A legislative watchdog committee is questioning why the board overseeing charter schools in Mississippi renewed the contract of an underperforming school in Jackson earlier this year.

In April, the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board issued a three-year renewal contract to Midtown Public Charter School in Jackson — despite the fact the school has not exceeded a ‘D’ rating since it first opened in 2015. 

Charter schools in Mississippi must meet certain goals to continue to operate and are considered for renewal every five years, according to state law.

In its report, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) committee cited an evaluation of Mississippi’s charter school performance measures done by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers earlier this year. 

“MCSAB’s (charter school) renewal policies … weaken the rigor of the renewal process. For example, an underperforming school may be renewed based solely on one year of performance without consideration of earlier years of critically low performance,” stated the report. “MCSAB granted renewal to Midtown Public although it did not meet the terms of the performance framework. Further, MCSAB’s conditions of renewal are not rigorous and rely on expectations of future improvement.” 

“Performance framework” refers to the accountability mechanism for charter schools in the state. It is made up of several components, including markers of a school’s academic, financial and organizational performance.

Lisa Karmacharya, executive director of the authorizer board, said the short answer is that the board was following the recommendations of both internal and external evaluators when it made the decision.

The conditions of Midtown’s renewal include that the school must: establish performance targets with the board; be rated a “D” or higher in 2021, and a “C” or higher in both 2022 and 2023; and enroll the number of underserved students in accordance with state law. It also must “restructure its governance plan to ensure all board members are knowledgeable” of the contract between the board and the school and must align its future fiscal plan to improving student outcomes. 

“I think we are moving along really well, all things considered with COVID-19,” said Karmacharya of the progress being made by Midtown, noting the school and board have established performance targets and Midtown is now serving above the required percentage of underserved students.

“We can see they are making progress,” she said.

The PEER report also noted that while the board has improved its oversight of a federal grant designed to help states open more charter schools, it continues to be “significantly behind” in its projected grant expenditures at this point. It has spent only 12% of the $15 million in funds at the time of the report, despite the board’s expectation to have spent nearly half of its funds by this time.

Karmacharya, who stepped into the role of executive director in the beginning of 2019, said because the board had no executive director for around nine months, no claims were being submitted to the board by the charter schools receiving some of the funds.

In addition, only six charter schools are currently in operation, and a relatively small number of operators have applied to open schools in recent years.

“The first drawdown from that $15 million grant wasn’t until 2019,” she said. “And with respect to an overall lower number of (charter school operator) applicants has resulted in fewer approvals (of charter schools) which impacts the number of subgrant recipients.”

The 2019 version of the PEER report highlighted the same issue. In its response, the board noted there are no restrictions on carrying over funds from year to year and it would be requesting a no-cost extension in the fifth year of the grant. 

The PEER committee also highlighted an inequitable share of local per-pupil funding between traditional public and charter schools, with charter schools receiving more.

“In the case of JPSD (Jackson Public School District) for school year 2019-2020, charter schools operating within the district received a per pupil local ad valorem amount of $3,011.84 while JPSD received a perp pupil local ad valorem amount of $2,774.12, a difference of $237.72 per pupil.” 

Public charter schools in Mississippi are funded by the state on a per-pupil basis according to the school’s average daily attendance, or the number of students who attend 63 percent or more of a school day. They also receive local dollars from ad valorem tax receipts. When a student enrolls in a charter school, money that would have gone to the public school district moves with the student to the charter school. 

As a result, the committee recommended that the board and the Mississippi Department of Education should submit a proposed amendment to state law in order to ensure local ad valorem funding is equal among students. 

The Mississippi Legislature passed its charter school law in 2013. During the 2019 school year, six charter schools — five in Jackson and one in Clarksdale — served a total over 1,992 students.

The post Report questions why underperforming charter school was renewed appeared first on Mississippi Today.

State Auditor Shad White issued a nearly $2,000 demand to University of Mississippi professor James Thomas, who participated in a two-day “work stoppage” in early September.

