Tuesday, February 28, 2017

JPS to consolidate schools

The Jackson Public School District issued the following press release.


The increased costs of maintaining aged school buildings, a decrease in state funding and a decline in enrollment have led the Jackson Public School District to study the feasibility of consolidating some of its schools. In doing so, JPS looked at schools with approximately 150 students or less during this school year. Those schools included:

  • Barr Elementary: 157 students
  • George Elementary: 153 students
  • Poindexter Elementary: 109 students
  • Rowan Middle: 55 students to be enrolled during the 2017-2018
George Elementary School was the recipient of a Window Restoration Project grant in 2016. The grant, from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, is for more than $120,000. The District matched about $30,000 to receive the grant. The total project budget with the combined money is over $150,000. Due to this significant financial investment in the structure of the school building, the District eliminated George Elementary from consideration for closure.

As part of a $150 million bond issue passed by the citizens of Jackson in 2006, Barr Elementary School received $4 million for building renovations which were recently completed. The improved physical condition of Barr makes it suitable for increasing its capacity to accommodate up to 200 students.


Additionally, Barr's designation as a school assisted the City of Jackson in securing $427,614 in federal funding as part of the Safe Routes to School Project through the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The City of Jackson is providing a 20 percent match for a total of $626,031 in federal funds. The project focuses on improving children's safety while walking and bicycling by building sidewalks, bicycle paths, and other pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. This project will not only improve the area surrounding the school, but it will provide students that want to walk or bike to school a safe path to do so.

As a result of these findings, the District is proposing to consolidate Poindexter with Barr. Poindexter's operating budget for the 2015-2016 school year was approximately $1.8 million. Savings from the consolidation of Poindexter with Barr will provide opportunities for the District to allocate resources to other areas of need as it relates to transportation, staffing, and academic support for students.

There will be no job losses as a result of this consolidation plan. Teachers and staff from Poindexter will first have opportunities to fill vacancies at Barr. Once those positions are filled, Poindexter employees will receive options to fill vacancies at other schools across the District.

The District will initially dedicate two buses for transporting students to and from Barr Elementary. Satellite cafeteria services will be provided by the JPS Food Service Department. Exceptional education classes will continue for students who receive those services. JPS counselors will provide the necessary emotional support for students during the transition.

"Our school district cannot continue to operate with over 60 buildings, a decline in student enrollment, and a decrease in state and federal funding," said Interim Superintendent Dr. Freddrick Murray. "We have to make some tough and unpopular decisions. However, we feel confident this is what must happen to improve education for our scholars."

The District will be sending approximately 55 remaining students at Rowan Middle School to Brinkley Middle School next school year. Rowan will become a full-time location for Re-engaging in Education for All to Progress, also known as R.E.A.P. The program is an alternative path to a high school diploma for students at risk of dropping out of school. It is geared toward helping students who are overaged and under credit.

The District has met and scheduled meetings with the parents and employees of the schools being proposed for consolidation. The District intends to present the Board of Trustees with a recommendation to vote on the consolidation in the next few weeks.

Kingfish note: This was going to happen sooner or later as JPS enrollment declines.



 The Clarion-Ledger reported the enrollment for 2016-2017 is 26,948 students.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is an almost insignificant step. It is fighting fire with a water bucket instead of a hose. It is such a baby step compared to what is needed. JPS is the poster child for the failure of education in spite of the district having stable and plentiful funding.

Anonymous said...

But no jobs will be eliminated, so the savings are minimal and the incompetent cronies that live off the JPS dole will keep their gravy train while doing less. And they'll STILL complain about having to commute to a new location.

noel said...

$16513.76 per student at Poindexter! That's more than any private school in Mississippi, no?

Anonymous said...

Any idea why there was an 11.3% drop in enrollment from 2012 to 2013? That's huge!

Anonymous said...

