| Magee Courier-Simpson County News

MDE: Pearl River Central High School teacher Chayna Adams receives $25,000 Milken Educator Award

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Mon, 04/25/2022 - 12:12 PM

Below is a press release from the Mississippi Department of Education:

Pearl River Central High School (PRCHS) lead teacher Chayna Adams received the surprise of a lifetime today when she was awarded an unrestricted $25,000 Milken Educator Award at a 10 a.m. assembly in the school gym.

MDE: State Board of Education approves revised proposal to determine new A-F grades for districts and schools for 2021-22

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Fri, 04/22/2022 - 04:50 PM

Below is a press release from the Mississippi Department of Education:

The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) voted today to temporarily adjust the statewide accountability system so A-F grades for districts and schools and federally required school improvement designations can be determined for the 2021-22 school year.

MDE: State Board of Education approves seven new early learning collaboratives to serve pre-K 4-year-olds

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Fri, 04/22/2022 - 04:38 PM

Below is a press release from the Mississippi Department of Education:

The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) voted April 21 to add seven new early learning collaboratives (ELC) to the current list of 23 to provide high-quality early childhood education pre-K programs to 4-year-old students.

MDE: State Board of Education names Donald Cook as executive director of MSMS

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Fri, 04/22/2022 - 04:24 PM

Below is a press release from the Mississippi Department of Education:

The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) voted today to hire Donald Cook, Ed.D., as the executive director of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS).

After some parents raise concerns, Madison County Schools places books in ‘restricted circulation’

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Fri, 04/22/2022 - 03:56 PM

Madison County school officials placed more than 20 books in restricted circulation last week following complaints from parents about their contents.

Students must have parental permission to check out one of the restricted books in the district’s elementary, middle, and high school libraries.

A team of educators will review the challenged books for “mature content” and make recommendations to district leaders, said Gene Wright, director of communications for Madison County Schools.

Students along Green-Gibbs Plaza on the campus of Jackson State University. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

Tuition increases at every public university but JSU

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Fri, 04/22/2022 - 03:12 PM

Every public university but Jackson State University will raise tuition rates this coming school year, continuing a trend that puts the cost of college increasingly out of reach for the average family in Mississippi.

The Institution of Higher Learning Board of Trustees approved the new tuition rates at its regular meeting Thursday. The board voted to waive a requirement to wait 30 days after introducing new tuition rates in lieu of immediate adoption.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba speaks to an audience about the findings from a student-centered study on the district during a public meeting at the Jackson Convention Complex Thursday, November 29, 2018. Credit: Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America

Mayor Lumumba: ‘Paternalistic, racist’ Legislature failed to help Jackson despite having extra billions

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Fri, 04/22/2022 - 09:34 AM

Despite having unprecedented extra billions of dollars to spend, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said the Mississippi Legislature failed to provide enough help to the capital city, which faces dire infrastructure and crime problems decades in the making.

In a lengthy post-legislative session interview with Mississippi Today, Lumumba said “paternalistic” and “racist” attitudes of legislative leaders towards one of America’s Blackest cities have resulted in Jackson not receiving enough state support in the past and present.

Jackson State University's School of Lifelong Learning where the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees hold its monthly meeting. Credit: Molly Minta/Mississippi Today

College presidents now have final say on tenure after IHL quietly revises policy

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Fri, 04/22/2022 - 09:24 AM

The Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees will no longer approve tenure in Mississippi, per amended policies the board quietly approved at its regular meeting Thursday.

Going forward, the presidents of Mississippi’s eight public universities will have the final say on whether to grant faculty members tenure, a type of indefinite appointment that protects academic freedom in higher education. Faculty who are denied tenure by a university president will still be able to appeal the decision to the board.

State Superintendent Carey Wright to retire June 30

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Fri, 04/22/2022 - 08:56 AM

Mississippi Superintendent of Education Carey Wright announced her retirement, effective June 30, at the State Board of Education meeting on Thursday.

Wright, who first took on the role in 2013, has been the longest-serving superintendent of education since the state board was created in 1982.

“This board is accepting her retirement with much regret and much gratitude for the work that she has done,” said Board Chair Rosemary Aultman when making the announcement at the meeting.

Governor Phil Bryant after delivering the State of the State address in the House of Representatives Chamber of the Mississippi State Capitol Tuesday, January 15, 2019. Credit: Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/Report For America

New welfare scandal revelations evoke stories of past misspending

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Wed, 04/20/2022 - 02:24 PM

Editor’s note: This story was first published by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting as a follow-up to Mississippi Today’s “The Backchannel” investigation, which examined former Gov. Phil Bryant’s role in the running of his welfare department during what officials have called the largest public embezzlement scheme in state history.

Is the current scandal involving former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant encouraging the funneling of millions in welfare funds to family and friends the first time these kinds of allegations have surfaced?

Co-Lin President Dr. Jane Hulon Sims (seated left) and UWA President Dr. Ken Tucker (seated right); standing from left, Jackie Martin, Co-Lin Wesson Campus Vice President; Dr. Dewayne Middleton, Co-Lin Executive Vice President; Dr. Stephanie Duguid, Co-Lin Dean of Academic Instruction; Dr. Amy Jones, UWA Department of Communications Chair; Dr. Melissa Haab, UWA Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.

