Greenville Chrisitan coach Jon Reed McLendon talks about his team’s amazing story and the Cleveland boys discuss the prospects of the state’s college football teams.
Do you have questions about the ramifications COVID-19 has had on Mississippi’s hospital system and public schools? Get them answered by education and healthcare experts such as Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Dr. Dan Edney, Dr. Bonita Coleman, Dr. LouAnn Woodward and more at Mississippi Today’s COVID Community Town Hall.
The questions for this event will come straight from our readers. What do you want to know about COVID-19, schools, hospitals or vaccination progress? Submit a question for our panelists using the form below!
Mississippi comedian Rita B. will give welcoming remarks before Mississippi Today editor-in-chief Adam Ganucheau kicks off the event with an intro Q&A with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Dr. Dan Edney, chief medical director for the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Lead education reporter Kate Royals and healthcare reporter Will Stribling will moderate a panel of education and healthcare professionals that includes Dr. LouAnn Woodward, Vice Chancellor and Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Edney, along with Bonita Coleman, superintendent of Ocean Springs School District and Mandy Lacy, principal of DeLisle Elementary School. We will also hear from Michelle Henry, a parent in the Jackson Public School District.
This event, presented by Mississippi Today, is sponsored by the Delta Health Alliance and produced in partnership with WJTV.
As the delta variant of COVID-19 spreads rapidly in schools across Mississippi, the state board of education recently issued a directive to give school districts flexibility in how they teach their students.
The policy change allows school districts to implement a blend of virtual and in-person learning in an attempt to reduce the number of students in a classroom at one time and stem COVID-19 transmission. Schools may do this until Oct. 31, the policy states.
This was the first major adjustment this school year that allowed flexibility for school districts in the current school year. Starting the school year, districts were required to return their students to in-person learning, and the criteria for a virtual learning option was steep.
The mid-August decision came after massive virus outbreaks disrupted school just days after students returned to the classroom, despite medical professionals spending weeks warning that the delta variant affected children more than previous virus strains.
In contrast, school districts going into last school year were under a mask mandate issued by Gov. Tate Reeves and had the ability to offer 100% virtual or hybrid learning.
Two weeks after the policy was adopted, Mississippi Today asked several districts across the state how they’re handling it. We found that district-by-district responses differed depending on the beliefs of school leaders and the situations specific to their schools.
While some appreciate this new flexibility, administrators in areas without connectivity say it does little to help them. And parents in districts without any options besides in-person learning are saying it makes no sense — and even going so far as to homeschool their children.
In the Clinton School District, school is taught in person. A group of parents have lobbied the administration for more options but to no avail. Several parents told Mississippi Today they pulled their children out of the district recently.
Natasha Zinda is the mother of three children in the district who learned virtually last year. She has lupus, so she is at higher risk for serious complications from COVID-19.
“For them to switch it up so suddenly this year while the numbers are higher, and we’re in a more dire situation and hospitals are on the verge of collapse — what the hell, basically?” she said.
While she hasn’t officially withdrawn her children, she is looking at homeschooling options.
Clinton Public School District Superintendent Andy Schoggin said the district chose not to offer a virtual option for several reasons.
“Last year, we saw that having students inside the classroom not only impacted their academic success in a positive manner, but positively impacted the emotional well-being of our students as well,” he said in a statement. He also pointed to guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics that referred to research showing opening schools does not significantly increase community transmission when safety measures – such as universal mask-wearing – are put in place.
He said the state’s decision to no longer give schools the flexibility they had last year in regards to meeting the attendance and instructional time requirements in virtual learning impacted their decision.
“Last year, MDE provided school districts with broad flexibility when it came to what virtual instruction looked like,” he said. “This past April, MDE voted to end those pandemic-related flexibilities.”
When this academic year began, schools could offer virtual learning to students, though they had to meet certain requirements (such as having reliable internet connectivity) if they chose to do so. While only a few have offered that option, more are transitioning to a hybrid schedule, a mixture of in-person and virtual learning in which students alternate days they are on campus.
