewell is an unincorporated community in Covington County, Mississippi, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School segregation in the United States</span> Racial separation in schools

School segregation in the United States is the separation of students based on their ethnicity. Segregation laws were dismantled in the late 1960s by the U.S. Supreme Court. Segregation was practiced in the north and segregation continued longstanding exclusionary policies in much of the South after the Civil War. School integration in the United States took place at different times in different areas and often met resistance. Jim Crow laws codified segregation. These laws were influenced by the history of slavery and discrimination in the US. Secondary schools for African Americans in the South were called training schools instead of high schools in order to appease racist whites and focused on vocational education. After the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, which banned segregated school laws, school segregation took de facto form. School segregation declined rapidly during the late 1960s and early 1970s as the government became strict on schools' plans to combat segregation more effectively as a result of Green v. County School Board of New Kent County. Voluntary segregation by income appears to have increased since 1990. Racial segregation has either increased or stayed constant since 1990, depending on which definition of segregation is used. In general, definitions based on the amount of interaction between black and white students show increased racial segregation, while definitions based on the proportion of black and white students in different schools show racial segregation remaining approximately constant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School integration in the United States</span> Racial desegregation process

In the United States, school integration is the process of ending race-based segregation within American public and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and remains an issue in contemporary education. During the Civil Rights Movement school integration became a priority, but since then de facto segregation has again become prevalent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calhoun Academy (Mississippi)</span> Segregation academy in Mississippi, United States

Calhoun Academy (CA) is a private school in Pittsboro, Mississippi, founded in 1968 as a segregation academy.

References

  1. ↑ "Covington County Schools Administration". Covington County Schools. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  2. ↑ ""Covington County School District 2016-2017 Budget" (PDF). Covington County Schools. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "District Detail for Covington Co Schools". NCES.ed.gov. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Keys Hitt, Gwen (November 1985). "Covington County Crossroads" (PDF). Covington County Schools. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  5. ↑ Education, Mississippi State Department of (1895). Biennial Report of the State Superintendent of Public Education to the Legislature of Mississippi for the Years ... State Printers.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Huckins, Amelia. "United States v. Covington County School District". Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. University of Michigan Law School. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Sovereignty Commission Online - Mississippi Department of Archives and History". www.mdah.ms.gov. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  8. ↑ Ed.D, Proverb G. Jacobs Jr (February 10, 2014). Autobiography of an Unknown Football Player: A Message to My Grandchildren RACHAEL, ERIN, AND PROVERB IV. AuthorHouse. ISBN   9781481763134.
  9. ↑ Bolton, Charles C. (2007). The Hardest Deal of All: The Battle Over School Integration in Mississippi, 1870-1980. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN   9781934110744.
  10. ↑ "Individualized School Searches and the Fourth Amendment: What's a School District to do?". College of William and Mary. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  11. ↑ "COVINGTON COUNTY v. G.W., a Minor". FindLaw. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  12. ↑ Kriesel-Hall, Sara (May 2013). "A Legal Analysis of Litigation against Mississippi Educators and School Systems under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act" (PDF). University of North Texas. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  13. ↑ Hovland, Lindsey (2013). "Due Process - Fifth Circuit Incorrectly Holds School Lacks Deshaney Special Relationship with Students". Southern Methodist University. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  14. ↑ "TEACHERS STRIKE IN MISSISSIPPI". The New York Times. February 26, 1985. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  15. ↑ "NCLB Projects" (PDF). Mississippi.edu. Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  16. ↑ Staff, MSF. "Covington County School District Adopts CHART!". 31 May 2012. Mississippi First. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  17. ↑ Herrington, Charles. "Southern Pine Electric begins Adopt-a-School program". WDAM. WDAM. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Southern Pine Electric holds annual membership meeting". KPLC. WDAM. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  19. 1 2 "2021 Mississippi Succeeds Report Card". Mississippi Department of Education. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  20. 1 2 "2020 Mississippi Succeeds Report Card". Mississippi Department of Education. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  21. 1 2 "2019 Mississippi Succeeds Report Card". Mississippi Department of Education. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  22. 1 2 "2018 Mississippi Succeeds Report Card". Mississippi Department of Education. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  23. 1 2 "2017 Mississippi Succeeds Report Card". Mississippi Department of Education. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  24. ↑ Vanderford, Paula (January 18, 2017). "2017 Accountability System District Graduation and Dropout Rates" (PDF). Mississippi Department of Education. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  25. ↑ "School District Spending Per Student". Empower Mississippi. 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Estimated Fiscal Year 2017 Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies - MISSISSIPPI" (PDF). U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  27. ↑ "2015-2016 Millage Rates" (PDF). Property Tax. Mississippi Department of Revenue. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.