Drop in enrollment probably due to the new standardizing of how to count attendance. Can't count those that come in for 15 minutes in the morning and never show up agsin. Probably reflects more,accurate number of students than previous inflated numbers qualifying the district for more MAEP dollars to waste.

Anonymous said...

Black middle class abandoning Jackson in droves. But race mongrels, er, mongers like Donna Ladd will still blame the white community.

Anonymous said...

The tuition at St. Andrews is $16,280 per year. The tuition at Jackson Prep is $13,704 per year. If the JPS schools are getting over $16 K per student per year, why cant they produce results equivalent to the private schools?

Who does this hurt? One, of course is the homeowners and taxpayers of Jackson, who are financing this perpetual failure. But the most important people this situation hurts are those students and families in inner city Jackson, who have one chance at an education but who are being failed year after year, decade after decade. It is amazing that they don't organize and demand better.

Anonymous said...

They are simply rearranging the deck chairs on Titanic. It is not a matter of money. JPS cannot be salvaged.

Anonymous said...

11:10 race mongrels? Attend too many Citizen Council meetings with your Dad?

Anonymous said...

All of the schools mentioned are located in extremely, high poverty areas of Jackson. JPS needs these schools in order to get its government welfare check. MDAH, stop putting bandaids on things that require stitches. Window grants for a building that needs demolishing due to neglect, give me a break!!! This is the same crap they did at Lanier HS. MDAH will stop at nothing to keep urban redevelopment from occurring in Jackson, especially downtown and the inner city neighborhoods. Historic preservation my ASS!

Of Money Trees and Gravy Trains.. said...

Both Private Sector and Government Agencies have 'adopted' and 'partnered with' these and other schools for years. Where does all of that money go? And why do schools with this much money in the budgets even 'need' partnering (whatever that means)?

Anonymous said...

When Donna Ladd moves her home to Lake Hico, her business to Highway 80, and starts shopping regularly at Westland Plaza...that's when she can speak with authority on white people who don't support Jackson.

As it stands, she lives in majority white Belhaven, works in majority white Fondren, and shops somewhere other than West Jackson, so she can STFU.

Anonymous said...

JPS is long overdue for mergers, from elementary schools on to the high schools.

enrollment is down to due to the black middle class relocating to Rankin and Madison County. However, that will only create more urban sprawl in the metro area.

We are constantly spinning our wheels with the same issues.

Anonymous said...

The teacher of the year last year, from Lamar County, an A district that spends 8k a year per pupil, went on and on that all our schools needed was more funding. If funding were the sole determinant of school outcomes, JPS would be better. If they want to put a correlation/causation argument about funding forward, then I say take all the A districts, average their funding, and that's what everyone gets. Funding is the sole determinant of outcomes or it isn't. Choose one.

With that out of the way, maybe we can begin discussing what things the successful schools and districts have in common and go from there.

Not likely to happen. No money in it for the Loomes of the world. Were they to actually begin to fix things, the cash dries up. It's cool, though, it's only squandering the potential of Mississippi kids whose parents can't afford to move to better districts. Doesn't actually affect the well healed.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many people posting right now, work in education.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many people believe someone needs to work in education in order to comment about education.

Anonymous said...

We could spend half a million bucks per student in Hinds County and the outcome would remain the same except for the number of Escalades in the garages of school employees.

Anonymous said...

Hey, 3:25, thisis 12:17, I don't work in education, but my children are in public schools, so I'd say that makes me a 'stakeholder' in the vernacular of the community organizer. Oh, yeah, and the whole forking over money to pay for schools thing shows I have skin in the game. By your logic, you want to force me to go to the closest eatery to my home...only that one, pay whatever price is demanded, but if the food is rancid I can't complain because I don't work in the restaurant business?

I'm sure you're equally disgusted that the lawyer playing word games in his lawsuit to shut down charter schools doesn't work in education. Or that he has no kids in the system. I mean it's not like he has any family ties making money off of perpetuating the status quo.

Anonymous said...

