South Mississippi school districts earn high marks under tougher state accountability standards for 2025-26 school year

SOUTH MISSISSIPPI (WXXV) — Several South Mississippi school districts are among the state’s highest-performing under newly released accountability grades from the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE).

The grades, released Thursday for the 2025-2026 school year, mark the first time Mississippi public schools have been evaluated under tougher accountability standards designed to raise expectations for academic performance.

Statewide, 53.9% of schools and 50.7% of school districts earned an A or B.

Across the six South Mississippi counties of Pearl River, Stone, George, Hancock, Harrison and Jackson, all 16 public school districts earned an A, B, or C grade.

The Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District led the region with 773 accountability points, which also makes it the highest performing school district in the entire state of Mississippi. =

Ocean Springs, Long Beach, Poplarville and Pass Christian also posted strong results, placing them within the top ten districts in the state for the 2025-26 school year.

Also of note, the five public school districts within Harrison County received an A rating.

2025-2026 South Mississippi school district grades

The following districts are listed in descending order by their accountability scores:

Mississippi raises accountability standards

The new accountability grades establish a higher benchmark for measuring school and district performance across Mississippi.

Under state law, academic standards must increase when student proficiency exceeds certain thresholds or when at least 65% of schools or districts earn a B or higher.

Mississippi reached that threshold in 2023, when 74% of schools and 71% of districts received an A or B.

Following a two-year review involving education stakeholders and technical experts, the Mississippi State Board of Education approved new grading thresholds in November 2025.

Because of those changes, the 2025-2026 accountability grades cannot be directly compared with grades from previous school years.

“Raising academic standards is required by state law because it is an essential part of ensuring Mississippi students and schools continue to improve academically each year,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Lance Evans.

How schools are graded

Mississippi’s accountability system evaluates schools and districts using several measures of academic performance, including student proficiency and growth in reading and mathematics, science achievement, graduation rates and college and career readiness.

The updated system also includes a new Readiness Index for high schools and school districts, measuring performance in areas such as ACT and SAT scores, advanced coursework, career and technical education, industry certifications and graduation.

Elementary and middle schools can earn up to 700 accountability points, while high schools and school districts can earn up to 1,000.

State education officials say the tougher standards are intended to encourage continued academic improvement while giving parents and communities a clearer picture of school performance.