OurTupelo

Color your way through Mississippi with me! Click below to download a coloring sheet of the Temperance Angel Statue in front of the Lee County Courthouse in Tupelo. 

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The post A tour of Mississippi: The Temperance Angel Statue appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gerald Herbert / Associated Press

A day after visiting students and educators in Holmes County, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos tours a classroom at the Edward Hynes Charter School in New Orleans, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018.

State superintendents of education, including Mississippi’s Carey Wright, received a letter last week with a clear message: expect to administer state tests this school year.

Despite the global pandemic and its effects on instruction, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos penned a letter to the heads of state education departments last week telling them not to expect waivers for federally required assessments.

In Mississippi, students’ performance on state assessments impacts districts’ annual accountability grades, which are measured on an A-F scale. State tests are used to measure proficiency and growth for students in 3rd through 8th grade and high school students taking end-of-the-year tests in Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History.

In March, as the novel coronavirus spread in Mississippi, schools were closed and state tests were canceled. School and district accountability scores were rolled over from the previous year.

DeVos opened her Sept. 3 letter by stating school closures in the spring disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable students, and that fact underlines the need for more data on the impact of lost learning time.

“Moving forward, meeting the needs of all students will require tremendous effort,” she wrote. “To be successful, we must use data to guide our decision-making.”

DeVos said that while assessments must be administered this year, the department is “open to discussions about what, if any, actions may be needed to adjust how the results of assessments are used in your state’s school accountability determinations.”

Jason Dean, chair of the State Board of Education, said based on his own beliefs and the opinions he’s heard from around the state, state testing will, and should, proceed this year — barring another shutdown or major event.

“We’ve got to understand the magnitude of the learning loss, if there is any,” resulting from school closures and other effects of COVID-19, Dean told Mississippi Today. “We need to understand where we are compared to two years ago (in the spring of 2019).”

However, said Dean, education officials are open to looking at how assessment scores will impact accountability ratings this year, and a team at the state education department is currently looking at potential ways to address concerns about accountability ratings.

Dean acknowledged many educators are concerned and said a decision regarding accountability ratings won’t be made until closer to the time state assessments are administered — usually in April and May.

The Mississippi Department of Education said in a statement it has no plans at this point to ask the U.S. Department of Education to waive the requirement to administer state tests.

A request for comment from the Mississippi Association for School Superintendents was not immediately returned Thursday.

The post Students will take state tests in spring, DeVos says appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today is pleased to announce two new members of the Mississippi Today team, marketing professional Candi Richardson and reporter Kate Royals. 

Candi Richardson joins Mississippi Today as the organization’s first Sales & Marketing Director, with more than 12 years experience in digital marketing sales, corporate relations and marketing management. Richardson previously served as Corporate Relations Director for United Way of Metro Jackson. 

“Throughout our nation’s history, the role of the press in achieving social, political and economic reform has been critical,” said Richardson. “Having the opportunity to work towards progress in my own state, supporting an institution that fights for a better Mississippi, is truly humbling.”

Richardson has received numerous sales awards and distinctions for her work at both United Way and at The Clarion Ledger Media Group. A native of Greenville, Miss., she holds a Bachelor’s in Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology and a Master’s in Communications, both from The University of Southern Mississippi. 

“From my first time meeting Candi, I knew immediately she was the right person to spearhead our strategy for sales and marketing expansion,” said Mary Margaret White, Mississippi Today CEO and Executive Director. “Candi has a keen marketing mind and fundamentally understands the value of good journalism to civic engagement and democracy. Her experience in both digital media and corporate relations makes here the perfect fit for our mission-driven, nonprofit newsroom.” 

Kate Royals will serve as Lead Education reporter, covering K-12 schools and higher education alongside the Delta Bureau of education reporters. She will also collaborate with Mississippi Today’s political team to build strategy for statewide education coverage. Royals returns to Mississippi Today, where she served as an education reporter from 2016-2018. She most recently worked as a public information officer at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. 

“I am thrilled to be back at Mississippi Today covering education,” said Royals. “With many benchmarks in public education improving over the last several years, this is a critical period for Mississippi schools. COVID-19 has added extra challenges for students, parents and educators, making this an extraordinary time to be an education reporter. I am so excited to be back in the mix.”

Royals formerly worked as a reporter for The Clarion Ledger covering education and state government. She won awards for her investigative work, including stories about the state’s campaign finance laws and prison system. She was a news producer at MassLive in Springfield, Mass., after graduating from Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communications with a master’s degree in communications. 

“Kate helped grow Mississippi Today into what it is today, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that she’s back in the newsroom with us,” said Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today Editor-in-Chief. “She’s one of the most respected and decorated reporters in the South, and she’ll immediately help boost our coverage of public education during the pandemic and ahead of the 2020 election.”

