The Mississippi Board of Education has authorized a takeover of the Wilkinson County School District because of its severe academic challenges. 

State officials also have serious concerns about the district’s financial health. Wilkinson schools’ full financial picture isn’t clear, officials said, because district officials have not submitted a financial audit since the 2023 fiscal year. The district did indicate a $1.7 million deficit in its budget outlook for the 2025-26 school year.

“We don’t have a choice,” state Superintendent Lance Evans said at a state Board of Education meeting Thursday. When a district hits rock bottom, he said, the state has to act. 

The board appointed Lee Coats as interim superintendent of Wilkinson County schools. Coats recently served as the assistant superintendent of Holmes County Consolidated School District, which the state took over in 2021.

Without intervention, there could be a “continuation of an inadequate educational environment, thereby denying the students enrolled in Wilkinson County School District the opportunity to learn, to excel, and to obtain a free and appropriate public education,” Paula Vanderford, chief accountability officer for the state Department of Education, said during the board meeting.

The school district has been rated F under the state’s accountability system for each of the past two years, state officials said. State accountability data shows that both Wilkinson County Elementary and William Winans Middle School are also failing. Wilkinson County High has a D grade.

The Wilkinson County district has the second-lowest graduation rate in the state. The district also has the state’s lowest proficiency rate in math and science as well as the second lowest proficiency rates in English and history, state education officials said. 

Those are just some of a long list of academic concerns state education officials mentioned Thursday.

Enrollment in Wilkinson County schools has also dropped by about half since 2019, and is now 648 students — a number that prompted state board Chairman Matt Miller to question whether the school district should be consolidated into another one.

Consolidation is not yet the top question for state education officials. The immediate first step of the takeover, Evans said, is for state officials to do a full audit of the Wilkinson County’s personnel and finances. Under the takeover, Wilkinson County’s school board is abolished and its superintendent is removed. 

Wilkinson County is the second school district the agency has taken over in less than three months.

The state Board of Education voted on Nov. 14 to take over Okolona schools for financial reasons, marking the district’s second time under state control in 15 years. Okolona schools officials had notified the agency on Oct. 30 that it could not make its November payroll. 

Dozens of other school districts across Mississippi could also be in financial trouble. The current finances are unclear for 47 school districts that are behind on submitting completed annual financial audits to the state Department of Education.

On Thursday, the state Board of Education unanimously approved a temporary rule that, among other things, spells out consequences districts will face if they fail to submit annual audits on time, starting with the March 31 deadline. Those districts will be designated as high-risk, face “enhanced monitoring” from the state education department, and their accreditation could be downgraded for with multiple outstanding audits.

At a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Wednesday, Evans said there is limited funding available to help provide technical assistance for additional school districts taken over by the state: $4.8 million. Since taking over Okolona schools, the agency has already spent $1.5 million. Evans asked lawmakers for additional funding for next fiscal year.

“It doesn’t take long to eat through that,” Evans said of the agency’s emergency fund. “One district that’s in serious trouble can completely wipe that out.”

For now, the state runs six school systems, called districts of transformation: Noxubee County, Holmes County, Humphreys County, Yazoo City, Okolona Separate School District, and now Wilkinson County. The latter two districts are also the first districts the state has taken over since gaining the authority in 2024 to take over a school district for academic or financial reasons without the governor first declaring a state of emergency.

On Thursday, state Board of Education officials touted Tunica County School District as a success story. The district was placed in a district of transformation in 2015 and is now rated a B, the highest grade among school systems in the Mississippi Delta. 

This story has been updated with additional details.