Local school district wraps up a year of history

WINONA, Miss. (WCBI) – A historic year is in the books for the Winona-Montgomery  Consolidated School District.

It’s been a challenge for students, administrators and the communities.

As with anything, change is never easy.

After obstacles and accomplishments, the first year for the consolidated school district is now in the books.

The district’s leader says even with the turmoil there has been great success.

“I started here in 2013 and the first consolidation bill came out about Winona in 2013 and two years later, the next one came out that included Winona, Montgomery and Carroll County, which Carroll County eventually dropped and so I just knew that it was my work.”

Winona Montgomery Consolidated School District Superintendent Dr. Teresa Jackson took on her new role back in February of 2018.

Although the district officially came into being July 1, Jackson says the work started months earlier with a community advisory board.

“This is parents, community leaders, higher education representatives, students, teachers and what’s interesting is seven members had to be approved by the former Montgomery County school District and seven members had to be approved by the former Winona School District, so I have a 14 member team that meets with me monthly that gives me ideas about what we are doing right and gives me suggestions for what we could do better.”

Even with that involvement, there have been obstacles, even lawsuits, but people are starting to come together.

“Now, all of that has kind of died down. We still have the Department of Justice. It has been paying close attention to what we are doing and making suggestions and so we’ve been working with them, as well, but we feel like we are getting close to the end of the litigation and the legal issues so that we can just have school.”

The seasoned educator says before the district became one, they were two small districts with their own financial challenges.

“Even putting the two districts together, it didn’t alleviate a lot of those challenges, but it did give us some additional resources. We were able to hire nine instructional assistants, so we have an assistant teacher in every classroom Pre-K through 2nd Grade. We were able to go back to a full-time librarian at the high-school.”

The logistics of physically bringing the students together hasn’t been easy either.

“We went from being a city school district, to being county-wide, and so all of the challenges with how to get kids to school quickly and safely on those county roads, going in and making sure bus repairs were done, replacing batteries and tires and things like that.”

Additional teachers were brought in, including familiar faces from both districts.

“It was what was right for kids and all of Montgomery County because all of the students made new friends. All of the students there benefited from putting the schools together. There was more resources, more computers, more technology, more money to do things with and more people to support students.”

Jackson said with this first year behind them, the focus is on the future.

She also said she wants parents and the community to know she has an open door policy for anyone needing to express concerns about the schools.

Jackson said the district is currently working on better ways to improve bus routes for the upcoming school year.