Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo

Northeast Mississippi school districts receive $3.75 federal education grant

By Taylor Vance

Four school districts in Northeast Mississippi will continue to receive portions of a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education to promote STEM courses in rural classrooms.

Houston School District, Pontotoc County School District, Aberdeen School District, Booneville School District and eight other school district located throughout the state are the recipients of the grant, which is funded through Education Innovation and Research Program.

These twelve total school district make up the Mississippi Public School Consortium for Educational Access. The Consortium is designed to provide science, technology, engineering and math courses to public school districts in rural, high-poverty communities.

Several members of Mississippi’s congressional delegation on Monday announced the program would continue including U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith and U.S. Reps. Bennie Thompson and Michael Guest.

Hyde-Smith, R-Miss, serves on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds federal education programs and said the grant will allow the state to be engaged in a strong collaborative effort to improve education in rural districts.

“The Consortium is already making good progress, and through this multi-year (Education, Innovation and Research) grant, students in rural districts will be given more access to college-level STEM coursework,” Hyde-Smith said. “The grant also presents an acknowledgement by the U.S. Department of Education that more resources need to be invested in rural areas.”

Wicker, R-Miss, said in a statement that the funding will give more Mississippi students access to the advanced course they need.

“All students deserve the same education opportunities regardless of where they live,” Wicker said.

The program also allows the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Jackson State University, and Millsaps College to host academic campus that the students can attend.

Jeffrey Clay, the superintendent of the Aberdeen School District, said he was excited for this program to continue at his school district and the district is currently offering nine students a class in AP Physics.

“The instruction is virtual. So, we don't actually have a teacher. We have someone in the room with them, but the instruction comes virtual. They also have tutors. The tutors they have access to are from Yale University, MIT and the University of Virginia.”

Clay said the school district does not technically receive any of the money, but the money is directed toward the consortium that allows the students to take a college-level course that they typically wouldn’t have access to.

“This allows them the opportunity to sit in a rigorous course,” he said.

Brian Windham, director of online learning for the Booneville School District, echoed Clay’s excitement and said if any student in the school district wants to take the classes, they are there for them to utilize.

“I think it’s a great thing for our districts and all the districts in Mississippi,” he said.