On Wednesday, Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science Executive Director Donnie Cook reduced talk of an effort to relocate the school to Starkville as simply “rumors.”
Two days later, after The Dispatch obtained a memo he sent to employees indicating he is actively exploring relocation options, Cook said, “We’re not leaving anything off the table.”
Cook emailed the memo on Wednesday, which offered a summary of what he called a “town hall” held Monday at the school. In it, he addresses the potential for Mississippi State University hosting new MSMS facilities “near the Partnership School” — a demonstration school adjacent to MSU’s campus that houses Starkville-Oktibbeha sixth- and seventh-graders.
“That possibility would allow us to have our separate space but offer opportunities for our students to easily pursue interests on that campus,” he wrote in the memo, adding he is “in no way making decisions related to this” but is simply asking how a potential partnership would look.
An hour after he sent that email, he waved off a question from a Dispatch reporter regarding growing rumors he was researching relocation to MSU.
“I don’t know who starts these rumors, but that is strictly a rumor,” he told the reporter.
Though MSMS is a public school — one of three residential schools directly overseen by the Mississippi Department of Education — the “town hall” on Monday was not a public meeting. On Friday, Cook said it was a private session for MSMS employees to meet with the school’s new director for academic affairs.
Cook began his tenure as executive director in June 2022, replacing Germain McConnell, who had led the school for eight years.
MSMS 2.0
MSMS opened in September 1988, with Cook in its first class. The legislation that created the school placed it at the Mississippi University for Women, and moving it would require that legislation to change.
However, Cook told The Dispatch on Friday he and stakeholders, like employees and alumni, are looking at options for a re-envisioned school, which he has dubbed “MSMS 2.0.” He also said the MSMS Student Government Association passed a resolution to ask about relocating, which played a part in Cook asking questions.
“We’re trying to get new facilities…,” Cook said. “We have some partnerships at Mississippi State and the question has been asked: Wouldn’t it be nice if we could be close? And there’s nothing really on the table to decide, but in due diligence, I have asked a few questions whether that could be possible. … I want to provide the absolute best experience for our students, and The W has been a wonderful partner for us all these years. This is not me trying to do anything. It’s trying to gather all information as we kind of figure out what ‘2.0’ looks like.”
MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter confirmed Cook and MSU have engaged in conversations about a potential partnership.
“MSU can confirm that there have been preliminary conversations exploring the possibilities of additional cooperation with Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, but those conversations are very preliminary and there have been no decisions made and no framework for such additional cooperation reached,” Salter said. “Also, no timeline for additional conversations has been established. These conversations were initiated at the request of MSMS. The university participated in those discussions with the very clear understanding that no substantive changes at MSMS would take place without definitive action on the part of the Mississippi Legislature.”
Cook said other questions have been raised about the vision of “MSMS 2.0” based on what other schools like MSMS around the country and in the Southeast are doing to be innovative and on the forefront of education. He pointed to the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering in Huntsville, its partnerships with its local industry and the fact a “significant portion” of students commute to the school.
Cook said he expects the process of defining “MSMS 2.0” to take at least a year, and he wants to involve alumni, former and current faculty and staff and business leaders in the community.
“We just want to know, if we’re going to build something new and kind of re-envision who we are, if that were ever, ever to be on the table, what would it look like?” Cook said. “This would be the time to ask. And that’s really all I’ve done is sort of ask. … Apparently there’s some people very resistant to that, and they may be the voice of wisdom, you know. There’s a lot to consider.”
Cook said off the top of his head roughly 60 percent of MSMS graduates attend a university in-state, and more than half of those students attend MSU.
“There is a large portion of our students that end up at MSU anyway, so another question is, if we do more dual enrollment over there, could that shorten their academic career a little bit? Is that something they want?” Cook said. “They may want the whole four years, but they’ve already had two years that feel a little bit like college. … These are all questions that all kinds of different stakeholders will have input on, so we would gather a lot of alumni information, what their experience was like after they left us.”
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