Tuesday, October 17, 2023

JPS Bites the Bullet

 JPS is finally biting the bullet and closing down 16 schools after years of declining enrollment.  The schools are: 


Superintendent Dr. Eric Greene said enrollment declined from 27,627 students in the 2015-2016 school year to 17,753 students this year., a loss of 9,514 students.  However, the losses are even steeper when considering earlier years. 

JPS lost nearly half of its student population since 2007 when the student population was 31,191, a loss of 13,438 students (43%).  

What is interesting is the JPS budget was $266,047,658 in 2007 but only $260,266,658 in 2022, a decline of only 2.25%.  JPS claimed in the report posted below it lost $48 million to charter schools.  Even with the charter school, the 2022 budget would be only 22% less than it was in 2007. In other words, as JPS enrollment craters, the budget barely budges.   

As JPS enrollment plummets, it continues to operate 59 buildings.  Rankin County Public Schools operate only 28 buildings with an enrollment of more than 18,000 students.  

The JPS report posted below justifies the reduction by showing JPS ahas more teachers and staff per student than similar district.  



The refusal to consolidate as enrollment shrank cost JPS and cost it dearly as per pupil costs skyrocketed. 


Consolidation will save JPS nearly $18 million a year in operating and personnel costs.  Needless to say, quite a few people are not happy.  Jackson City Council President Aaron Banks protested the changes.  Such is understandable as Wingfield High School is in his ward.  However, kicking the can down the road landed JPS where it is today.  


Kingfish note: Many on social media are blaming charter schools.  However, the charter school student population in Jackson is less than 2,500 students.* There were 1,954 charter school students in Jackson in 2022.  It is not known how many are enrolled in Revive Collegiate this year but for the purposes of this post, the student population will be set at 300. Thus JPS has lost a grand total of 2,300 students to charter schools.   Add that population to the current JPS student population and the answer is..... 20,053 students, a decline of only 27%.  The student population loss compared to the peak year of 2007 would be... drum roll....36%.  

In other words, JPS can blame charter schools all it wants but the blame game is betrayed by the facts.

* Charter school student population for last year

Reimagine Prep: 524

Smillow Prep: 577

Smillow Collegiate: 569

Midtown: 284

Revive Collegiate: Unknown

Total: 1,984.  

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe it was nick saban who said "if you want to make everyone happy don't be a leader, go sell ice cream".

Dr. Greene is providing real LEADERSHIP

Anonymous said...

Dr. Greene is doing good work, and I appreciate him. He leads openly and honestly. Plus, he, in his words, "ain't afraid to do the unpopular."

Anonymous said...

Maybe His Honor, Mayor Chicklet, or his sister's committee, could start a committee to look at the radical idea of turning the empty building into neighborhood Prisons. He could probably get federal money at least to form the committees. Noting better than a good prison committee.

As Hillary would say, "It takes a neighborhood to prison a child."

Anonymous said...

JPS and the City of Jackson:

A black hole where money goes in and failure comes out.

Anonymous said...

So what’s the deal?

Are there fewer students living in Jackson?
Have fewer students decided they don’t need a primary or secondary education and have chosen to attend trade schools instead?
Are more parents choosing to homeschool their kids?
Have they decided that being a lifelong welfare recipient is “good enough”?

Anonymous said...

I would like to see the student / teacher ratio with “staff” excluded. Bloated administration does not help students learn, it just costs taxpayers.

I support the decision to close these poorly attended schools, especially since they are almost surely deteriorating due to inadequate maintenance anyway. Now the JPS budget must be reduced commensurate with the decrease in students and buildings.

Anonymous said...

District wide cheating scandal, fastest shrinking city under his leadership and schools are being closed.....and people are saying Superintendent is a a great leader....Mississippi smh

Anonymous said...

More free housing and buildings to light on fire for vagrants/addicts/low-lifes & Chowke's dope boys.

Anonymous said...