The post Candi Richardson and Kate Royals join the Mississippi Today team appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Freedom! appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Southern Miss athletics

Scotty Walden, pictured with his Southern Miss receivers before a 2019 victory over Troy, is now USM’s interim head coach.

Football coach and philosopher Bum Phillips said it best: “There’s two kinds of coaches, them that’s fired and them that’s gonna be fired.”

Still, the timing of the Jay Hopson-Southern Miss breakup, announced on Labor Day, was shocking. Technically, Hopson’s departure one game into the 2020 season will go down as a resignation. Per all sources, Hopson met with athletic director Jeremy McClain following last Thursday night’s 32-21 defeat to South Alabama and the two agreed that the best next step for all involved was for Hopson to step down.

And so it is that Texan Scotty Walden, all of 30 years old, becomes the youngest Division I head coach in America. Walden, chosen as interim coach over more experienced coaches on the staff, has two weeks to prepare the Golden Eagles for their next game, an important Sept. 19 league contest with rival Louisiana Tech on national TV.

Rick Cleveland

First things first: I’ve covered Jay Hopson since he was a defensive back for Billy Brewer at Ole Miss. I’ve covered him through his two bouts with cancer, through his history-making four seasons as a head coach at Alcorn State, through all three of his stints at Southern Miss. He is a good and caring man and a hard worker with a lovely family.

That said, things were clearly going south – and fast – for Hopson at Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles have lost four straight games by double-digit margins, including last Thursday night’s 2020 season opener with South Alabama. A 13-point favorite, Hopson’s team was outplayed in every aspect of the game by a South Alabama team that included 24 players from Mississippi.

Perhaps even more telling in the overall scheme of things was what happened in preseason camp. Just two weeks before the opener, defensive end Jacques Turner, linebacker Racheem Booth and wide receiver/kick returner Jaylond Adams – arguably the team’s best three players – were among several players to leave the team. Hopson is widely known as a “players coach,” and yet here were three experienced, all-conference level players leaving at once. Then came the listless performance in the opener against a South Alabama program that has never won more than six games in a season since elevating to Division I.

Southern Miss athletics

Jay Hopson, shown here arguing a call in the 2016 New Orleans Bowl, has resigned.

Immediately following the news of Hopson’s departure, news outlets began listing possible long-term replacements. You almost had to laugh.

High on the lists were former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze and former Southern Miss head coaches Larry Fedora and Todd Monken. Freeze makes $2 million a year as head coach at Liberty. Monken makes $1.1 million as Georgia’s offensive coordinator. Fedora stands to make $900,000 this year (with incentives) at Baylor. Hopson’s salary at USM was $500,000.

Complicating matters, the pandemic has left already cash-strapped Southern Miss in an even worse financial situation. McClain, the athletic director, must find new revenue streams to even hope to provide a better financial package for the next head coach.

Let’s put it this way: Steve Campbell, the South Alabama coach who whipped Southern Miss last Thursday night, makes $600 grand a year. His team plays in a brand new stadium and practices in a new indoor facility. Look around: Blake Anderson, who was Fedora’s offensive coordinator at USM, makes $825,000 plus incentives as head coach at Arkansas State. UAB coach Bill Clark has a new contract that averages $1 million a year. At Louisiana, Billy Napier makes $875,000 a year.

What’s more, the assistant coaches salary pool at Southern Miss is among the lowest in Division I.

Scotty Walden, running through a practice here, becomes the youngest Division I head coach in the USA.

It makes far more sense – and is far more feasible – for McClain to focus his search on a young, up and coming assistant coach, preferably one with knowledge of Mississippi and the Gulf South area. In that regard, interim head coach Walden gets a head start on competition for the job. From all accounts he is a bright offensive mind and an energetic recruiter. As a 26-year-old head coach at East Texas Baptist (NCAA Division III), he achieved a 7-3 record in 2016 and his offense led the nation scoring 49.9 points per game.

Because of the school’s winning history, the job surely will attract many other candidates. One to watch is Tulane offensive coordinator Will Hall, an Amory native and son of long-time Mississippi high school coach Bobby Hall. Will Hall, 40, has been a highly successful head coach at West Alabama and West Georgia and has helped Tulane make tremendous recruiting in-roads in Mississippi.

I have no idea whether Campbell, the South Alabama coach, would even consider making a move but he’s another proven winner with all kinds of Mississippi ties. He won national championships at Delta State and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. One factor not to be ignored: Campbell already has 20 years in the lucrative Mississippi retirement system, including his stints at Southwest Junior College, Delta State, Gulf Coast and one year as Mississippi State offensive line coach under Jackie Sherrill.

The hiring of a permanent coach is months away. For now, it’s Walden’s job – and it’s a tough one.

The post With Jay Hopson out, where does Southern Miss football go now? appeared first on Mississippi Today.