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Mississippi Today’s Adam Ganucheau and Bobby Harrison break down the redistricting process, which Mississippi lawmakers will commence during the 2022 legislative session.

Stream the episode here and read a transcript of the episode below.

Adam Ganucheau: [00:00:00] Welcome to The Other Side, Mississippi Today’s political podcast. I’m your host, Adam Ganucheau. The Other Side lets you hear directly from the most connected players and observers across the spectrum of politics in Mississippi. From breaking news to  political strategy to interviews with candidates and elected officials, we’ll bring you perspectives and context that helps you cut through the noise and understand all sides of the story. 

Joining us today is my colleague Bobby Harrison. Bobby, thanks for being here.

Bobby Harrison: [00:00:33] Hey Adam, how you doing? 

Adam Ganucheau: [00:00:34] I’m all right. Well, you know, thinking this podcast this week and you had a story that I think, you know , it’s time for us to kind of start giving a lot more attention to. 

It’s about redistricting. I think your story this week was that the legislative committee in charge of redistricting has announced that they’re going to hold several hearings across the state over the next month, or so— maybe a couple months— to basically hear from the public about redistricting.  Just tell us a little about that story.

Bobby Harrison: [00:00:59] Well, yeah, it comes around every 10 years— redistricting does with the, you know, 10 year Census. After that Census data is released. The state is required on the federal and also state law to change the districts for their state legislative and Senate seats and for the U.S. congressional seats to match the population found by the Census.

I don’t know if we’ll  get into it as much, but it’s important to point out that on a local level supervisors, supervisor districts—this affects supervisor districts, city, council and board of aldermen district. So all that’s going to be going on and then over the next year or so, but, you know, we will be focusing mainly  on the legislative redistricting in the congressional districts. 

And those hearings you talked about, they start in August and people have a opportunity to offer input,  why they think that, you know, that DeSoto County shouldn’t be placed in parts of DeSoto County for— I’m just giving a for instance— shouldn’t be placed in the second congressional district that is currently held by Bennie Thompson or why parts of DeSoto County should be placed in Bennie Thompson’s district. You know, in the same thing  will be going on in the 122 House seats in the state Legislature and the 52 Senate seats.

Adam Ganucheau: [00:02:08] Yeah, I guess, you know, thinking about redistricting, it’s important for several reasons. I think, you know, arguably the chief reason is because of how the districts are drawn typically could affect how policies later pass. So thinking about just the Legislature, now you mentioned, of course we’ll be zoned in on the legislative redistricting, but also the federal congressional district redistricting as well.

But what we’re thinking about just legislative, take that for instance. Right now you know how they draw those districts matters because you know, they could, you know, Republicans who have the control right now. So in theory, they kind of have the say of how these districts are redrawn to a certain They could draw districts that favor their party and they will. I mean, that’s how this works. The party in control gets to draw the districts so they will draw the districts to give their party you know, the majority in the Legislature. So of course that matters because then, you know, when it comes to election season over the next 10 years, you know, you only have a limited amount  of Democrats who could possibly be elected to sort of counter the Republican majority.

And that also obviously affects policy. I mean,  that’s basically a decent summary of why it’s important in that way.

Bobby Harrison: [00:03:20]  And not only policy, but just, you know, who’s in charge.  The prime example of that was if you go back to 2010, which was the last redistricting. The House and Senate was planning to do it during the 2011 legislative session to have the new districts to run in later on that year. Now, what normally has happened is the House passes this plan, the Senate passes this plan, and then each side passes the other side’s plan, but they don’t get into the weeds of, you know, why  they don’t like to plan for the side. And the Democrat majority in the House passed this plan.

And a key thing happened. Phil Bryant,  later governor then lieutenant governor, would not pass the House Democrats’ plan because the plan was drawn to help Democrats. And their theory was we were going to delay and the federal court said they could pass the plan after the 2011 election. And that was a key point because in the past, the federal courts have said, you know, “As soon as you can pass a plan, you got to pass it or we’ll draw a plan to match Census data.”

But the federal courts didn’t do it that year. And so the House and Senate ran under the old plans in 2011. The Republicans barely won the House that year by a slim majority, but they had the majority. And later in the 2012 session, after that, they passed a plan that really helped them. And that led to the super majority that they were able to garner in the coming years because they passed the plan that really helped their side win. If the House Democrats’ plan had been passed in 2011, then there’s a, you know, there’s at least a possibility that that Democrats could have you know, held on to control a little longer in a House, but it didn’t work that way.

