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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Four years after the Jackson school district nearly lost its accreditation over problems with special education programs, Mississippi's second-largest district is in trouble again with state oversight authorities.
The Mississippi Commission on School Accreditation will meet Tuesday to consider a recommendation to put the 28,000-student district on probation, after a state Department of Education review found numerous violations of state accrediting standards.
The June accrediting audit faulted the district for discipline practices that earlier brought complaints from a teachers' union and questioned the effectiveness of teaching at a number of schools. The audit cites concerns including students and parents roaming halls, violent fights, overstretched safety personnel and rules against employees calling Jackson city police. Auditors said they sometimes observed classes where students were using cell phones instead of studying, or where teaching consisted only of handing out worksheets.
In an Aug. 3 response, the district denied many of the violations, such as reports that individual school board members were improperly giving orders to district employees. In other cases, the district claimed state criticism went beyond the requirements of underlying laws and regulations.
"Several findings were left to subjective judgment and not standard-based," Superintendent Cedrick Gray wrote concerning criticism of the district's teaching. "The subjectivity and lack of information for this standard makes it difficult for the school district to address this finding and make any corrections."
The commission could take no action, put Jackson on probation, or recommend that accreditation be withdrawn. Although the department has recommended probation, five of the violations can lead to loss of accreditation or even a state takeover.
Paula Vanderford, who heads the accrediting office, said that sometimes the office only recommends probation when violations are not particularly severe or widespread. If the commission imposes probation, no vote would be required by the state Board of Education. However, revoking accreditation would require state board approval.
Auditors wrote that Gray "fails to ensure that a positive, safe, and secure school climate exists for students where teachers and staff feel supported by the administration and are able to maintain order and control."
The state says Jackson needs a discipline policy that "recognizes the teacher as the classroom authority that provides the right to remove disruptive students." The criticism echoed a May 2015 report by the Jackson Federation of Teachers that said the district's Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports system meant there weren't enough consequences for misbehaving students. The district has said it's proud of how it used the system to reduce suspensions or referrals to alternative school, but teachers said the inability to suspend students endangers them and leavs them unable to manage classrooms.
In other cases, the district said it would make corrections. Jackson said it would fix record-keeping violations, including tracking graduation requirements. The audit found 25 of 193 seniors whose records were reviewed graduated in 2015 even though they failed to meet state requirements.
Of 1,643 teachers last year, the audit noted that about 200 were uncertified or improperly certified, while 79 more were working outside their certified field. The district blamed a teacher shortage.
The district admitted many maintenance problems, including a lack of fire extinguishers, a sewage-flooded weight room at Callaway High School, and doors that were either chained or lacked panic bars for exiting. Jackson officials said they were repairing problems cited on more than 80 school buses. And although they didn't admit violations of library standards — including Jim Hill High School where the average book was published in 1977 — Jackson said it was "taking steps to make the changes recommended."
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