Quitman County School District (Mississippi)

Madison S. Palmer High School
Address
1513 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Marks , (Quitman County) , Mississippi 38646 United States
Coordinates	34°14′29″N90°16′41″W / 34.241356°N 90.278116°W / 34.241356; -90.278116
Information
Type	Public high school
Principal	Tukiiya Stephens
Staff	16.93 (FTE) [1]
Enrollment	224 [1]  (2023-24)
Student to teacher ratio	13.23 [1]
Color(s)	Red and gold [2]
Nickname	Dragons [2]
Website	Madison S. Palmer High School

The Quitman County School District is a public school district based in Marks, Mississippi (USA). ^[3] The district's boundaries are the same as Quitman County. ^[4] The District's only high school ranks 189th out of 237 High Schools in Mississippi.

Schools

• Madison Palmer High School (Marks; Grades 9–12)
• Quitman County Middle School (Marks; Grades 5–8)
• Quitman County Elementary School (Lambert; Grades K-4)

The middle school was previously named Marks Middle School. Some time prior to 1999 the school converted a former restroom facility into a library because it was unable to get sufficient state funding to build a wholly new library. Circa 1999 the school could not find a librarian willing to move to Marks to staff the library, reflecting the general dearth of teachers in the Mississippi Delta. ^[5]

Demographics

On July 24, 1969, federal judge William Keady found that Quitman County school officials were maintaining an unconstitutional de jure racially segregated school system, and he placed the school board under the supervision of United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. As of 1993, this order had not been set aside. ^[6] In March 1991, the school board asked the district court for permission to close Crowder elementary and junior high school, a majority-white school. The court gave permission, and a group of parents sued for an injunction to prevent the closing. The district court denied them an injunction, and this decision was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. ^[6]

By 1975, the majority of African-American students in Quitman County were attending public schools, which had earlier been segregated. But the majority of white students had been moved into newly established private academies. ^[7] This situation has continued; in 2007 the Mississippi Department of Education found that the students in the district were 97.92% African American, 1.81% White, and 0.27% Hispanic. ^[8]

Schools in Quitman County are effectively segregated by race. White students almost exclusively attend private schools while Black children attend the local public schools.

School	Total Students	White Students	Black Students	Note
Quitman County	10,117	30.47%	68.62%	2010 Census
Delta Academy (Private)	175	147 (84%)	17 (9.7%)	[9]
M. S. Palmer High School (Public)	351	4 (1%)	347 (98.8%)	[10]

2006-07 school year

There were a total of 1,490 students enrolled in the Quitman County School District during the 2006–2007 school year. The gender makeup of the district was 49% female and 51% male. The racial makeup of the district was 97.92% African American, 1.81% White, and 0.27% Hispanic. ^[8] 99.9% of the district's students were eligible to receive free lunch. ^[11]

Previous school years

School Year	Enrollment	Gender Makeup		Racial Makeup
		Female	Male	Asian	African American	Hispanic	Native American	White
2005-06 [8]	1,549	49%	51%	–	96.77%	0.71%	–	2.52%
2004-05 [8]	1,586	49%	51%	–	97.23%	0.63%	0.06%	2.08%
2003-04 [8]	1,604	48%	52%	–	97.57%	0.75%	–	1.68%
2002-03 [12]	1,596	49%	51%	0.06%	97.93%	0.50%	0.06%	1.44%

Accountability statistics

	2006-07 [13]	2005-06 [14]	2004-05 [15]	2003-04 [16]	2002-03 [17]
District Accreditation Status	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Probation
School Performance Classifications
Level 5 (Superior Performing) Schools	0	0	0	0	0
Level 4 (Exemplary) Schools	0	0	0	0	0
Level 3 (Successful) Schools	2	1	2	3	1
Level 2 (Under Performing) Schools	1	1	1	0	1
Level 1 (Low Performing) Schools	0	1	0	0	1
Not Assigned	0	0	0	0	0

School uniforms

On August 6, 2003, as per the school board's decision, school uniforms began to be mandatory for students at Quitman County Middle School ^[18] On August 11, 2003, uniforms became mandatory at Quitman County Elementary. ^[19] Strict enforcement at both schools began in January 2004. ^{[18] [19]}

See also

• Mississippi portal
• Schools portal

• List of school districts in Mississippi

References

1. "M.S. Palmer High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
2. "Palmer High School". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
3. "Home Archived May 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine ." Quitman County School District. Retrieved on September 20, 2010. "Quitman County School District P.O. Drawer E / 310 Pecan Street Marks, MS 38646."
4. "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Quitman County, MS" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved July 31, 2022. - Text list
5. Hayden, Cathy (December 21, 1999). "Delta Schools Search for Answers". The Clarion Ledger . pp.  2-3 . Retrieved July 18, 2022.
6. "1 F. 3d 1450 - Hull v. Quitman County Board of Education". September 2, 1993. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
7. Amy Nathan Wright. "The 1968 Poor People's Campaign: Marks, Mississippi and the Mule Train". pp. 109–143. in Emilye Crosby, ed. (2011). Civil Rights History from the Ground Up: Local Struggles, a National Movement. University of Georgia Press. ISBN   978-0-8203-3865-1. at google books
8. "Mississippi Assessment and Accountability Reporting System". Office of Research and Statistics, Mississippi Department of Education. Archived from the original on March 23, 2007.
9. "Delta Academy". National Center for Educational Statistics. US Department of Education. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
10. "M S Palmer High School". National Center for Educational Statistics. US Department of Education. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
11. "2006-07 State, District, and School Enrollment by Race/Gender with Poverty Data" (XLS). Mississippi Department of Education. January 16, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
12. "Mississippi Report Card for 2002-2003". Office of Educational Accountability, Mississippi Department of Education. September 2, 2004. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
13. "2007 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. September 13, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
14. "2006 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. September 6, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 17, 2007. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
15. "2005 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. September 9, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 13, 2006. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
16. "2004 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. September 26, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2007. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
17. "2003 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. November 21, 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 11, 2006. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
18. "Student Handbook Archived July 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine ." Quitman County School District. 2008-2009. 39 (46/57). Retrieved on September 20, 2010.
19. "Student Handbook Archived July 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine ." Quitman County School District. 2008-2009. 36 (43/57). Retrieved on September 20, 2010.

External links

• Official website