Nearby Jackson Public Schools recently approved offering additional virtual options for certain students. Superintendent Errick Greene said he was getting a lot of feedback from concerned families and employees about the surge in COVID-19 cases and the highly transmissible delta variant.
Jackson Public Schools students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade can now learn virtually for the rest of the semester after the board approved the new policy last week. Greene said the district decided to provide the option to those students because they are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, which is currently only authorized for ages 12 and older.
Students whose parents opt in to virtual learning must have reliable internet connectivity, ensure regular attendance for the entire instructional day, and sign an acknowledgment of district policy, among others.
Greene said he and other administrators have been hearing concerns from employees and families about the surge in COVID-19 cases and the safety of young students.
“Learning in a hybrid model is very difficult for continuity of learning,” said Greene. “We’re opting to focus our adjustments here on the virtual learning option.”
DeSoto County Schools, which remains a mask-optional district, announced it would transition Hernando High School to a hybrid schedule beginning last week. The high school was operating virtually after what Superintendent Cory Uselton described as a “cluster of cases or potential outbreaks” developed among the student body.
A middle school in the district is also currently operating on a hybrid schedule.
But for some rural districts, virtual and hybrid learning are not options, according to administrators.
In the Smith County School District, the board decided to shut the schools down entirely for a two-week period and make up the days at another time. Smith County School District Superintendent Nick Hillman said the reason for that is because so many children don’t have reliable internet connectivity and his belief that virtual learning is not effective for some.
“Virtual is just not the best thing for us to do. Even if you have internet, elementary kids have to be taught — they’re not self learners like older kids,” said Hillman, who estimates about half of the students in the district don’t have internet at home.
The district hasn’t invested in hot spots because it “doesn’t do any good unless you have cell phone service,” he continued. “It just wouldn’t work well in this area.”
He’s hopeful the two-week break will slow down the spread of COVID-19, though he knows there is a risk of students gathering in groups regardless.
Lincoln County School District Superintendent has said virtual learning is not an option for his district, but two school systems recently transitioned to a hybrid model due to COVID-19 outbreaks and resulting quarantines.
While not all districts can implement this without issue,the blend of in-person and virtual learning aims to reduce the number of students in a building at one time and hopefully slow transmission of the fast-spreading delta variant.
“The penetration of this virus knows no boundaries,” said Ronnie McGehee, a member of the State Board of Education and former superintendent of schools in Madison County. “… To continue instruction, educators need the flexibility to protect their communities.”
While Mississippi was spared the destruction neighboring Louisiana saw from Hurricane Ida, the storm traversed most of the Magnolia State and hard-hit areas on the Coast and in southwest Mississippi are still dealing with the disaster.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Stephen McRaney on Wednesday said initial reports are that Ida damaged 164 homes in Mississippi, six of which were destroyed. It damaged 184 roadways and 53 bridges, and Mississippi Department of Transportation officials are still assessing damages.
Two people were killed and 10 others injured (three critically) on Monday night when a section of Mississippi Highway 26 west of Lucedale collapsed and seven vehicles plunged into the crater. Shortly before the storm’s arrival, a motorist in Harrison County heading to get sandbags was killed in a crash.
“On behalf of President Biden, our heart goes out to the families in George County who lost loved ones, and we would like to thank all the first responders. You’ve had a lot on your plates as of late,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who was in Mississippi on Wednesday and attended a press conference with McRaney, Gov. Tate Reeves and others. “… Mississippi avoided the worst of Ida, but the federal family was here to help respond and support as needed … We will be here to continue to support any efforts.”
Reeves said there were still 37,000 power outages statewide on Wednesday, primarily in Wilkinson County and rural areas of southwest Mississippi. He said at the storm’s peak, there were about 136,000 outages.