Thomas, an outspoken sociology professor who has regularly drawn the public scorn of top statewide Republican elected officials, participated in a national walkout on Sept. 8-9 called the “Scholar Strike,” in which hundreds of faculty at universities across the nation protested police brutality and other racial inequities. Thomas called it a “work stoppage” on Twitter.

The $1,912.42 demand includes $946.74 for principal and $965.68 for interest and investigative costs, according to the auditor’s office.

“‘Concerted work stoppages’ and strikes are illegal under Mississippi’s no-strike law, and paying someone for not working violates Sections 66 and 96 of the state constitution,” White said in a press release. “It’s simple—the taxpayers of Mississippi cannot pay someone when they did not provide the good or service they were hired to provide.”

READ MORE: A UM professor skipped work to protest racial inequality. State auditor says he should be fired.

In the Tuesday press release, White chronicled his office’s investigation into the matter. He said auditors discovered Thomas did not return several students’ emails during the two days in early September.

“In short, he refused to perform his job duties, and his tuition-paying students suffered as a result,” White said. “The taxpayers and donors to the university suffered, too. When Prof. Thomas realized he was going to be called on the carpet for not performing these duties, he attempted to explain by saying, ‘100 percent of my job requires time spent thinking . . . . If I’m thinking I’m working.’”

White continued: “Thinking isn’t going to cut it with me. If an employee of the state auditor’s office came to me and said they would not be responding to my emails, they would not be at work, they would not be performing audits, they would not be available for calls, they would not be available for meetings, and that this was a work stoppage, but they would be thinking over the next two days, I would not pay them.”

READ MORE: Background of Mississippi’s strict law that forbids educators from striking.

White previously said the University of Mississippi should fire Thomas, writing that Thomas broke the law and the university should pursue termination. In his press release this week, the auditor said that termination considerations should be made by the 12-member board of trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning.

Thomas could not be immediately reached by phone on Tuesday. White explained his reasoning for the investigation in a podcast interview with Mississippi Today in September.

PODCAST: Auditor Shad White defends recommendation that UM professor JT Thomas be fired for striking.

Thomas has been the subject of public scrutiny in the past. After conservatives called into question a tweet of Thomas’ last year, the state’s college board took the unprecedented step of considering whether to grant Thomas tenure in a closed-door meeting. Then-Gov. Phil Bryant weighed in, suggesting Thomas shouldn’t receive tenure. The board ultimately granted Thomas tenure, but conservatives made Thomas the poster of progressive ideals at the university.

Thomas’ attorney Rob McDuff released the following statement on Tuesday afternoon:

“Because of the pandemic and students varied schedules, Professor Thomas was not teaching specific classes on specific days last fall, but instead provided students with weekly lesson plans that included lectures he had recorded, reading assignments, quizzes, multimedia content, and other materials. While he joined college professors from around the country in a two day #ScholarStrike to call attention to racism and injustice, he worked the prior weekend and the Labor Day holiday to prepare the lesson plans.

During the two-day call to action, Professor Thomas also worked toward finishing a manuscript for publication. He missed no classes and was available to students both before and after the strike, as he is most weekdays, evenings, and weekends. Professor Thomas’s actions did not violate any law and he does not owe the State any money. If the Auditor wants to pay him extra for the personal days he has not used, the weekends and holidays he has worked over the years, including those he worked preparing the lesson plan that week, then maybe we can talk about whether he should pay any money because of his participation in the #ScholarStrike. Professor Thomas is a good teacher who works hard for his students and who earns his salary.”

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COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 1,141 new cases

By Alex Rozier and Erica Hensley | December 1, 2020

We are bringing you the latest COVID-19 Mississippi trends with daily case, death and hospitalization updates, as well as testing data charts and other helpful interactive maps and graphs.

This page was last updated Tuesday, December 1:

New cases: 1,141| New Deaths: 29

Total Hospitalizations: 1,115

Total cases: 154,411| Total Deaths: 3,836

Mask Mandates | On Sept. 30, Gov. Tate Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate order, originally issued Aug. 4. Since then, he has added a total of 41 individual county mask mandates, covering half of the state. State health officials encourage widespread masking and credit the original mandate with helping cases improve after a steep summer spike. View the full list of COVID-19 orders here.

