Greenwood Public School District (Mississippi) Explained

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

Effective July 1, 2019 the Greenwood and the Leflore County School District consolidated into the Greenwood-Leflore School District.^[1]

History

In 1993, white parents in the Greenwood district made plans to look for majority white private schools after the district leadership proposed having a centralized middle school for all students.^[2]

David Jordan, a member of the Mississippi Senate, criticized the upcoming Greenwood-Leflore merger since the Leflore district's performance in state tests was worse than that of the Greenwood district; their respective grades from the Mississippi Department of Education circa 2016-2017 were F and C.^[3] Circa 2016 the rating of the Greenwood district was D. Unlike most state-mandated school district consolidations, in which a larger district absorbs a smaller district, in this instance two districts of roughly equal size are merging; in 2016 the Greenwood district had 2,846 students while the Leflore district had 2,405 students. Adam Ganucheau and Zachary Oren Smith of Mississippi Today described both districts as being "large".^[4]

Schools

• Greenwood High School (Grades 9-12)
• Greenwood Middle School (Grades 7-8)
• Bankston Elementary (Grades K-6)
• Davis Elementary (Grades K-6)
• Threadgill Elementary (Grades K-6)
• Threadgill Primary School (Greenwood). It opened in 1935 as W.C. Williams Elementary School.^[5] Enrollment was 400 in 2015.^[6] In 2015 the closure of the school was proposed.^[7] On May 22, 2015, the school board voted to close it,^[6] but in 2017 it reopened for grades Pre-Kindergarten-1.^[8] By 2019 the school adopted its current name.^[5]

Demographics

Around 1988 Greenwood High School was almost split evenly between black and white students. In 1998 it was 92% black. Greenwood Junior High School was 97% black. Many white students were instead going to the private school Pillow Academy.^[9]

The district had 2,846 students in 2016,^[4] and 2,634 in the 2018-2019 school year.^[10]

2006-07 school year

There were a total of 3,110 students enrolled in the Greenwood Public School District during the 2006-2007 school year. The gender makeup of the district was 51% female and 49% male. The racial makeup of the district was 91.64% African American, 7.43% White, 0.48% Hispanic, and 0.45% Asian.^[11] All of the district's students were eligible to receive free or price-subsidized lunch.^[12]

Previous school years

School Year	Enrollment	Gender Makeup		Racial Makeup
		Female	Male	Asian	African American	Hispanic	Native American	White
2005-06	3,152	50%	50%	0.48%	91.18%	0.48%	-	7.87%
2004-05	3,211	49%	51%	0.47%	89.97%	0.34%	-	9.22%
2003-04	3,422	49%	51%	0.29%	88.84%	0.15%	0.06%	10.67%
2002-03^[13]	3,486	50%	50%	0.29%	88.73%	0.20%	-	10.79%

Accountability statistics

	2006-07^[14]	2005-06^[15]	2004-05^[16]	2003-04^[17]	2002-03^[18]
District Accreditation Status	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited
School Performance Classifications
Level 5 (Superior Performing) Schools	1	1	0	2	1
Level 4 (Exemplary) Schools	0	1	1	2	0
Level 3 (Successful) Schools	4	4	4	1	2
Level 2 (Under Performing) Schools	1	0	1	1	2
Level 1 (Low Performing) Schools	0	0	0	0	1
Not Assigned	0	0	0	0	0

School uniforms

Students at all schools are required to wear school uniforms.^[19] The policy was established in the 2009-2010 school year.^[20]

See also

• List of school districts in Mississippi

Further reading

• Web site: USA v. G'wood Public Sch Filing 37 ORDER granting 36 Joint Motion for reopening of school. Signed by District Judge Sharion Aycock on 7/21/2017. (dbm). Justia. - About the reopening of W. C. Williams (later Threadgill Primary)

External links

• • Map of school districts in Leflore County, MS, 2010 - U.S. Census Bureau

Notes and References

1. "School District Consolidation in Mississippi ." Mississippi Professional Educators. December 2016. Retrieved on July 2, 2017. Page 2 (PDF p. 3/6).
2. News: April 20, 1993. Al. Fava. 2. . Winona Academy a possible route of escape for students. Newspapers.com. - See clipping
3. Web site: Lt. Governor Willing To Listen On Greenwood-Leflore Merger. Delta Daily News. 2018-09-17. 2018-09-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20180917005138/https://deltadailynews.com/lt-governor-willing-to-listen-on-greenwood-leflore-merger/. dead.
4. News: Ganucheau, Adam. Zachary Oren Smith. School vote in Jackson hits Greenwood hard. Mississippi Today. 2016-04-25. 2018-09-17.
5. Web site: Eric. Gerard. District begins work on repairs. Greenwood Commonwealth. 2019-06-01. 2022-03-12. [...]Threadgill Primary (then still known as W.C. Williams Elementary)[...].
6. Web site: W.C. Williams Elementary will close. Associated Press. Washington Times. 2015-05-22. 2022-03-12.
7. News: Stole. Bryn. Kalich. Tim. W. C. Williams Elementary may close. The Greenwood Commonwealth. 2015-05-19. 1, 12. - Clipping of first and of second page at Newspapers.com. Alternate URL of an Associated Press release at the Washington Times website.
8. Web site: United States v. Greenwood Pub. Sch. Dist.. Casetext. 2022-03-12.
9. Rubin, Richard. "Should the Mississippi Files Have Been Re-opened? No, because." The New York Times. August 30, 1998. Retrieved on March 25, 2012.
10. Web site: Kennedy. Mike. Merger creates new school district in Mississippi. American School and University Magazine. 2019-07-08. 2021-02-25.
11. Web site: Mississippi Assessment and Accountability Reporting System . Office of Research and Statistics, Mississippi Department of Education . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070323012858/http://orsap.mde.k12.ms.us:8080/MAARS/indexProcessor.jsp . 2007-03-23 .
12. Web site: 2006-07 State, District, and School Enrollment by Race/Gender with Poverty Data . . Mississippi Department of Education . 2008-01-16 . 2008-05-18.
13. Web site: Mississippi Report Card for 2002-2003 . Office of Educational Accountability, Mississippi Department of Education . 2004-09-02 . 2007-08-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070812173502/http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/Account/RC3B/RC3B.htm . 2007-08-12 . dead .
14. Web site: 2007 Results . . Mississippi Statewide Accountability System . Mississippi Department of Education . 2007-09-13 . 2007-09-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071127152304/http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/Account/SAM07/ACC07LST.PDF . 2007-11-27 . dead .
15. Web site: 2006 Results . . Mississippi Statewide Accountability System . Mississippi Department of Education . 2006-09-06 . 2007-06-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070217064644/http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/Account/SAM06/ACC06LST.PDF . 2007-02-17 . dead .
16. Web site: 2005 Results . . Mississippi Statewide Accountability System . Mississippi Department of Education . 2005-09-09 . 2007-06-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061213051444/http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/Account/SAM05/ACC05FLST.PDF . 2006-12-13 . dead .
17. Web site: 2004 Results . . Mississippi Statewide Accountability System . Mississippi Department of Education . 2004-09-26 . 2007-06-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070705114957/http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/Account/SAM04/ACC04FLST.PDF . 2007-07-05 . dead .
18. Web site: 2003 Results . . Mississippi Statewide Accountability System . Mississippi Department of Education . 2003-11-21 . 2007-06-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061211050815/http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/Account/SAM03/ACC03CLST.PDF . 2006-12-11 . dead .
19. "Student Dress Code ." Greenwood Public School District. Retrieved on August 10, 2010.
20. "Home ." Greenwood Public School District. Retrieved on August 10, 2010.