I hope that was clear.  

Adam Ganucheau: [00:04:58] It was, yeah. Yeah. You know, there are all those considerations, there are also considerations of race, so it’s not just party it’s race and that’s where the federal government often comes in and approves or rejects certain districts and how they’re drawn, right?

Bobby Harrison: [00:05:12] Yeah. And you know, when I was growing up, you know, believe it or not the, the power structure, Mississippi’s political power structure was not taking race into account. They were taken into account, but they were taken into account in a reverse way. They were trying to prevent African Americans from holding office.

Now I remember lawsuits when I was growing up and they determined one man, one vote. You don’t hear that as often now, but that’s what redistricting is. You know, the districts are supposed to be almost exactly equal in population so that somebody in one district, you know, cause you have a smaller population in one district that sorta alters the equal power from across the state.

So that one man, one vote issue came up and that’s when, you know, the lawsuits started. You know, African-American, small number of legislators began filing lawsuits saying we deserve a larger slice of the pie if you will. And the federal government stepped in and said that the districts have to kind of represent the demographics of the state to a certain extent. And that’s kind of where we are now. And so you could argue that because of the Supreme Court rulings that the federal government does not get as involved in redistricting and the states are free to do a little bit more.

 But there is also court rulings that say, you know, once you have a certain number of  black districts, you cannot regress, you can not do away with those districts. So there’s a certain number of African-American districts in the House and Senate. And those districts would have to kind of be as many or maybe perhaps more in the redistricting process.

Adam Ganucheau: [00:06:42] Sure. You know, Mississippi of course has the highest percentage of black residents of any state in the country. So this is obviously, it’s not just white and black, but obviously this is an issue that has been important to your point, Bobby, for a long time in Mississippi and has been treated as such certainly by the federal government.

And as recently, by the way that the federal courts ruled, what was that— three or four years ago that one of the Senate districts in Mississippi had been improperly drawn and the federal courts basically mandated the state Legislature redraw that district before the last election. 

Bobby Harrison: [00:07:10] Yeah. And  when they filed that lawsuit, it was a group including Ron McDuff and others who filed that lawsuit saying that that district was gerrymandered to elect a white Republican, if you will, in a predominantly African-American area, where you know those people  vote Democrat and it was just drawn.

If you look  at the map, I think the district was 102 miles long. 

Adam Ganucheau: [00:07:32] It was a crazy district.

Bobby Harrison: [00:07:33] Went through several counties, started in Madison and ended way up in the Delta.

Adam Ganucheau: [00:07:38] In Cleveland, if I recall correctly. 

Bobby Harrison: [00:07:41] The federal court said that that was a gerrymandered district designed to dilute black voting strength. And so it was redrawn and I just thought, “Why are they doing that? You know, it’s so late in the process.” But the key reason  they did it was that it created another African-American district. And  as I said, when they do redistricting this year, they have to take that into account and  it’s hard to regress.

You can’t go back and reduce the number of African-American districts. So, that was a key victory, as you will, for racial diversity in the state and the Mississippi Legislature. 

Adam Ganucheau: [00:08:13] Sure, sure. Just the practical reality of how this all works, explain to us the process in the Legislature of how they draw these districts and how they’re ultimately approved.

Bobby Harrison: [00:08:24] Will Stribling and I both, I think, wrote stories about the fact that we got the preliminary Census numbers I think back in April. And it showed that, you know, Mississippi is  one of only three states in the nation to lose population. We didn’t lose a lot of population, but the fact we lost population is kind of a big deal.

 But the state is scheduled to get the the final number, the real detailed data in September. And after they get those numbers the redistricting committee was start working with that. And the first thing they’re gonna do is try to do congressional redistricting and redraw those for U.S.  congressional districts early into 2022 session because you know there’s going to be  congressional elections in 2022.

 And the qualifying deadline is March 1, I believe. So there’s going to be just not much time to redraw those districts so they have to do that first. And then after that, sometime late in the session they’ll start working to redraw the legislative districts. You know, in the House, Jim Beckett, veteran House member from Bruce in Calhoun County, he’s the chair on the House side. And Dean Kirby, the Senate pro tem from over in Rankin County, is a chair on the Senate side.  And what they’ve done in the past is they meet with all the legislators and kind of go over their districts, what concerns that each legislator has and they try to accommodate those concerns to a certain extent, depending on, you know, whether you’re on the ends or the outs of the power structure.

