Summary:
The city of Lexington, Mississippi is served by four public schools in the Holmes County Consolidated School District, spanning grades PK through 12 with a combined enrollment of 1,675 students, all in a high-poverty area where every student qualifies for free or reduced lunch. Across the district, proficiency rates in most subjects trail the state averages, but there are notable standouts and clear differences between schools.
Among elementary schools, S.V. Marshall Elementary School is the strongest performer, ranking 293rd out of 377 Mississippi elementary schools and posting the district’s only above-state test result: 74% proficiency in 5th-grade science, compared to the state average of 71.5%. It also beats the district average in nearly every subject, including 4th-grade math (47.6% vs. the district’s 35.2% at William Dean Junior Elementary School). William Dean, by contrast, is the lowest-ranked school in the district, falling from the 15th percentile in 2023–24 to the 6th percentile in 2025–26, with a sharp drop in 3rd-grade math proficiency from 42.7% to 17.7% in one year.
At the middle and high school levels, S.V. Marshall Middle School stands out for having the district’s best attendance—chronic absenteeism is only 14.8%, less than half the district rate—yet its academic performance is weak, with 8th-grade ELA proficiency at just 9.9%. Holmes County Central High School has a surprisingly strong graduation rate of 92.0%, above the state’s 89.2%, despite 46.9% chronic absenteeism. Its Algebra I proficiency (61.6%) is close to the state average (66.0%), while English II and Biology lag far behind. A clear grade-level slide emerges district-wide, with elementary scores higher than middle school scores and 8th grade consistently the weakest point.
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