“Given the heat advisories and the 100-degree plus temperatures we’re seeing, it is very important to get that power restored,” Reeves said. “… There are many, many heroes in a large disaster like this, but our linemen and linewomen are certainly at the top of those lists.”
McRaney said some main transmission lines remained down Wednesday and urged people to be patient and try to stay off the roads in impacted areas, but said the whole state should have power restored by Friday. All hospitals have power, though during the storm three had to convert at least partially to generators.
Mississippi officials said those in need of assistance can use the following contacts:
Mississippi Hurricane Ida Assistance Line for Mississippi residents: Call 1-888-574-3583, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., or go to msema.org.
Louisiana residents sheltering in Mississippi can contact Louisiana emergency authorities at: 1-800-755-5175.
Louisiana residents sheltering in Mississippi wanting to apply for federal individual assistance can call: 1-800-621-3362, or go to disasterassistance.gov.
Gov. Tate Reeves has named Laura Hipp as interim director of the Mississippi Development Authority after John Rounsaville resigned amid allegations he sexually harassed and touched three subordinate female MDA employees.
Hipp, former communications director for Reeves when he served as lieutenant governor, had been serving as chief marketing officer and senior adviser at MDA. She served as communications director for former Gov. Haley Barbour, and was a longtime journalist, including as a political reporter for the Clarion Ledger and Austin Business Journal in Texas.
Reeves on Tuesday announced Hipp’s appointment on Twitter and said, “My confidence in her to execute my vision will lead to economic growth and continue Mississippi’s momentum.”
In a statement, Hipp said: “I am grateful for this opportunity from Gov. Reeves, and the MDA team will continue to build on its success bringing jobs to Mississippi’s communities and attracting tourists to wander through our state and see all it has to offer.”
MDA is the state’s lead economic and community development agency. As agency director, Hipp will oversee a staff of about 300 employees. MDA works to recruit new businesses to the state and retain and expand existing industry and manages the state’s energy programs. MDA also promotes Mississippi as a tourism destination.
Hipp has a master’s degree in public policy and administration from Mississippi State University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas Tech University.
Rounsaville announced his resignation earlier this month — effective Aug. 31 — after a state investigation into reports he sexually harassed and touched three subordinate female MDA employees at a Biloxi bar during a business conference in July.
Reeves had appointed Rounsaville as permanent MDA director in January after he had served as interim since May of 2020.
A journalist was violently confronted in Mississippi on live national television on Monday, and our state is the talk of the nation for it. I wish I could say I was surprised.
NBC correspondent Shaquille Brewster was doing a live shot for MSNBC from a Gulfport beach on Monday morning when a pickup truck drove up behind him. A man jumped out and ran toward him.
The man, broadcast live to the world, got in Brewster’s face and could be heard shouting “cover this accurately.” Brewster, who remained calm, raised his forearm to block the man. The live report abruptly ended, and Brewster later tweeted that he was OK. Later in the day, Gulfport Police announced they had identified the man and were searching for him.
Mississippians have created internet memes over the feeling that the national media ignores our state during big storms or other crises. We all take a little pride in that chip on our shoulder. So when a national journalist comes to our state to report the extent of the damage of Hurricane Ida, he was accosted on live national TV. And no one should overlook that Brewster, who is Black, was charged by an angry white man — all, apparently, because Brewster was doing his job.
No matter the crisis we’re facing, we consistently seem to find a way put our worst foot forward.
This national embarrassment, unfortunately, is the product of the political climate that has been sown in Mississippi for months. We’ll soon know more about what truly motivated that man, but as I watched the replay of the attack, it was difficult to separate it from Mississippi’s top elected official’s recent comments about the press.
Gov. Tate Reeves has used his platform in recent weeks to antagonize journalists, to cast doubt about truthful reporting of his response to the uber-politicized COVID-19 pandemic, and to paint the press as the enemy of Republicans.
“If you intend to use this press conference as a platform to grandstand or to get MSNBC clicking on your story, please do not expect me to do that,” Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said, unprompted, in an Aug. 19 press conference that was broadcast live to televisions across the state.