And so they’ll do that. And you know, this is one area where the state doesn’t spare an expense. The state has a, you know, a top notch computer system, good staff to work on these redistricting plans. The public can actually make an appointment and go in and draw their own districts if they so choose.

And it’s kind of cool. I’ve done that before just to do it and I mean, it’s actually pretty easy to do. The computer system is so advanced and so that will begin  to redraw the 122 House seats. And  52 Senate seats sometime, probably late in the 2021 session. But they’re going to have plenty of time, of course, because the next round of state elections where the House and Senate members will be on the ballot won’t be until 2023. 

Adam Ganucheau: [00:10:24] Okay. Sure. So, and the expectation is that they have to do the congressional districts this year soon. 

Bobby Harrison: [00:10:33] Well, I’m getting my dates right wrong, but they have to do them in the 2022 session.

And theoretically, they could wait till 2023 session to do the House and Senate, the legislative districts, but most likely they’ll try to do them in the 2022 session. And you said they had to do them if you could recall. And we reported on this too. It’s come up in a couple of stories.

In 2000, the 2000 Census when we lost a congressional seat. And after the 2010 census, the House and Senate could not come up with a plan. And those plans were actually drawn by the federal court. 

Adam Ganucheau: [00:11:04] Okay. Yeah, sure. 

Bobby Harrison: [00:11:06] But I think it’s safe to say that the leadership in the House and Senate do not want the legislative plans to be drawn by the federal courts.

They want to have the control of that and do that. And you know, this is kind of the time when bare-knuckled politics, especially behind the scenes comes into play because you know, you’re going to have, you know, because there’s population shifts there.  Especially in the Delta, there’s population that has been lost and that’s an area where, you know, there’s a high African-American population.

So, you know, you got two things going on. You got the issue. I talked about regression where you don’t want, you can’t reduce the number of African-American districts . You got to go out and find those African-Americans in other areas of the state because just, you know, quite frankly, the Delta is losing population.

And so that’s also going to be an issue in the congressional redistricting. And so this is where, you know, there’s going to be somebody somewhere, some legislator who’s probably going to be put in a district with another legislator. 

Adam Ganucheau: [00:12:01] Sure.

Bobby Harrison: [00:12:02] And so, you know, this is kind of where bare knuckle politics come into play.

And, you know, you know, somebody’s district is going to be, as they say “absorbed” by somebody else. And that person can look at the numbers and see where his people are and everything and knows he doesn’t have  much of a chance to win. So it’s going to probably lead to some retirements in the Legislature.

And it’s going to lead to some hard feelings, but the leadership will try to accommodate most of the Republicans. And keep in mind that issue of regression and so they’re kind of walking a fine line. 

Adam Ganucheau: [00:12:32] Sure. Is there any horse trading that goes on behind the scenes on, you know, “Don’t redraw my district and I’ll do X for you?” or “draw me out of my district,” rather. Not redraw.

Bobby Harrison: [00:12:39] Yeah. You know, that’s a big carrot or a stick  depending on how you look at it. You know, there’s a key vote coming up and at the same time redistricting is, you know, or not just at the same time, but, for the past two years, legislators have known redistricting is coming up.

So, you know, that’s kind of an issue that they don’t want to offend that leadership.

Adam Ganucheau: [00:12:58] On their best behavior. 

Bobby Harrison: [00:12:59] Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. Right now we have 76 Republicans and 44 Democrats in the House. And  in the Senate, two Democrats have just resigned, but those are probably Democratic seats, but right now we have 36 Republicans and 14 Democrats.

Adam Ganucheau: [00:13:14] Yeah. Well obviously Republican, super majority in both chambers. I don’t suspect they’re going to do anything to draw themselves out of that super majority with this next redistricting. 

Bobby Harrison: [00:13:24] No, but you know, there might be a Republican here or there that the leadership might want to make it a little bit more difficult for them to win reelection. And so you might look for those subtle redrawn districts to come up, you know this year or next year when they start doing this process. You might be able to tell who  the legislative leadership really doesn’t like. 

Adam Ganucheau: [00:13:41] We can speculate on some of that now, but we’re not gonna touch that. Bobby, it’s gonna be interesting to watch. I mean, it’s, it’s it’s a huge story. You’ve written about how this next legislative session could be a historic one for several reasons. This one is near the top of that list. You know, thanks for sitting down with us and walking us through it.