All data and information reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health as of 6 p.m. yesterday

Weekly update: Wednesday, November 25

The seven-day new case average reached 1,294 last week, a 75% increase since the start of November and the highest mark since July 31. 

The health department has reported over 9,000 new cases in the last week; a threshold only surpassed by one other week in July.

The number of hospitalizations have also begun to surge in the last month; using the seven-day rolling averages, total hospitalizations have increased by 46% in that time, ICU patients by 39%, and patients on ventilators by 47%. 

Though hospitalizations haven’t reached peak July levels, they are growing at a quicker pace than before. On Oct. 3, average total hospitalizations were at their lowest point since the state health department started tracking them. In seven weeks, numbers grew by 85%. The same percent growth took 12 weeks from April to July, heading into the peak.

Overall, the state’s ICUs are 83% full, with COVID-19 patients comprising 31% of all ICU beds. Sixteen of the state’s highest level COVID-care centers are at 88% capacity, and six of them — both Baptist Memorial Hospitals in Southaven and in the Golden Triangle, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Baptist and Merit in Jackson, and the Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville — have zero ICU beds available. 

Within the last three weeks, Mississippi has moved from “orange” to “red” on the Global Health Institute’s risk level tracker, meaning it now averages over 25 daily new cases per 100,000 residents, along with most of the country. Despite the rise in cases in the state, Mississippi now ranks 33rd in new cases per capita, dropping from 26th two weeks ago.

Counties across the state saw large increases in cases over the last week. Winston County (13% increase), Jefferson County (12%), Amite County (12%), Stone County (12%) and Choctaw County (11%) saw the biggest surges in that span. 

MSDH reports that 121,637 people have recovered. 

Click through the links below to view our interactive charts describing the trends around the coronavirus in Mississippi:

View our COVID-19 resource page for more information about coronavirus in Mississippi.

The post COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 1,141 new cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Whether state money can be spent to fund a program designed to combat healthcare disparities in poor and minority communities and help reopen a north Mississippi hospital could depend on how quickly the Mississippi Supreme Court acts, according to legislative supporters of the programs.

A lawsuit is pending before the Mississippi Supreme Court over whether Gov. Tate Reeves’ partial vetoes of $6 million for the program to address health care disparities related to COVID-19 and to spend $2 million to help reopen the North Oak Regional Medical Center in Senatobia are constitutional.

The legislation approved this summer mandated that the funds for the programs be spent by Dec. 15 or else the money would be diverted to the state’s unemployment compensation trust fund. That fund has been depleted this year because of the record number of people losing their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

House leaders filed a lawsuit in August challenging the constitutionality of Reeves’ vetoes — one of many instances in 2020 that Republican legislative leaders have clashed with the Republican governor. They claim that past court rulings significantly limit a governor’s partial veto authority and that Reeves’ actions exceeded that authority.

READ MORE: Speaker Philip Gunn says lawsuit over Gov. Tate Reeves’ vetoes is ‘unfortunate’ but necessary.

It looked as if Reeves’ actions would thwart funding for the programs regardless of how the courts ruled because of the time limits placed in the legislation.

But Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, the House minority leader and a leading advocate of the funding for the health care disparities program, said he believes the money could still be spent if the Supreme Court rules quickly.

“If the Supreme Court rules the partial vetoes were not proper, the law would go into effect immediately, and they (Federally Qualified Health Centers) could distribute the money,” he said. The program is being run by some of the Federally Qualified Health Centers that are located throughout the state to provide health care for the needy.

Johnson said he believes the centers could meet the Dec. 15 deadline by hiring staff and putting the program in place.

The funding for the hospital, which closed recently, was contingent on an agreement being in place by Oct. 1 to reopen the medical center.

Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, says an agreement was reached in September for a group to reopen the North Oak Regional Medical Center, but the reopening as it stands now is dependent on receiving the $2 million in state funds that Reeves vetoed.