@12:17 Anna Morris recognizes that not all districts have parents who can fork over 3.5 million dollars to build a volleyball facility. Just the latest thing paid for from private funds in Lamar County that didn't have to come from the school coffers.

Anonymous said...

When you merge two failing schools you deduce the number of failing schools by 50%. That is a pretty good improvement by an education major.

Anonymous said...

3:36 pm You don't have to work in education to comment, but you should know something about how the education system in Mississippi and how successful systems work to form an opinion.
Your anecdotal experience about the schools you and yours attended and biased political information ( from any party) isn't enough to add something relevant.
The likelihood that those who have made a career in education could know more than you do is high. If you are an accountant, I want to hear you specifically talk about what the accounting tells you but if you don't have any expertise to contribute , your opinion is as meaningful as your the hole between your butt cheeks...everybody has one.
And, if anyone isn't bothered by the risk of bearing false witness, they can , of course. Their soul, their risk. It's pretty obvious some commenters just make up stuff.

Anonymous said...

It's pretty obvious some commenters just make up stuff.

Been saying the same about your comments since your arrival.

... your opinion is as meaningful as your the hole between your butt cheeks ...

You summed up the ravings you leave here perfectly.

Anonymous said...

8:41, I don't work in public relations or marketing, either, but the "Silence, peasant, give us more money and go away," pitch might be part of your problem. And I like the analogy with the accountant. Were my accountant to perform on the level of most with a 'career in education,' my accountant would be light one client. I have that choice. Not so with education. I could hire an accountant in Oxford and deal with the distance issue. Fine. Public schools compel the peasant to report to the school closet to the home. Period. Those with means can opt out. Those without can't. Zero Choice. This witness I bear is not false, there is no peril to my soul. But I would question anyone that dooms a child to a system that has been broken for decades while refusing to hear any argument on how to fix it has no soul. And that stinks way worse than the hole between my butt cheeks. I'll let you go now. I'm sure you have a long day of lobbying to keep the status quo and Mississippi last.

Anonymous said...

8:41 --

JPS spends around $16K per student.

Is this statement accurate?

Bring Back The Paddle.. said...

Enough about kids in JPS buildings having a choice. Give it a rest. They don't want a choice. They go to school because they have to go to school. They go to school with kids on their street and see kids who live in the surrounding hood and several blocks over.

They, for the most part, don't give a rat's ass about school or studies or passing. If they HAD a choice, they would opt to stay where they are. That's where their friend girl is and that's where the boys are who want to get in their pants.

School choice conversation is probably best reserved for children who really want to do something with life, make good grades and have goals set, or at least several possible goals listed somewhere in their notebook. And that applies to black children as well as white.

PittPanther said...

According to the documents from MDE back when they were considering probation, JPS spends $9300 per student. But don't let facts get in the way of your narrative.

Anonymous said...

Between the legacy education lobby and the Ross Barnett-esque Bring Back the Paddle types you've got one heck of a baptists and bootleggers coalition to insure continued failure.

Ross, what percentage of the 27000 kids in JPS that want to get an education is requisite for you to change your mind about letting them all rot in the JPS general population?

Public Education Lobby, why must every kid, and their family be doomed to their closest school? Why can't those with drive and ability be grouped together vice simply geography?

Sad.

Anonymous said...

The black middle class started leaving Jackson in the 1990s. Good observation but a little late. Folks saw the writing on the wall 25 years ago.

2:58 You've Duped Yourself.. said...

2:58 - Pray tell what evidence you have that suggests more than 3% of JPS students long for free choice? It makes good conversation to suggest these scholars are 'trapped' in a swirling cauldron, but, truth is, they're OK with it and so is their parent.

Not since Honest Abe Lincoln have their been children reading in the dark who longed for a flicker of light in order to learn. Getchur head out of your ass.

Anonymous said...

Hans Rosling has some revealing data that if added to this data could point to the declining enrollment. The FBI has some good data too that could be an underlying factor.



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