“There are those on the left, including most of the reporters in this room, who want to make political hay and grow their Twitter platform because I will not issue mandate after mandate after mandate,” Reeves said the same day.
“If you really want to virtue signal, why are you here?” Reeves asked a masked Mississippi Today reporter during an Aug. 13 press conference. “Why don’t you lock yourself up in your house because you will not give (the virus) to anybody if you don’t see anybody.”
“What (Mississippi Today) has been writing is a figment of your imagination as to what I have said,” he said on Aug. 13.
This is all part of an old strategy that Reeves has reused over and over: If data show that things are bad, question the data. If experts say things are bad, challenge the experts. If reporters ask why things are bad, blame the reporters.
That last part is becoming more and more troubling. Reeves has really been leaning in — conveniently, by the way, as his leadership is being challenged more broadly than ever.
Crediting Reeves alone for this behavior doesn’t reflect reality. Reeves, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has taken several chapters from the Trump playbook.
I’ve covered five Trump rallies in Mississippi. Each one included some level of disparagement of the press, including by the president himself. At a 2018 Southaven rally, Trump went after a reporter by name. I sat next to her, and the vitriol that came her way the rest of the night from dozens of rally attendees was just disgusting.
Echoes of “Lock them up!” — a chant referencing the reporters in the back of the room — bounced off the walls of the Mississippi Coast Coliseum when Trump visited in 2018.
And it will be difficult to forget the straight face of the elderly man at a 2019 Trump rally in Tupelo who walked by me, noticed my press pass hanging around my neck and said, “I hope your family suffers.”
Why was Trump there that night? Campaigning for Tate Reeves.
At best, this environment encourages the mistreatment of people who work to seek truth and inform the public — as much a public service as running for political office. At worst, it puts journalists in danger as we saw on the Gulfport beach on Monday.
Reeves didn’t create this climate, but he’s certainly perpetuating it. His continued targeting of the press is a choice — one that is, no doubt, made on political merit. When the politics gets turned up, making the story about the press rather than the results of his leadership is his most trusted move.
What elected officials, particularly ones in positions of power like Reeves, publicly say about journalists matters. The governor has a choice to make: He can take to heart what happened to Brewster this week, or he can continue to ratchet up the rhetoric and put journalists in danger.
Maybe the choice he makes next will be what surprises us.
As the remnants of Hurricane Ida crawls through and out of Mississippi late Monday through Tuesday morning, officials said the Magnolia State mostly dodged a bullet and made plans to help devastated south Louisiana.
“We will do what Mississippians do, and step up and help,” Gov. Tate Reeves said in a press conference late Monday. But he warned that Ida, still a tropical depression, would still dump heavy rain and have gusting winds until it exits the state on Wednesday morning.
One Mississippi fatality — from an auto accident in Harrison County on I-110 — was credited to the storm, but it happened before landfall. Overall, state damage assessments have not been calculated, but the strong hurricane’s impact here was not nearly as bad as once predicted.
Mississippi Department of Transportation crews late Monday were focused on clearing roadways in southwest Mississippi, which saw some of the worst wind damage from the storm, Reeves said. The next focus of MDOT, the governor said, would turn to the Coast.
Reeves said that state and federal teams had performed 20 water rescues overnight in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties. He said federal teams had been released to help in Louisiana, and state teams would soon do likewise as issues in Mississippi subsided.
Mississippi Emergency Management Director Stephen McRaney said damage reports had come in from eight of Mississippi’s 82 counties and so far were “relatively light, considering the magnitude of the storm.”
Storm surge along the Coast reached more than 8 feet in Hancock County and caused flooding in low lying areas, but fell short of the 11-foot surge officials had warned Mississippi of before Ida’s landfall in Louisiana.
Some areas of Mississippi saw total rainfall of 12 inches over 24 hours, and inland areas such as McComb and Hattiesburg saw up to 6 inches over the period. Riverine flooding and tornadoes remain a threat, officials warned, even as Ida leaves the state.