Point and a question.

Point: Who noticed that the word students is replaced with the word scholars? This is more than a bit presumptive?

Question: Will the schools be demolished or will the schools simply become congregating centers for homeless and gangs?

Anonymous said...

The post says "even with the charter school the 2022 budget would be only 22% less than it was in 2007."

Adjust the numbers for inflation and the 2022 budget is down substantially more.

Anonymous said...

To further prove the point, look at the increased enrollments at other public schools in the suburbs surrounding Jackson since 2007. Those folks that lived in Jackson and could afford to get out have gotten out, and they are sending their kids to those other schools (Ridgeland, Terry, Clinton, Gluckstadt, Madison, Pearl, Brandon, NW Rankin, etc.). Blaming JPS shrinking enrollment on Charter Schools is a very poor excuse.

Anonymous said...

It will be interesting to see the effects of the continued decline and dilapidation of Jackson on the suburbs' future growth. As Jackson's population continues to tank and the people who were able to escape have done so, from where will the suburbs' growth come? At what point should the suburbs expect their growth rates to plateau and then decline?

Anonymous said...

At this point, we all know what has to be done with the existing structures. They have to be demolished. The student population will never come back and the overall condition of the schools are at most not worth saving. There is no need to be sentimental if any of the readers attended these schools. They are a burden and money still has to be spent, although not much even after the doors are locked. Tear them down. It’s the right thing to do.

Anonymous said...

@2:22 keep kidding yourself

Anonymous said...

When will Jackson go full-Detroit and have Devil’s Night where acts of arson on abandoned buildings go unreported and unpunished because it is basically a public service?

Anonymous said...

3:00 There are very few families left in the city of Jackson... those who have families will grow their children in the suburbs... who will live and grow their families in the suburbs (etc.) That was how it was done in J-town in the 50s, 60s, and 70s...

Seems that the opposition to this plan is about "community education..." Forget the costs to operate smaller schools with a smaller tax base. Sounds like it becomes another Chokwe utopian idea... image over realities.

I attended Chastain Middle in the 70s, and the place was old then. I can't image how worn out the place is now 50 years later.

It's time to start shrinking the overhead. Close the unneeded schools and do more with what you have.

Anonymous said...

Golden opportunity for Socrates Garrett Enterprises to pick up some more demolition business.

Anonymous said...

Will the laid off principals and other overhead now have "no show" jobs?

Anonymous said...

I know I’m beating a drum but wouldn’t all of the remaining students fit in the Metrocenter? It makes sense. One building, keep maintenance workers where you can keep your eyes on them because that is a huge issue in JPS. None of the existing schools have had “proper maintenance” performed on them. When you have an investment that was made in the past such as these structures, you either keep them up, consolidate or dismantle them. This should be a serious topic of conversation because the buildings were constructed in the 1950’s up to the 1990’s. Bailey is being renovated but due to it being a cast in place concrete structure built during the 1930’s but it is worth preserving. The others I can’t say much for.

Anonymous said...

The city of Jackson could eff up a one car parade.

Anonymous said...

JPS jumped at the chance to close all the schools in 2020 due to a virus that posed virtually zero risk to anyone under the age of 18 and didn't open back up until second semester in January 2022. To no one's surprise a bunch of those kids just dropped out, never to be seen again until they show up in juvenile court.

To be honest, though, it's not like they would've learned a lot more and become decent, self-supporting citizens with just a few more years of JPS "education." The ridiculous COVID over-reaction may have ended up doing us all a big favor by closing schools that were dysfunctional and a waste of money to start with.

Anonymous said...

What will become of all the baby-sitte...I mean teachers at these targeted schools? PERS is about to see an increase in activity.

If you don't know, the unoccupied Drew High School building was torched over the past weekend. The perps are in custody. Just what Jackson needs to add to its footprint. More boarded up structures, windows busted out and homes to the homeless.

Anonymous said...