Lamar said if the Supreme Court rules the partial vetoes are unconstitutional the money can be transferred to Tate County to be used by the hospital

“Obviously timing is getting to be an issue,” Lamar said.

The hospital and health care disparities program were part of $91 million designated to the Department of Health to be appropriated to hospitals throughout the state and to other health care providers to help with efforts to combat the coronavirus. The money came to the state from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves vetoes education budget, criminal justice reforms, COVID-19 spending.

The federal legislation requires the funds to be spent by the state by Dec. 30 on projects related to combatting the pandemic. Lamar reasoned that the hospital could still get the money at this late date because re-opening the hospital during the pandemic is more costly and thus the money would be spent on COVID-19 related costs.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case last month. At the time, Chief Justice Michael Randolph said he understood the need for the state’s highest court to act as quickly as possible.

“We will render a decision within due course, which we recognize your request that due course be expedited, and we will make an attempt to do that,” Randolph said at the closing of oral arguments. “These are difficult decisions. We have a lot of work to do.”

The issues in the case have been clouded by the claims of Reeves’ attorney, Michael Bentley of Jackson, and Supreme Court Justices Josiah Coleman and James Maxwell II, both of the Northern District, arguing that this case is different than other high court rulings on partial vetoes because the Legislature was in session when the Reeves issued the partial veto earlier this summer. They claim the Legislature was not in session in other cases when the Supreme Court ruled governors’ partial vetoes were improper.

READ MORE: Supreme Court justices lacking some facts during oral arguments on governor’s partial veto.

In reality though, the Legislature was still in session in 2002 when then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove vetoed a portion of the budget for the Department of Corrections setting aside money for private prisons. The Supreme Court found that partial veto unconstitutional in one of the three landmark rulings on the partial veto issue.

The Senate Journal and news articles of the time show that Musgrove issued the partial veto on April 9. The Legislature did not end its session until April 12, according to the House Journal and Senate Journal, which are viewed as the official record of the Legislature.

Bentley maintains that language in the Senate Journal positioned above the partial veto, but set off with bars from the partial veto, indicate that the Legislature ended the session for the year (sine die) before the partial veto. People familiar with the compilation of the journals, speaking unanimously because they have not been authorized to speak to the media, said the language is apparently a mistake.

The reason it is a mistake is that House and Senate journals reveal clearly that both chambers were in session on April 12. The Legislators had passed a resolution earlier in April mandating that they would return on April 12 to take up any gubernatorial veto. The Legislature did override two Musgrove vetoes on April 12 with now Supreme Court Justice Bobby Chamberlin, then a state senator, voting with the majority to override the governor. Legislators in both chambers took up multiple issues that day but did not act to override the Musgrove partial vetoes because the journals reflect that they were not valid. The journals even reflect who gave the opening prayers on April 12.

The House and Senate journals reflect the 2002 legislative session ended sine die at 5 p.m. on April 12. The Constitution allows the Legislature to sine die once during a session and when it does so cannot convene during the calendar year unless called into special session by the governor.

The post Lawmakers say health programs vetoed by Reeves can be funded if Supreme Court acts quickly appeared first on Mississippi Today.

READ: Gov. Tate Reeves has resisted statewide mask mandate despite warnings from health officials and alarming COVID-19 trends

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COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 1,485 new cases

By Alex Rozier and Erica Hensley | November 30, 2020

We are bringing you the latest COVID-19 Mississippi trends with daily case, death and hospitalization updates, as well as testing data charts and other helpful interactive maps and graphs.

This page was last updated Monday, November 30:

New cases: 1,485| New Deaths: 1

Total Hospitalizations: 1,058

Total cases: 153,270| Total Deaths: 3,807

Mask Mandates | On Sept. 30, Gov. Tate Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate order, originally issued Aug. 4. Since then, he has added a total of 41 individual county mask mandates, covering half of the state. State health officials encourage widespread masking and credit the original mandate with helping cases improve after a steep summer spike. View the full list of COVID-19 orders here.

All data and information reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health as of 6 p.m. yesterday

Weekly update: Wednesday, November 25

The seven-day new case average reached 1,294 last week, a 75% increase since the start of November and the highest mark since July 31. 