CLCC, UWA expand partnership to include additional bachelor’s degree programs

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Wed, 04/20/2022 - 11:13 AM

WESSON – Copiah-Lincoln Community College and The University of West Alabama recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further expand the partnership between the two institutions. The new agreement is meant to provide a collaborative and seamless concurrent enrollment and transfer process from Co-Lin to UWA for Co-Lin students who meet the identified criteria.

Magee High School News

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Wed, 04/20/2022 - 08:47 AM

Magee High School Trojan Precious Womack, seated center, has signed to play soccer at Tougaloo College on a scholarship. congratulating Precious on her acheivement are her coach, parents, and a Tougaloo representative.

Disciples of Christ Church can be found at 268 Steel Mill Road, Mendenhall.

DOC gives ‘something solid’

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Wed, 04/20/2022 - 08:35 AM

Disciples of Christ Family Center Church, located a few miles down Steel Mill Road in Mendenhall, holds to the motto “God’s Word for God’s World,” according to their Facebook page. It is one of many country churches that call Simpson County home.
Disciples of Christ (DOC) was founded in 1989 by John Willis, who remains pastor to this day. He and his wife, First Lady Elmira, serve the Lord faithfully in their ministry with DOC. Willis did not mince words in describing the planting of the church and how his personal choices brought DOC about.

Johnson part of MSU group

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Wed, 04/20/2022 - 08:30 AM

Mendenhall High School junior Jaden Johnson recently participated in discussions regarding global food security during the 2022 World Food Prize Mississippi Youth Institute.
A partnership between the World Food Prize Foundation and Mississippi State University (MSU), the Mississippi Youth Institute provides a life-changing experience for high school students to engage with local leaders and experts on critical global challenges, participate in hands-on activities and explore exciting ways to make a difference in Mississippi and around the world.

Magee High School News

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Wed, 04/20/2022 - 08:28 AM

Apex Physical Therapy of Magee brought students to Magee High School from Co-Lin’s LPN program, and Kelsa Temple, NP from 149 Pediatric & Family. They were on campus to provide physicals for MHS’s female athletes. From left are Josh Ducksworth, Matt Lee, student Marlecia Tucker, Jonathan Pierce, and Chaucer Funchess. “Thank you, all!” said an MHS student spokesperson.

In this photo from October of 2020, Jared South, now 30, sits under a bridge in Tupelo where he used to sleep when he was homeless throughout his twenties. Credit: Photo Illustration by Zack Orsborn

What it’s like to navigate Mississippi’s welfare programs without political connections

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Tue, 04/19/2022 - 04:34 PM

Two poor Mississippi men in their twenties needed a hand up. One was related to the governor, the other wasn’t. The relative got specialized treatment from state welfare officials. The other was cut off from the program.

Jared South was a model client of Mississippi’s welfare agency.

Gov. Phil Bryant speaks to an audience during MEC's Capital Day 2019 at the Jackson Marriott Thursday, January 10, 2019. Credit: Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/Report For America

Phil Bryant discusses his nephew, favored welfare vendors, failures and successes

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Tue, 04/19/2022 - 12:34 PM

Before publishing its investigative series “The Backchannel,” which reveals Phil Bryant’s entanglement with Mississippi’s welfare scandal, Mississippi Today sat down with the former governor to discuss his leadership in the state’s safety net programs.

We initially published the portion of the interview in which Bryant discussed the stock offers he received from retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre and a Florida neuroscientist, whose companies received more than $2 million in allegedly stolen welfare funds from the state of Mississippi.

Mississippi State University students walk to class on the Starkville campus. Credit: Molly Minta/Mississippi Today

Mississippi to award new forgivable loan programs for health-related degrees for first time since 2015

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Tue, 04/19/2022 - 10:24 AM

For the first time since 2015, the Office of Student Financial Aid will be able to award nine forgivable loan programs mainly targeting nursing and other health-related professions.

After years of budget woes, members of the Post-Secondary Board expressed surprise at a meeting Monday that the Legislature had fully funded Mississippi’s college financial aid programs this session.

MEC’s M.B. Swayze Foundation Honors 320 STAR Students at Education Celebration

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Mon, 04/18/2022 - 02:38 PM

Below is a press release from the Mississippi Economic Council:

A Clinton High School student with a perfect 36 composite score on the American College Test (ACT), combined scores of 144, and an average of 103.03 has been named Mississippi’s TOP ALL-STAR Scholar for 2022.

Family first: Gov. Phil Bryant turned to welfare officials to rescue troubled nephew

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Mon, 04/18/2022 - 11:00 AM

While Gov. Phil Bryant set policies making it harder for welfare dollars to meet the actual needs of poor Mississippians, he pulled strings so his great-nephew could get special attention from the welfare agency. The state contractor who profited from the program had all the reason to help.

Noah McRae was the kind of kid who, if you said the sky is blue, would argue it is red until he was ready to fight.

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