It’s kind of a complicated topic and time and action that the Legislature takes, but it’s just vitally important I think to the future of the state. So thanks for helping break it down for us and thanks for covering it. 

Bobby Harrison: [00:14:07] Enjoyed it. Thanks.

Adam Ganucheau: [00:14:15] As we cover the biggest political stories in this state you don’t want to miss an episode of The Other Side. We’ll bring you more reporting from every corner of the state, sharing the voices of Mississippians and how they’re impacted by the news. So, what do we need from you, the listener? We need your feedback and support.

If you listen to the podcast on a player like iTunes or Stitcher, please subscribe to the show and leave us a review. We also have an email in which you can share your feedback. That address is Podcast@MississippiToday.org. Y’all can also reach out to me or any of my colleagues through social media or email. And as always thank you for your feedback and support.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast on your favorite podcast app or stream episodes online at MississippiToday.org/the-other-side. For the Mississippi Today team, I’m Adam Ganucheau. The Other Side is produced by Mississippi Today and engineered by Blue Sky Studios. We hope you’ll join us for our next episode.

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Mississippi Today’s Adam Ganucheau and Bobby Harrison break down the redistricting process, which Mississippi lawmakers will commence during the 2022 legislative session.

Stream the episode here. Read a transcript of the episode here.

The post Podcast: How, exactly, does redistricting in Mississippi work? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi could be on the verge of what used to be one of the fiercest spectacles in politics — a speaker’s race.

Speculation that three-term Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, will challenge incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves in the Republican primary in 2023 has gotten tongues wagging and House members strategizing on who might run to be the next presiding officer of the chamber.

No doubt, probably every representative in the 122-member chamber believes he or she would be the best person to succeed Gunn as speaker should he opt to challenge Reeves.

But, because of the rise of partisan politics in the state, the race, if there is one, will not play out like past speaker’s races as former Speaker Billy McCoy used to say “in the cold light of day.”

Nowadays, the race for speaker is almost anticlimactic, a far cry from the past. The party that wins a majority in the 2023 election will caucus behind closed doors before the Legislature convenes in January 2024 and select a choice for speaker. All members of the majority party — most likely the Republicans — will cast their vote for that person on the opening day of the legislative term, ending any suspense.

That is what happened when Gunn was first elected. Soon after it became apparent after the November 2011 election that Republicans had captured a majority in the House for the first time since Reconstruction, those newly elected members met behind closed doors in Brandon, away from the Capitol, and selected the speaker from five candidates. After that process was completed, Republicans reemerged and announced they were unanimously behind Gunn.

In the olden days when party politics was not a major issue, members would announce their intention to run for speaker, resulting in a very public, bare-knuckled political campaign that often ended with a contested election where members had to publicly cast their vote for speaker on the opening day of a new four-year term.

The last public and perhaps wildest speaker’s race culminated in 2008, when McCoy was elected to his second term as speaker by defeating fellow Democrat Jeff Smith of Columbus by the narrowest margin of 62-60.

“The thing was a street brawl,” Brandon Jones recently said on Mississippi Today’s “The Other Side” podcast. Jones, the current policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Action Fund, was a freshman Democratic House member in 2008. Jones had won what was believed to be a heavily Republican open seat in Jackson County by 11 votes and faced tremendous pressure to vote for Smith, who had the support of the state Republican Party apparatus.

“One of the first calls I get (after being elected) is from Gov. Haley Barbour to ask me to vote for Jeff Smith,” Jones recalled.

Despite the pressure, Jones said he never wavered in his support of McCoy, who shared his political philosophy on issues like education and infrastructure.

Had Jones not won that election, it is not clear how Mississippi history would have been altered.

If a Republican had won the district, most likely that person would have voted for Smith, a conservative Democrat who had the support of all House Republicans, at the time a minority in the chamber. That vote would have resulted in a 61-61 tie.

The tension and uncertainty were palatable in the House chamber on the day of the election. There were two tie votes as members tried to elect a temporary speaker — either Ed Blackmon, who had the support of the McCoy forces, or Robert Johnson, who had the support of the Smith allies.

