Wilkinson County School District

The Wilkinson County School District serves 694 students across three schools in rural Mississippi: Wilkinson County Elementary (grades PK-5), William Winans Middle School (grades 6-8), and Wilkinson County High School (grades 9-12). The district is ranked last in Mississippi at 134th out of 134 districts, and every school reports 100% free/reduced lunch eligibility, indicating that the entire student population comes from economically disadvantaged households.

Within this challenging context, William Winans Middle School stands out as the relative bright spot. It has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the district at 14.1% — the only school below the state average of 23.9% — and the best school ranking at the 6th percentile. In contrast, Wilkinson County High School faces severe challenges: more than half of its students (56.1%) are chronically absent, its graduation rate is just 69.2% compared to the state rate of 89.2%, and it has ranked at the 1st percentile of Mississippi high schools for three consecutive years. Wilkinson County Elementary sits between the two, with a 19.7% chronic absenteeism rate and stronger proficiency scores in 5th grade than in 3rd grade during 2024-2025, though those gains faded in 2025-2026.

The data reveals that smaller class sizes are not translating into better outcomes: the high school has the lowest student-teacher ratio in the district at 8.6:1, yet still produces the worst attendance, graduation, and test results. Across every grade and subject, proficiency rates lag state averages by roughly 20 to 50 percentage points, with the largest gaps in Algebra I and Biology end-of-course exams. Parents should know that while William Winans Middle School demonstrates that better attendance and relatively stronger academics are possible in this district, all three schools are deeply below state expectations and face significant poverty-related challenges.