NEWS RELEASE 

For Immediate Release: June 20, 2024

State Board votes to return Tunica County School District to local governance effective July 1

JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) voted today to request an end to the state of emergency in the Tunica County School District (TCSD) and return the district to local community control.

The SBE has governed the TCSD since 2015, when it determined an extreme emergency existed in the district and asked the governor to declare a state of emergency. Specifically, the district was in violation of 25 of the 31 accreditation standards the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) reviewed. Accreditation audits found serious deficiencies in special education, federal programs, instructional programs, career technical education and district governance.

SBE-appointed interim superintendent Dr. Margie Pulley has led the district since 2015, during which time she implemented high-quality instruction, sound financial management and brought all accreditation standards into compliance. Under Dr. Pulley’s leadership, the district’s accountability grade improved to a C in 2015-16 after a four-year track record of D and F grades. The district further improved its grade to a B in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

The return to local control transfers responsibility for leading the district to the new TCSD board. The new school board includes five former advisory board members who the SBE appointed in November 2022 to help prepare the district to transition back to local control. The advisory board members will begin serving as voting school board members beginning July 1.

During the spring, the advisory board conducted a search for a new superintendent. The board will officially appoint its preferred candidate on July 1.

State law enables the SBE and the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) to intervene in school districts with a pattern of persistently poor student performance, extreme financial mismanagement or with serious violations of accreditation standards or state or federal law that jeopardize the safety or educational interests of students. There are currently four other school districts under state control, Noxubee County School District, Holmes County Consolidated School District, Humphreys County School District and Yazoo City School District. The SBE has the authority to return a state-run district to local control when the district has corrected all its deficiencies and has improved its academic performance.

“The Mississippi Department of Education and Mississippi State Board of Education are deeply grateful to Dr. Pulley for her steady leadership of the Tunica County School District over the past nine years,” said Dr. Raymond Morgigno, interim state superintendent of education. “Dr. Pulley always puts students first, makes decisions based on data and is a strong leader. It is no surprise that under her leadership, the students in Tunica County have made such impressive gains in their academic achievement.”

Find all MDE news releases at mdek12.org/news.

###