As the third roll call began, then-House member David Norquist of Cleveland approached Smith’s desk, and then the two walked toward the exit of the chamber, presumably where a deal would be offered for Norquist to abandon McCoy and vote for Smith. But as they exited the chamber, Linda Coleman of Mound Bayou, who on the two previous votes had supported the Smith forces, cast her vote for Blackmon and thus symbolically for McCoy. Coleman’s vote sealed Smith’s fate and led to the end of what might have been the most hotly contested speaker’s race in the state’s history.

Outgoing three-term Secretary of State Eric Clark presided over the process. The Constitution mandates the secretary of state preside over the House on opening day of a new four-year term until a presiding officer is elected.

Delbert Hosemann, who was elected to succeed Clark as secretary of state, would not be sworn in until two days later. But Hosemann, recognizing the historic significance of the day, was in the chamber to witness the events.

There might be a race coinciding with the 2023 election for House speaker, but it will not be like that 2007-08 race — a true donnybrook.

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Editor’s note: This obituary was provided to Mississippi Today by the family of Elise Varner Winter and was written by longtime family friend JoAnne Prichard Morris.

Elise Varner Winter, the widow of Mississippi Gov. William Winter, died July 17, 2021, in Jackson. She was 95.

Winter was an active partner in her husband’s administration, which set a new tone of inclusion and openness to change and brought about significant reforms in the state’s educational system. Friends said her grace, intelligence, and sense of duty were essential to the success of the administration.

Throughout her husband’s political career, she campaigned vigorously on his many successful runs for as he won many elective office in state government, including the governorship in 1979. At that time, the governor could serve only one term, and as first lady Mrs. Winter made a serious commitment to the people of Mississippi and to the governor to help him accomplish as much good for their state as possible during those few years. It was a job that demanded her careful, thoughtful attention and unflagging energy every single day.

She assumed her role as first lady at a transitional time for women, when the forces of tradition and change were pulling women’s in opposite directions, and she was a transitional first lady. While possessing the charm and domestic talents of a traditional southern first “lady of the house,” she also demonstrated a modern woman’s professional and purposeful approach to her job.

Although not a staff member, she had a seat at the governor’s staff meetings on policy and administrative decision making. According to Dick Molpus of Jackson, then Winter’s director of federal-state programs, Mrs. Winter was a “quick strategic thinker,” who commanded the attention and respect of the governor and his all-male staff.

She played a principal role in the governor’s efforts to reform the state’s educational system. Along with Governor Winter and his senior aides, the first lady led a statewide grassroots campaign to win the support of the public. She made hundreds of speeches, visited scores of classrooms, and explained the governor’s plans to thousands of people who attended nine forums held across the state. Though soft spoken and gentle, she would directly engage confrontational individuals when necessary to refute mistaken ideas.

In a special session, the Legislature overwhelmingly passed the historic 1984 Educational Reform Act, ensuring the state a system of kindergartens, compulsory attendance laws, and other improvements. Winter always said that no one worked harder for this achievement or experienced more joy in its passage than his wife.

To showcase the state’s cultural achievements, Mrs. Winter coordinated an ambitious series of events, co-hosting with the governor many accomplished Mississippians for dinner and conversations at the Governor’s Mansion. These occasions featured artists, writers, and business and political leaders, including such luminaries as Eudora Welty, Leontyne Price, Walker Percy, Shelby Foote, Margaret Walker Alexander, and Willie Morris.

In addition to excelling as the governor’s hostess-wife, she was a conscientious steward of the Governor’s Mansion, designated as a national historic landmark. She collaborated with state officials and specialists to develop its collection of antique furnishings and decorative arts. Under her supervision, Friends of the Mansion was organized, and supporters contributed generously to acquire historic artifacts for the Mansion.

Mrs. Winter took special interest in the state penitentiary inmates assigned to the Governor’s Mansion on a work release program. She was committed to teaching them skills they could use later and equally dedicated to helping them find jobs upon their release. One former inmate presented her a one-dollar bill from his first paycheck in gratitude for her confidence in him. She kept his bill always as a reminder of “the lessons about acceptance and compassion he and the other inmates taught me.” She recommended another inmate, Edgar Glover, for a position at St. Andrews Cathedral, where he subsequently worked for thirty years, beloved by the parishioners.

Her compassion for the workers at the Mansion extended to the prisoners at the state penitentiary at Parchman. She felt compelled to understand this world that was so far outside her experience but so important to the governor’s task as governor. She often left the comfort of the elegant governor’s residence to spend the day visiting the Parchman grounds and speaking with inmates and corrections officials. She advocated effectively for increased prison funding, better living conditions, and greater opportunities for inmates’ rehabilitation.