The health department has reported over 9,000 new cases in the last week; a threshold only surpassed by one other week in July.

The number of hospitalizations have also begun to surge in the last month; using the seven-day rolling averages, total hospitalizations have increased by 46% in that time, ICU patients by 39%, and patients on ventilators by 47%. 

Though hospitalizations haven’t reached peak July levels, they are growing at a quicker pace than before. On Oct. 3, average total hospitalizations were at their lowest point since the state health department started tracking them. In seven weeks, numbers grew by 85%. The same percent growth took 12 weeks from April to July, heading into the peak.

Overall, the state’s ICUs are 83% full, with COVID-19 patients comprising 31% of all ICU beds. Sixteen of the state’s highest level COVID-care centers are at 88% capacity, and six of them — both Baptist Memorial Hospitals in Southaven and in the Golden Triangle, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Baptist and Merit in Jackson, and the Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville — have zero ICU beds available. 

Within the last three weeks, Mississippi has moved from “orange” to “red” on the Global Health Institute’s risk level tracker, meaning it now averages over 25 daily new cases per 100,000 residents, along with most of the country. Despite the rise in cases in the state, Mississippi now ranks 33rd in new cases per capita, dropping from 26th two weeks ago.

Counties across the state saw large increases in cases over the last week. Winston County (13% increase), Jefferson County (12%), Amite County (12%), Stone County (12%) and Choctaw County (11%) saw the biggest surges in that span. 

MSDH reports that 121,637 people have recovered. 

Click through the links below to view our interactive charts describing the trends around the coronavirus in Mississippi:

View our COVID-19 resource page for more information about coronavirus in Mississippi.

The post COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 1,485 new cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 1,845 new cases

By Alex Rozier and Erica Hensley | November 29, 2020

We are bringing you the latest COVID-19 Mississippi trends with daily case, death and hospitalization updates, as well as testing data charts and other helpful interactive maps and graphs.

This page was last updated Sunday, November 29:

New cases: 1,845| New Deaths: 27

Total Hospitalizations: 1,058

Total cases: 151,785| Total Deaths: 3,806

Mask Mandates | On Sept. 30, Gov. Tate Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate order, originally issued Aug. 4. Since then, he has added a total of 41 individual county mask mandates, covering half of the state. State health officials encourage widespread masking and credit the original mandate with helping cases improve after a steep summer spike. View the full list of COVID-19 orders here.

All data and information reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health as of 6 p.m. yesterday

Weekly update: Wednesday, November 25

The seven-day new case average reached 1,294 last week, a 75% increase since the start of November and the highest mark since July 31. 

The health department has reported over 9,000 new cases in the last week; a threshold only surpassed by one other week in July.

The number of hospitalizations have also begun to surge in the last month; using the seven-day rolling averages, total hospitalizations have increased by 46% in that time, ICU patients by 39%, and patients on ventilators by 47%. 

Though hospitalizations haven’t reached peak July levels, they are growing at a quicker pace than before. On Oct. 3, average total hospitalizations were at their lowest point since the state health department started tracking them. In seven weeks, numbers grew by 85%. The same percent growth took 12 weeks from April to July, heading into the peak.

Overall, the state’s ICUs are 83% full, with COVID-19 patients comprising 31% of all ICU beds. Sixteen of the state’s highest level COVID-care centers are at 88% capacity, and six of them — both Baptist Memorial Hospitals in Southaven and in the Golden Triangle, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Baptist and Merit in Jackson, and the Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville — have zero ICU beds available. 

Within the last three weeks, Mississippi has moved from “orange” to “red” on the Global Health Institute’s risk level tracker, meaning it now averages over 25 daily new cases per 100,000 residents, along with most of the country. Despite the rise in cases in the state, Mississippi now ranks 33rd in new cases per capita, dropping from 26th two weeks ago.

Counties across the state saw large increases in cases over the last week. Winston County (13% increase), Jefferson County (12%), Amite County (12%), Stone County (12%) and Choctaw County (11%) saw the biggest surges in that span. 

