Mississippi’s second largest school district wants out of federal desegregation orders

The district filed a motion last year to end orders it has been under since 1970. . Thirteen years after Brown v. Board of Education, the Rankin County school district had not integrated its schools. A local parent sued in federal court on behalf of his children, resulting in the 1967 Adams v. Rankin County Board of Education case. A federal decision put the district under court supervision as it was ordered to “eliminate all forms and vestiges of segregation” and achieve unitary status.

Nearly 60 years later, John Hooks, a defense lawyer for the district, argues that while “perfection is not the standard,” the Rankin County School District, Mississippi’s second largest, has done just that.

Yet, lawyers from the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund argue that there are still racially identifiable schools within Rankin County. Court decrees require the district’s public schools racial demographics to fall no more or no less than 20% from the total number of each demographic. Staff and faculty are required to fall within a 15% range. 

Documents submitted as evidence showed some schools falling out of that range. NAACP lawyers also argued that internal student transfers within the county contributed to there being obviously “White” and “Black” schools. 

Attorney Hooks, who represented the Rankin County School district, says the district can prove that it has been trying to eradicate all traces of segregation. It conducts bias training and has tried to find Black educators for the county’s gifted learning program. (It currently only has one.)

Angela English, the president of the Rankin County NAACP chapter, has four grandchildren in the county’s public schools. She says Black children often struggle to get into the county’s gifted program or to afford extracurricular activities.

“I think what we have is a different tactic for segregation,” she said. “There are many different ways that you can exclude a person.”

Jennifer Holmes, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, agrees that areas like faculty and student diversity and extracurricular activities need improvement.

“There are court orders in place that require them to do certain things to expand Black faculty, to make sure that Black students are fully included and get opportunities in honors courses, gifted courses, extracurriculars, and are supported through all of that,” she said. “They just have not fully fulfilled those obligations under the court order. So we're just here in court trying to convince the judge to not let them off the hook.”

Hooks, the attorney for the school district, argues that the original court order was a temporary measure, but Holmes argues that some of the district’s data proves the court orders shouldn’t be dropped.

“Many of the changes they've cited in the district witness's testimony are things that are just being implemented this school year, the 2025 to 2026 school year,” she said, adding that it’s not enough information for them to prove they’ve fulfilled their duties under the court orders.

Anitra Hollis, the director of Human Resources for the Rankin County School District, was a defense witness. On the stand, she said the fact that White principals reach out to her looking for Black candidates could imply progress. 

Not everyone agreed with that testimony. Markesha Adams is the granddaughter of Kenneth Adams, the original plaintiff. Markesha is also a former teacher and administrator in Rankin county. 

“I think that the lawsuit still is relevant today because, again, just like the HR director stated, when you have a principal reaching out to you saying, hey, send me black applicants, the fact that we have schools that don't have any black teachers, that's a problem,” she said.

Undray Scott is an assistant superintendent with the Rankin County School District. In witness testimony, Scott said some schools have data suggesting that white children get sent to in-school suspension at higher rates than Black students. He says quote “We work to get it one to one as much as we can.” 

Gabriel Diaz, senior counsel with the NAACP legal defense fund cross-examined Scott. He spoke to MPB News after court.

“Their superintendent acknowledges this, that there does remain instances of racial disparities in discipline in the district,” he said. 

Lawyers on both sides acknowledged that there is a much greater number of Black educators and administrators in Rankin County. However, in court,  NAACP lawyers say hiring data shows instances where Black candidates scored higher in interviews with the district, but White candidates ultimately received some positions - sometimes without a reference check.

A decision in the case from Judge Johnson is forthcoming.