Left behind are several material results of her work. Her concern for incarcerated women in the overwhelmingly male prison led to the creation of a separate women’s prison in Pearl, Mississippi. She was responsible for getting a visitors center built for Parchman inmates’ families — finding the financing, planning, and working closely with the prison staff to have prisoners carry out the actual construction. These facilities, now expanded, are in use today,

Ever resourceful, she was equally interested in the rehabilitation of prisoners. Over the considerable doubts of prison officials, she succeeded in developing a vegetable garden, which provided work, training, and fresh food for the inmates year-round. She instigated the building of a greenhouse to grow bedding plants that could beautify the prison and the state building grounds in Jackson, while teaching inmates in a useful skill. The Parchman garden, known now as the farming unit, still grows, and the greenhouse is a mainstay of the prison’s current rehabilitation program in horticulture.

Like the governor, Mrs. Winter brought to her position a deep appreciation for history. As first lady, she kept a journal of her daily activities and reflections, intending the information only as a historical record. She was eventually persuaded to publish it in 2015. Her book, “Once in a Lifetime: Reflections of a Mississippi First Lady,” reveals the extraordinary volume and range of her own activities and puts a human face on her husband’s work. Her story is grounded in devotion to her husband, love of family, and an abiding faith.

After leaving government service, Elise Winter became an essential driving force in the mission of Habitat for Humanity in the metro-Jackson area — as a founder, major fundraiser, life member of the board, and hands-on volunteer. She also served on the Habitat International Board. In 2012, the Jackson Habitat chapter awarded her its first Founder’s Award in appreciation for 25 years of service. “Habitat excites and inspires me in a way nothing else does,” she has said. “To see people whose need is so great and to know that there’s something you can do to help them — it touches your heart.”

Elise Winter was born May 9, 1926, to Mamie and William Elliot (John) Varner in Senatobia, Mississippi. Her father was the town pharmacist and longtime mayor of Senatobia, and her mother was his bookkeeper and the strong guiding hand of Elise and her older siblings, Virginia and Joel. They lived with her maternal grandparents — three generations in a big, old house at the end of Main Street in Senatobia. After high school she attended Northwest Junior College in her home town and lived at home, transferring to Ole Miss as a junior.

At Ole Miss her brother introduced her to his roommate, William Winter from Grenada, a friendly young veteran of World War II and law student. She completed a bachelor’s degree in history, and at her mother’s insistence earned a teacher’s certificate. As she began working toward a master’s degree, William won his first term in the state legislature.

They were married in 1950 and enjoyed an exciting first year of married life in Washington, D.C., where William worked in Mississippi Sen. John Stennis’ office. The following year, the couple returned to Mississippi and never left. William resumed his political career, and they built a family. Elise took the lead in bringing up their three daughters. In her later years, Mrs. Winter was frequently seen in her Jackson neighborhood taking brisk walks with her beloved schnauzer, Charlie Brown.

Mrs. Winter’s death follows that of her husband by less than a year. She is survived by three daughters Anne Winter, Lele Gillespie and Eleanor Winter; five grandchildren, Dr. Winter Williams, Dr. Zach Williams, Ty Gillespie, Caroline Gillespie, and Grace Gillespie; and five great-grandchildren.

Words Mrs. Winter wrote in tribute to a deceased former Governor’s Mansion inmate worker speak poignantly about her character as well: “[His service] made me realize again that social standing or economic status or sectarian creed or race does not make any difference in the sight of God — that we are his children and we must continue our miraculous journey together, learning to love one another as we go forward.”

Memorial contributions may be made to Habitat for Humanity, Mississippi Capital Area, 615 Stonewall, Jackson, MS 39213.

A memorial service will be announced at a later date once the dangers of COVID-19 have abated and it is safe to gather for a service. Condolences to the Winter family may be mailed to P.O. Box 427, Jackson, MS 39205.

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On May 14, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned Initiative 65 and ruled that the state’s ballot initiative process is “unworkable and inoperative.” This left six ballot initiatives, including Initiative 65, void. The decision outraged many Mississippians, and even inspired them to protest soon after the Supreme Court’s decision.

