The Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District will miss out on some, but not all, funds from the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) after missing a deadline to submit a required waiver, says the district’s chief of finance.
The waiver, prompted by decreased enrollment and attendance in the district, was not submitted by the Dec. 1 deadline. Kelia Washington spoke about it after Tuesday’s school board meeting.
The amount of funding lost was unknown because the Legislature is still meeting and hasn’t determined the state funding for districts.
MAEP is a complex formula the state uses to apportion money to school districts. The formula takes into account average daily attendance and other factors.
A district is allowed to submit to the state superintendent of education, Dr. Carey Wright, a waiver if it has experienced an “inordinately large number of absentees.” This waiver, if granted by Wright, would allow a district to receive funds based on its prior year’s average daily attendance, rather than the current year, according to Mississippi Today.
Because the Greenwood Leflore District’s attendance was down from last year, it would stand to lose out on some state funds; therefore, district officials intended to apply for the waiver.
Dr. Mary Brown, the district’s superintendent, said at Tuesday’s meeting that she had sent an email to officials with the Mississippi Department of Education requesting reconsideration so that the district still be allowed to submit the waiver.
She said she was told that because the district had missed the deadline, it will lose out on some funds.
Also Tuesday:
- Samantha Milton, the board’s president, said a forum between James Johnson-Waldington, the incoming superintendent for the 2022-2023 school year, and the public, will be held starting at 6 p.m. July 7 at the Leflore County Civic Center.
Details on the forum, in which Johnson-Waldington will introduce himself to the public, will be forthcoming, Milton said.
The board hired Johnson-Waldington, who had served as an interim superintendent for the former Leflore County School District and had also overseen other districts in the state, last month.
- Last month, 14 students and five staff members tested positive for COVID-19, Brown said. As of Monday, 4,121 students were enrolled, the superintendent added.
- Contact Gerard Edic at 662-581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