MSDH reports that 121,637 people have recovered. 

Click through the links below to view our interactive charts describing the trends around the coronavirus in Mississippi:

View our COVID-19 resource page for more information about coronavirus in Mississippi.

The post COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 1,845 new cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The bill passed earlier this year that removed the old state flag included a little-noticed provision that requires legislators to ratify the action of voters. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Despite a massive vote on Nov. 3 in favor of a new Mississippi state flag that proclaims “In God We Trust,” additional official actions are needed to ensure the death knell for the 126-year-old state flag that features the Confederate battle emblem as part of its design.

During the 2021 legislative session that begins in January, lawmakers must ratify the new state flag approved by voters on Nov. 3. The bill passed this summer — which retired the old flag and formed a commission to recommend a new design (the “In God We Trust” flag) to be approved or rejected by voters on Nov. 3 — included a little-noticed provision that requires legislators to ratify the action of the voters.

That means lawmakers must take at least one more vote on the flag in the rapidly approaching legislative session.

In 2001, during an earlier failed attempt to change the state flag, legislators voted to hold a referendum where the choice would be between the old flag and a new design recommended by a commission. The bill passed by the Legislature that year stated that whatever flag voters approved would be the official flag of the state without any additional action by the Legislature. In 2001, voters overwhelmingly voted to retain the old flag.

But the bill approved this year states that once voters approved the new design, “the Legislature shall enact into law the new design as the official Mississippi state flag.” Of course, the courts have ruled that the word “shall” does not force legislators to do anything they do not want to do.

The vote to change the flag this past summer was a difficult one for many legislators to take, and several lawmakers have taken heat for it in their home districts. That begs the question of why language was put into the bill essentially forcing legislators to take yet another vote on the contentious issue. It seems the easier option would have been to mandate that the vote of the people for a new flag would ratify that banner as official.

As the bill was being crafted in June, concerns were raised about an 1860 Supreme Court case, Alcorn v. Hamer. Some said the ruling in that case could be interpreted to say it was unconstitutional for the Legislature to leave it to a vote of the people to enact general law.

Despite the controversy surrounding replacing the old flag, there is good reason to believe the ratification of the new flag by the Legislature during the 2021 session will be nothing more than a formality and will perhaps happen early in the session.

After all, more Mississippians voted for the new state flag on Nov. 3 than voted for President Donald Trump or U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Heck, more people voted for the new flag than voted for medical marijuana, which also got more votes than Trump and Hyde-Smith.

The only ballot item receiving more votes than the new flag this year was the proposal to change the Constitution to remove the language requiring candidates for statewide office to garner both a majority of the popular votes and to win the most votes in a majority of House districts in order to win the election.

That proposal received 957,420 votes, or 79.2%, in still unofficial returns, while the flag garnered 939,585 vote, or 73.3%. Trump received 756,731 votes, or 57.5%.

Both the electoral provision that was repealed by voters and the old state flag were remnants of the 1890s, when Mississippi’s white power structure took extraordinary steps to deny basic rights to African Americans. The electoral provision was enacted as a method of preventing Black Mississippians, then a majority in the state, from being elected to statewide office.

Placing the Confederate battle emblem on the state’s official flag during the same time period, no doubt, was a way for white lawmakers to pay homage to the Civil War in which Southerners fought to preserve slavery.

Even if the Legislature, as expected, does ratify the new flag in 2021, the controversy may not be quite over. The Let Mississippi Vote political committee plans to try to garner the roughly 100,000 signatures of registered voters needed to place a proposal back on the ballot to allow people to choose between four flags — one being that 126-year-old banner.

Most likely later this month or early next month, the clock will start ticking on the one-year time frame supporters of that ballot initiative will have to gather the signatures to place the flag proposal on the ballot.

Whether Mississippians, who voted overwhelmingly for a new flag on Nov. 3, will want to vote again on the contentious issue remains to be seen.

The post The old state flag with the Confederate battle emblem isn’t dead just yet appeared first on Mississippi Today.