This is MT Speaks, Mississippi Today’s new video series that connects our reporting with the experiences of Mississippians from across the state. In this episode, Mississippi Today’s healthcare and breaking news reporter Will Stribling talks to three Mississippians about their reactions to the Supreme Court ruling that struck down Initiative 65. Mississippi Today’s senior political reporter Geoff Pender also offers insight about how we got here.

For the next episode of MT Speaks, we want to hear from creative Mississippians. Learn more about how you can participate here.

Want more MT Speaks? Enter your email address and we’ll send you a message when a new episode goes live.

The post MT Speaks Episode Two: Mississippians react to losing Initiative 65 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A federal grand jury entered a new indictment in the case of Nancy and Zach New on Tuesday, doubling the amount that the mother-son owners of a Mississippi private school district are accused of stealing from federal education funds.

The indictment, released on Thursday, replaces an earlier one from March. 

The new indictment included four new counts of aggravated identity theft and increased the amount of “fraudulently obtained” funds to $4 million from $2 million in the previous indictment. If convicted of all charges, the News could each face up to 218 years in prison and $5 million in fines.

The News are accused of filing fraudulent claims with the Mississippi Department of Education for special education scholarships and reimbursements on behalf of students who no longer or had never attended their schools, teachers who no longer worked at their schools, or claiming that teachers had higher certifications than they did.

The new indictment also specifically names North New Summit in Greenwood and South New Summit in Hattiesburg as facilities that the News were submitting fraudulent reimbursement claims on behalf of. It also alleges that claims were submitted for three years falsely showing that Nancy New was working full-time as a teacher at New Summit School, resulting in a salary reimbursement of $67,000 for each of those years.

All of the original charges were also included in this new indictment. Those charges were conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, money transactions with unlawfully acquired funds, and five additional counts of aggravated identity theft.

The Mississippi Department of Education was contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication. 

As the new charges have been announced, teachers at several New Summit schools have been laid off as the schools do not have the money to make payroll, a signal that they will likely close permanently.  

The New Learning Resources School District focused on providing specialized services for students with behavioral or learning disabilities. As a private school group with public accreditation from the Mississippi Department of Education, schools in the district are funded through a combination of tuition payments and Education Scholarship Accounts, a voucher that allows public school dollars to follow special needs students to private schools.

Both teachers and parents interviewed by Mississippi Today say that New Summit School has been an invaluable resource to the students with learning disabilities enrolled there. The federal and state charges have created uncertainty and anxiety for the parents of current students, leading to a group of parents working to have New Summit School transferred into a custodianship so that it could remain operational. At this time, it is unclear if they will succeed in keeping the school open.

Nancy and Zach New have not been arraigned for these new charges, but they both pleaded not guilty to the previous indictment in March. 

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When the history of the COVID-19 pandemic is written, one of the darkest chapters (outside of the 600,000+ deaths) will be the politicization of public health efforts. The results of that have led to public health officials, usually underpaid and overworked, to received threats and social media scorn. Mississippi’s public health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, hasn’t allowed any of that scorn to slow him down. Uniquely qualified to be in charge during a coronavirus-driven pandemic, he just continues to continue to put out scientifically based information to inform the public. Like a meteorologist who interrupts a ballgame with a tornado warning, he just continues to keep us informed — critics be darned.

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As infections continue to increase and in some cases hospitalize children, Mississippi schools are grappling with what COVID-19 restrictions, if any, should be made for the upcoming school year.

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs recently expressed his concerns about a “surge of cases in kids” as a result of the spread of the Delta variant. This week seven minors were hospitalized after becoming infected with the variant, and the state on Wednesday saw its highest single-day caseload since March.

Gov. Tate Reeves has signaled he will not be issuing any mandates around masks or other COVID-19 protocols in schools, so Mississippi districts are left to grapple with what restrictions to put in place in a state where only 31% of the population is vaccinated. Of that, just 6% of children ages 12-15 and 12% of kids ages 16-17 are fully vaccinated, according to the Mississippi Department of Health.

At the same time, the Mississippi State Board of Education on Thursday passed a policy stating schools must return to in-person learning as the primary mode of learning in the 2021-2022 school year. The board also approved policies outlining how the district can offer school- or district-wide virtual instruction during a COVID-19 outbreak, weather event or other situation, and outlined requirements for students who are learning virtually due to a medical condition or other reason.