At its peak, the storm knocked out power to about 144,000 households in Mississippi, McRaney said, but that number had been reduced to about 85,000 by late Monday afternoon.
By late Monday, Reeves said, 19 of the 28 shelters Mississippi opened for the storm remained open. He warned those households still without power that a heat advisory was being issued for Tuesday.
Reeves said much of U.S. Highway 90, the Coast beach highway, remained closed from Bay St. Louis to Ocean Springs on Monday evening.
Refineries and gasoline distribution sites in Pascagoula and Collins were open on Monday, and the governor said supply trucks should be rolling and preventing any shortages at stations statewide.
Earlier in the day, Reeves participated in a call with President Joe Biden, Louisiana Gov. John Bell Edwards and other federal, state and local officials to provide an update on the massive storm. The update was carried lived by national cable news channels.
Biden pledged all the resources the states needed to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
Reeves told the president that the federal search and research teams that had been deployed to Mississippi had been sent to Louisiana where the need is greater. Reeves said the state and local teams could handle search and rescue in Mississippi because it was not pummeled to the extent Louisiana was.
Reeves said National Guard troops from Mississippi also were being sent to Louisiana to help. Biden expressed gratitude for those actions.
Hospitals across Mississippi said they were still in crisis Monday — not from fallout of Hurricane Ida, but because of the continued surge of COVID-19 patients.
Despite massive power outages across the state as the historic storm ripped through, several Mississippi hospitals reported having little to no disruption of care because of the severe weather. One hospital in Pike County lost power for several hours, but generators kept the storm from affecting patients.
Still, intensive care units across Mississippi remain at or near capacity as hospitals manage staff shortages and high numbers of COVID-19 patients. Doctors, nurses and hospital staff continue to pull long shifts to manage the ongoing stress of a health care system that doesn’t have enough workers.
“In south Mississippi and throughout the state, we are in crisis,” said April LaFontaine, Gulfport Memorial Hospital’s chief administrative officer. “Our hospital was full before the hurricane, and we’re still full now.”
Memorial had 240 patients Monday, including 88 with COVID-19. More than two dozen were hooked up to ventilators.
Ida walloped southern Louisiana, leaving all of New Orleans without power. Mississippi hospitals say they’ve been more fortunate with little disruption, even as more than 75,000 Mississippians remained without power by Monday at 5 p.m.
Vaccine and testing clinics have been closed across the state, with many planning to resume care Tuesday. Emergency rooms remained open Sunday and Monday, even when the worst of Ida downed power lines and flooded roadways.
LaFontaine’s biggest concern remains COVID-19 spread, especially during a time when people want to help their neighbors by sharing power or cleaning up debris.
“People in this community want to do the right thing and want to do the neighborly thing and help their neighbors clean up,” she said. “But if people have COVID, or suspect they have COVID, the more neighborly thing to do is not share the love in that matter.”
In Jackson, neither University of Mississippi Medical Center or Baptist Memorial Hospital weathered damages, power outages or patient care disruptions related to Hurricane Ida.
Admissions were paused at UMMC’s field hospitals — which are set up inside parking garages — Monday morning while the storm passed over Jackson. They resumed accepting patients by 3 p.m.
Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb was without power for nearly 12 hours overnight Sunday into late Monday morning, but was able to rely on generators until power returned Monday at 11:45 a.m. The hospital lost power again Monday afternoon because of a downed electrical pole.
Pike County, where the hospital is located, continued to have one of the highest numbers of people without power in the state late Monday afternoon.
Singing River Health System, which has three Gulf Coast hospitals, reported no major disruptions. It had one of its slowest emergency room days Sunday than it has had in the last six weeks, officials said.
Hospitals are hoping there is not an influx of patients who come in because of accidents during storm clean up or driving before debris is cleaned from roadways.
“We need to keep ERs clear for our first responders,” LaFontaine said.