@2:00 PM

Most of them are illegally crossing into Madison county and their superintendent is openly allowing it.

Anonymous said...

I have fond memories of Emma Green Elementary during 1968/1969.

The sights,sounds and smells of that school's cafeteria remain with me fifty-five years later.

It was all good back then.

(I actually thought that Forrest Avenue elementary school was closed years ago).


Anonymous said...

@12:20 As much as I'm a Nick Saban fan, I believe he was quoting Microsoft's Steve Jobs.
However, that is a great & accurate quote.

Anonymous said...

Now consolidate school districts across the state.

Anonymous said...

@9:36 Steve Jobs was Apple. Microsoft was Bill Gates.

Anonymous said...

KF you have seriously got to enable a “like” button. There are great comments here. I would like to say to the the 8:33 comment is correct about it being “it was all good back then”. Well you and I and everyone else on this blog know why it was good and that’s because it was a different group of people who were running the show. Teachers taught and students learned and I would bet my life on it that the curriculum being taught in today’s schools especially in the urban areas would more than likely shock you.

Anonymous said...

The progressive left is running many public school districts. They are indoctrinating your kids with progressive, racist, Marxist, and revisionist history propaganda.

That is why home schooling and private schools exist.

Anonymous said...

My city taxes are paying for kids in Jackson to live with their aunties in Madison and attend Madison Central. Go Jaguars!

Anonymous said...

@ 7:08 - Can you back that comment up with a link?

@ 10:49 - You obviously don't live in Madison County, or Hinds for that matter.

Anonymous said...

Previous administrations in Madison County cracked down on district jumpers. The current administration allows it. Go to the student parking lot at Ridgeland and Madison Central and count the Hinds County tags. Germantown has Madison County plates but they are all in Canton.

There's a group that doesn't care because a lot of illegal students are great athletes.

There's a group of bleeding hearts that doesn't care because they feel sorry for these underprivileged Jackson kids.

Then there is a group that likes the $10k in funding per student that comes with them.

Anonymous said...

As an insurance agent who used to have to go into these schools to do open enrollment for employee benefits, I can tell you many of the buildings were so run down that the ceiling was peeling off. The bathrooms had no doors or toilet paper. The schools looked as if they had not been updated in over 50 years. Teachers could only make a certain number of photocopies for students and many did not have textbooks. I remember teachers and faculty telling me they did not have time to enroll in their benefit plans because, in many cases, there was only 1 copy machine for the entire school and they had to prepare for their next class, with copies of pages from 1 textbook! At Wingfield High School, I watched two students get physically assaulted in front of the breakroom I was setup in. Jim Hill was on lockdown as I approached their campus for enrollment. After that, I refused to handle the high schools. Jackson Public Schools never invested in their teachers or students. Those who managed to persevere, graduate, and succeed despite these environments are to be commended. But, as the wealthy fled the city and formed private schools, this left JPS with little to work with as more families were below the poverty level to begin with. JPS also pays their superintendent, along with Rankin County, an astronomical amount of money for little return. This is a top heavy construct that needs to be revisited sooner than later.

Anonymous said...

As a girl who used to own a lot of residential rental units (until it became clear that the government was going to make it impossible for all landlords but megacorporations and active participants in organized crime (who're effectively exempt from the anti-discrimination laws which cripple most landlords)), I'd like to point-out that SCHOOL BUILDINGS ARE IDEAL FOR APARTMENT CONVERSIONS.

Such buildings are mostly-masonry. This makes them relatively soundproof, fireproof, and bulletproof. Mostly, they're wheelchair-accessible. And their grounds are already fenced.

Ceilings are high, and windows are rot-proof metal. Essentially, they'd offer loft living, but without the need for climbing stairs.

Just minimize heat gain, by reroofing with white single-ply membrane, and they'd be pretty great.

(not that there's a snowball's chance in Hell, of this ever actually happening in Jackson)


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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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