This is a stark difference from last summer, when there was speculation about whether the governor would delay the start of the school year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In August 2020, days before the school year was slated to start in many public school districts, Reeves issued an executive order that mandated masks be worn in schools and allowed most to reopen as planned except in eight counties deemed COVID hot spots.

The Mississippi Department of Health required districts to report COVID infection data to the state on a weekly basis during the school year, and though not every district complied each week, the last report showed at least 6,083 students, teachers and staff contracted the virus in 2021. In any given week during the school year, thousands of students and teachers were forced to quarantine because of exposure to the virus.

Reader survey: COVID-19 vaccines and schools

This year there are no delayed start dates or mask mandate, and recent guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control urge schools to fully reopen. The CDC also recommends that unvaccinated individuals and children under 12 should continue wearing masks. Schools should also try to make sure people stay at least three feet apart when possible, the guidelines say.

Jim Keith, a school board attorney for more than 20 Mississippi school districts, said he is hearing from most superintendents that they will not be requiring masks for students and teachers but instead recommending them for unvaccinated individuals. He said he is also hearing debate about requiring students who participate in extracurricular activities to be vaccinated.

Keith said schools are feeling the pressure from parents.

“We’ve already got parents coming to board meetings on one end saying ‘You better not require masks,’ and others saying, ‘If you don’t require masks and you’ve got an unvaccinated employee that exposes my child, I’m going to be really upset,’” said Keith.

Erica Jones, the president of the Mississippi Association of Educators, said while teachers are excited to be returning to school buildings in the fall, some are still apprehensive about the lack of a mask mandate given recent news.

“Educators and students deserve to teach and learn in a safe setting without fearing for their health or the health of their families,” Jones said in a statement. “It is our hope that district and state leaders will take these fears into account, heed the warnings of medical professionals about the more dangerous and easily transmissible Delta variant, and prioritize the safety of students and educators.”

In the Gulfport School District, masks are currently “encouraged but not required.” Superintendent Glen East emphasized that it is an evolving situation and they continue to work with medical professionals in the district on masks and vaccines. The district is also offering vaccines to students at an event this Friday.

“You have to be concerned (about the Delta variant),” East said. “But my bigger fear is that there seems to be a wave of indifference across the country, where folks are waiting longer to make decisions than March a year ago. That little bit of indifference seems to be slowing us down.”

However, East elaborated, “We’re making decisions slower than when all this started, but maybe with a little more wisdom as well.”

Some schools, like those in the capital city, will require masks, according to the Jackson Public School District’s “Return to Learn” plan. It also highlights other measures like providing opportunities for faculty and staff to be vaccinated, increased hand washing and isolation rooms for sick children waiting to leave school.

JPS Superintendent Errick Greene also wrote a letter to the district in June stating administrators have created a dashboard to track COVID-19 cases in the schools.

In Laurel School District, Superintendent Toy Watts said she is “leaning toward” a mask requirement for the fall.

Watts said it’s “very clear” masks work in preventing the spread of COVID-19. A recent study by ABC Science Collaborative, in conjunction with Duke University, showed mask-wearing reduced the transmission of COVID-19 in North Carolina Schools.

“We know how important it is to keep kids in front of their teachers,” she said. “We’re going to make sure we take measures to keep children and teachers in the building.”

Clinton, Madison and DeSoto County School Districts have all issued guidelines making masks optional.

“The superintendent may require masks for all faculty, staff and students if local health data dictates a need to do so,” Clinton’s guidelines state.

State epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said last week the Department of Health will be issuing “Mississippi-specific” components of the new CDC guidance for schools, but it is unclear when.

Byers made a presentation to superintendents at their annual conference on the Gulf Coast this week about how to handle masks, testing and all things COVID-19 in the 2021-22 school year.

Byers highlighted important practices for districts to use in the fall to keep schools safe: mask wearing for unvaccinated people; screening testing when someone has been exposed to COVID-19; proper ventilation; hand washing and respiratory etiquette; staying home while sick and getting tested; contact tracing in combination with quarantine and isolation; and finally, cleaning and disinfection.

He also told school officials that fully vaccinated students and staff are not required to quarantine or be tested after coming in contact with an infected person.

But for those who are unvaccinated and are exposed to a positive individual, the unvaccinated person can stay in school if he or she submits to testing every two days for a seven-day period and does not develop any symptoms.

He also said schools should encourage students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated, as “vaccination is currently the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic” and is “one of the most critical strategies to help schools safely reopen full operations,” his presentation stated.

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