Lanier High School's enrollment continues to collapse. Bulldog enrollment is only 566 students for the 2021-2022 school year. Lanier's student population fell 36% over the last decade, mirroring the abandonment of Jackson Public Schools. Once the largest public school district in Mississippi, JPS has less than 20,000 students today.
Jackson's seven public high schools averaged a 25% loss (274 students) over the last decade as students fled to the burbs.
Lanier always had the lowest high school enrollment in Jackson but is now less than half of some Jackson high schools. 890 students attended Lanier in 2012-2013 term, placing it near other high school enrollments. The school only had a population of 752 in the 2011-2012 terms but surged to 890 Bulldogs the next year. The increase was Lanier's last gasp as students left the school en masse. Lanier lost 324 students over the last decade as its enrollment plummeted 36%.
Unfortunately for JPS, Lanier is not the only high school suffering enrollment problems. Wingfield High School only has 633 students in the current term as its population fell 28% over the last ten years. The school enjoyed 1,104 students in the 2010-2011 term but fell 42% over the next twelve years as it reflects the cratering of South Jackson.
Most Jackson high school populations declined between a quarter and a third over the last ten years although Callaway (-16%) and Murrah (-10%) managed to stay below 20%.
JPS High School Population Changes since 2012-2013 school year.
Lanier: -324 students, -36%
Jim Hill: -377 students, -30%
Provine: -343 students, 30%
Wingfield: -251 students, -28%
Forest Hill: -294 students, -24%
Callaway: -176 students, -16%
Murrah: -155 students, -10%
Average: -274 students, -25%
Kingfish note: It's time to say the word no one wants to say: Consolidate. JPS population fell over 10,000 students in the last ten years. The JPS budget was $269 million in the 2019-2020 audit and $275 million in the 2009-2010 audit. A mere drop of 2% while enrollment plunged by one-third.
46 comments:
On a similar note, I heard several times last week on the local news that the graduation rate for entire state is on an upswing. I have no way of proving that one way or the other, but I would be more apt to believe that schools are graduating students and not students graduating themselves.
Does this report surprise anyone?
Maybe after the garbage pickup problem is straightened out, things will return to “normal”. That seems to be the most important problem that the rulers of Jackson show their concern for. Never mind sewage, water, impassible roads, inability to bill for water and sewage, crime, theft (in stores, and from homes), drag racing at midnight up an down I-55 north and south, etc.
I am choosing to see this as a good thing.
Maybe some parents still care enough to leave the cesspool that is JPS.
Likely more realistic is just dropout rate...but I can hope.
"the word no one wants to say..."
Or the word that all rational people would say.
Mayoral Proclamation of Local Emergency?
It seems unlikely to me the students of JPS have been / are going elsewhere, and that's the reason for the declining numbers. That would tend to suggest their parents were / are making attempts to better educate their children by relocating them. If that's true, that would be totally contrary to the societal decay almost solely responsible for Jackson's overall decline.
If a study were done - and I believe even Baby Chok could get on board with that - I believe we'd see the vast majority of the students dropping out of JPS to choose the thug life over seeking better educational opportunities.
are theses schools also not nearly all black students? so, it's not just white folks leaving jackson? hhmmm. looks like anybody than can get out is getting out. or are kids just not going to school anymore. consolidate schools, and reduce all staff.
Callaway and Murrah represent the last gasping pockets of the remaining middle class is Jackson.
While administrative costs continue to mushroom-
Consolidation would be the financially responsible thing to do. Which means it won't happen.
School consolidation would be the sound business decision. But these idiots couldn't run a lemonade stand.
Is JPS District headquarters staff being reduced to reflect declining student enrollment? I doubt it, but there's less to manage all the time.
The employee:student ratio at each school would be illuminating. Though my guess is that such data will only confirm that JPS is more employment agency than academic institution.
Kingfish did an article last week, which attributes a lot of the increase in minority enrollment in neighboring suburbs school districts/zones to a decline in enrollment in JPS. It is just not linked to this post. -- Some of the growth of the metro area schools overall is partly due to the growth of the metro area in general and decline in population of rural MS.
Now many of the white folks leaving Jackson (I believe it's called white flight) were called "racist" for moving. Are the blacks leaving there now also racists ?
Who deliberately lives in a town where you get robbed and held up while trick or treating? I am pretty sure this incident would never have been publicized had it not happened to a very visible and well known prominent Jackson family. How many of these incidents have happened since, that have not been publicized?
Consolidation is a great idea for JPS and for many school districts throughout the state as well. It probably won’t happen anytime soon but it should.
Some of the growth of the metro area schools overall is partly due to the growth of the metro area in general ...
MSA (seven counties) population increase 2010 to 2020 was +1.45%. Hard to call that growth.
No doubt anemic because Jackson doesn't have a robust downtown positioned to cater overpriced drinks and other fare to starving artists and other denizens of the wildly hyped creative class.
