Public school enrollment in Mississippi has been on a decline for roughly a decade, and most school districts in the Golden Triangle have not been spared.
Apart from Lowndes County School District, all area districts have seen an enrollment decline since the 2015-2016 school year, though Columbus Municipal School District has seen the largest, with a decrease of more than 25%.
Soon, districts could face financial consequences for the loss.
State funding for public school districts is largely tied to student enrollment under the Mississippi Student Funding Formula. With a provision of the formula shielding districts from enrollment-based funding cuts set to expire in 2027, the financial impact will vary by district, said Shanderia Minor, public information officer for the Mississippi Department of Education.
“Districts with sustained enrollment declines since FY 2024 are likely to experience the greatest effect because MSFF funding is driven largely by student enrollment,” Minor wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “Districts with declining enrollment, high fixed costs, and limited ability to adjust operations may face greater challenges than districts with stable or growing enrollment.”
The hold harmless provision, enacted when the formula went into effect, guarantees no district receives less in state funding than it did in the 2023-2024 school year, even if enrollment has declined. Once it expires, districts that have continued losing students will see their state funding level more closely aligned with their actual enrollment figures.
Minor said MDE is working to provide planning assistance before the funding cut, but for districts like CMSD, the cut could be quite large.
Based on enrollment figures from 2015-2016 and 2023-2024, the district could suffer a $1.5 million loss in state funding when the hold harmless provision expires. While the exact impact remains to be seen, it’s a reality the district is already preparing for, said Superintendent Craig Chapman.
“We are carefully evaluating expenditures, prioritizing needs that directly support student achievement, and making fiscally responsible decisions,” Chapman wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “This proactive approach is designed to ensure the district remains financially stable, and current decisions do not create burdens when the funding formula adjustment takes effect.”
By the numbers
Lowndes County School District is the only in the region to have seen an increase in student enrollment since the 2015-2026 school year, seeing a slight rise of 0.84%, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Superintendent Sam Allison pointed to continuous school improvement efforts, strong educational offerings and economic growth in the county as contributing factors to the district’s slight increase.
“Some students come from neighboring districts, but many are also from families relocating to Lowndes County,” Allison wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “As our community continues to grow and attract new jobs and industry, we are seeing more families move into the area and choose our schools.”
Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District saw the smallest decline in the region, at 5.28% over the last decade.
Communications Director Haley Montgomery said the largest block of students who withdrew from the district during that time period left to move to other public schools. The second largest block of students moved out of state, which she attributed in part to the district’s proximity to Mississippi State University.
“We do have students who withdraw and register as home-schooled, and the smallest block has been students who withdraw to move to a private or non-public school,” she said.
West Point Consolidated and Noxubee County schools saw respective declines of roughly 22.6% and 22.7% in the last decade, but CMSD has seen the largest decrease at 26.7%.
While he said it’s difficult to determine all the underlying factors contributing to enrollment declines, Chapman said family relocations and homeschooling are the primary reasons given for student withdrawals.
“While some students may choose other educational options, relocations and homeschooling account for the majority of documented withdrawals,” Chapman said.
The enrollment loss has had a direct impact on the district’s budget and operations, Chapman said, forcing the district to adjust resources to match the student population.
“We have consistently monitored enrollment trends and adjusted staffing levels accordingly,” Chapman said. “Because personnel costs represent the largest portion of the district’s budget, we have primarily addressed staffing reductions through natural attrition rather than eliminating positions or implementing layoffs.”
Over the last two years CMSD has consolidated from five elementary schools to three. The shift, Chapman said, has allowed the district to operate more efficiently by concentrating resources and services to fewer buildings.
“We are now able to allocate additional local and state funds to support interventions, instructional programs, and other services that benefit students across the district,” he said.
Consolidation?
While other districts with declining enrollment might benefit from consolidating operations, Chapman said that decision should be based on each districts’ specific needs.
“Each district has its own unique circumstances, including community needs, facility capacity, financial resources and long-term goals,” he said. “As a result, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.”
District 43 Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, who chairs the House Education Committee, said consolidations – in some form – may be a valid tool available to districts struggling with the financial impacts of enrollment decline.
“Some of these (districts) have gone from the capacity of having 1,500 to 2,000 students down to about 800, and if you’ve got that, is it smart … to look at what may be surrounding them, whether or not having some consolidation, even at the administrative level?” Roberson said.
Roberson, who also co-chairs the House Select Committee on Consolidation, said consolidation could include more targeted approaches for certain districts depending on need, like closing individual school buildings or consolidating administrative functions.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a cookie-cutter way to approach all of these,” Roberson told The Dispatch. “… We don’t want to put everybody in a situation where we’re creating more problems. We’re trying to just help them find solutions to the current problems they have.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
