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Okolona Elementary students board the school bus after class on Monday. The state Board of Education has asked Gov. Haley Barbour to declare an emergency in the district, giving the state authority to run its schools. Barbour has said he will sign the declaration after receiving the paperwork. (Thomas Wells)
“If you’re in trouble, you need to do something to get yourself out of trouble,” said Nellie Adams, who retired as principal of Okolona Junior High in 1989 and still lives in the city. “What we really need is for all of our people to pull together and focus on the children.”
The state Board of Education voted last week to ask Gov. Haley Barbour to declare an emergency in the school district, citing financial troubles and poor academic performance.
Barbour has said he will sign the paperwork, giving the state the authority to take over the district.
“I really think it is in the best interest of our children,” said Sister Liz Brown, the executive director of Excel Inc., a community-based organization that holds after-school and GED programs. “We cannot wait any longer. We cannot lose another generation of kids to another frail education system.”
The district was rated “Failing” in the latest state accountability rankings because of low scores on state tests and the lack of students meeting individual growth targets. The district’s dropout percentage is 18.7 percent, and enrollment has declined from 852 to 650 over five years.
“We think this will give us an opportunity to get our schools back on track,” Okolona Mayor Louise Cole said. “Overwhelmingly, the people of Okolona are in favor of this, and we hope to make this transition as smooth as possible. At the end of the day, once this conservatorship is complete, our children will have a quality education we can be proud of and that they’re deserving of.”
Okolona’s three schools – Okolona Elementary School, Okolona High School and Okolona Vocational Complex – will continue to operate. Students attended class as normal on Monday.
As part of the process, the Okolona School Board will be dissolved and the superintendent will be terminated. The state board has already approved former Tupelo superintendent Mike Vinson to run the district as conservator. Vinson will essentially serve as superintendent and school board.
Within 45 days, Vinson must develop a clear plan of action and an exit strategy.
The conservatorship will likely begin March 1 with a meeting with concerned parents and community members. That meeting has not yet been finalized.
State Superintendent Tom Burnham has said he expects Okolona Superintendent Gregory Stephens, who joined the district in January, to remain in the system in some capacity.
Stephens said it is difficult for him to comment until his role is better defined. But he did issue a statement encouraging all everyone in the community to “become a bigger part in the School District.”
“It is imperative now that we rally together as a School District and community to partner together for the benefit of our schools,” Stephens wrote in the statement. “The most important factor in all of this is our responsibility to our students that we serve on a daily basis. It is my hope and expectation that the State Department will do what is in the best interest of the children of the Okolona School District.”
Residents were hopeful that the conservator process will improve not just the schools, but the entire community.
“I know because the schools have low ratings, it keeps a lot of people from living here, especially if they have children,” said Linda Carnathan, interim director of the Okolona Area Chamber of Commerce. “ Everyone wants their children to have the best education.
Carnathan said that the chamber is committed to doing what it can to help the schools.
“Maybe with the state taking over, it will make the quality of the schools higher, which will bring more manufacturing or business or even more people wanting to move here,” Carnathan said.
Larry Davis, who teaches adult GED classes at Excel Inc., said the state takeover has to serve as a wake-up call.
“The state is coming in to take over, and it will need the community to get behind not only the people at the district level but also the teachers at each individual school,” Davis said.
“I think we need to be very supportive this time and not look at the negative aspects. The problem has been identified. Now we need to come together to find a solution.”
Contact Chris Kieffer at (662) 678-1590 or at chris.kieffer@djournal.com.
Good luck to everyone involved in taking the school system over. From the outside looking in, they've got more than their hands full.