@9:55, if Ladd, one of her squad, a Barksdaler or one of the other myriad stand-by apologists can find a way to tie JPS student population declines in 2020 to a long, long ago race event you can bet your last dollar they will do so.
Does anyone have an enrollment numbers by decade for Jackson high schools. It would be interesting to know how many schools each school had when new schools were opened in the past. In other words, I wonder what was previously thought to be the optimal number of students per school. How many city high schools would be appropriate now? Assuming Jackson has 5500 high school students, 5 high schools would be 1100 students per school. That would mean closing 2. If the number is 1500 students per high school, that means closing 3. I know everyone can do math and I'm just thinking via my keyboard. But, I wonder what the count per school should be?
Easiest job in Jackson, city public relations director. Your job is to say nothing, or in Jackson parliance, “don’t say nuthin”.
If the schools are continually graded as D and F, and enrollment is dropping precipitously, isn't the declining enrollment a good thing? Enrollment is going up at the good schools and doing down at the bad schools.
That's the thing that school choice advocates keep telling us. Affluent and even middle class families ALREADY have school choice. They choose to leave. It's the poor folks who cannot afford to get out who don't have school choice.
And they are the very folks who keep falling for the scare tactics from the administrators and teachers unions who keep fighting choice.
Let's look on the bright side.
I'm sure the hallways during class change is great--no overcrowding!
Less students=less expenses on student learning. More money for administrators!
Less students=less expenses for food. More money for administrators!
Less students= more fodder for 'white flight' on grants. Which leads to more money for administrators!
8:45 The graduation rate had to be up. In school districts like JPS you didn't have to show up at all. It was impossible to flunk. Why not get a quick diploma?
These articles on the declining population at JPS are very enlightening. Showing how the budget has not declined appropriately was the icing on this crap cake.
Wood love to see student-admin ratio in 2011 vs today.
Who has to answer for this? Does the "$400,000 woman" in charge of the state education care? Or is this strictly a city issue? If the money is coming from the state, the city isn't going to complain.
Nobody chooses to be in the Jackson school district. Either you are stuck there or you really, really, don't give a damn. It means morale is really low. People are in the other districts because they choose to be.
Jackson's only hope is to consolodate it's efforts to develop a school or schools that will be "pockets of excellence" that people will actually choose to send their children to, maybe even move into the neighborhoods. Otherwise the death spiral will continue and the whole district will be lost. Some schools will be lost in this process, but you were loosing them anyway. This takes real leadership and so far, it ain't happenin'.
Nope. They are dropping out. Before scamdemic the streets was full of teen boys during school hours. Ask folks actually living round the area
833 Maple.
Mighty, mighty Bulldogs.
Grrrrr.
RIP Lee Vance
The quality of your “blog” is ever-shrinking too.
I'm hoping that JPS District headquarters won't renovate any schools with the $60 million bond issue before closing them, but that's probably expecting too much.
The stupidity of your comments @1:21 were never in question.
I'd be fascinated to see this list held up against Brandon, Clinton, Madison Central and maybe Northwest Rankin. Just to see it apples to apples.
@1:47 PM
I said the same thing. Everyone knows this is a garbage blog. Like, you’re not telling us anything we don’t already know. I’d rather read all the racist comments.
Everyone knows this is a garbage blog.
Yes, JJ reports on the efforts to secure a new garbage collection contract by the City of Jackson.
Consolidation of a bunch of smaller sewage lagoons that are failing only makes a much larger sewage lagoon that is failing.
But, but..... its historic. Look at all the 'great leaders' that went to school there, that are now running our city and county government.
Quick calculations say JPS is spending $13,800 per student annually.
Methinks this is a truckload of spending.
"And they are the very folks who keep falling for the scare tactics from the administrators and teachers unions who keep fighting choice."
I hesitate to waste my time doing so, but feel compelled to once again remind the uninformed poster at 10:54, there IS NO teachers' union in Mississippi.
PS: 'Pockets of Excellence'? Please...continue.
@4:37 PM
There are only 2 things in this world that “reports.”
1) a news station
2) a member of the United Stated military
Why is Donna Ladd so jealous that she and her interns sit and make negative comments on your blog every day?
Another reason for the decline is many of the residents in the area now are just older with grown kids. Therefore, no school age youth to even attend school.
February 21, 2022 at 1:21 PM
The Ladd Crew must be showing up. How's it feel knowing the Jackson Free Press is worth less than even the Clarion Liar.
February 22, 2022 at 2:45 AM
Considering how poorly the "news" station is pressing Little Lord Lumumba, even that is in question.
6:27 : Are you sure ? Having spent a good bit of time in the area before the lockdowns , the streets was always full of school aged teen boys. Surely those boys fit in this math equation.
Ladd always crowed about how the model @ the C-L was headed for the dustbin. Then the JFP tanked.
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