Students in Northeast Mississippi schools as a whole performed above the state average on last year’s state tests, according to results released by the Mississippi Department of Education last week. Tupelo students scored particularly well on math tests, and Lee County students did so on English tests. Students in the Union County, Oxford, Prentiss County, Itawamba County, Tupelo, New Albany, Amory, Booneville, Lafayette County and Pontotoc City school districts performed consistently well across the board.
Daily Journal education reporter Emma Kent (6:38) joins Derek and Brad on today’s show to discuss what we can take from those test scores and how the MDE will use the results to determine letter-grade rankings for schools and districts. Those rankings are expected to be released around October.
Also on today’s show, local government reporter Caleb Bedillion (13:32) has an update on the Antwun “Ronnie” Shumpert case. A little more than two months after Shumpert was fatally shot by a Tupelo police officer and about three weeks after a grand jury returned no criminal charges against the officer, much of the direct evidence in the case remains hidden from public view. The Daily Journal submitted a public records request to MBI seeking its report into the shooting. MBI denied the request on the basis that federal authorities are reviewing the MBI report. Meanwhile, fragmentary access to the investigative and medical records cast doubt on at least some claims made in a wrongful death suit.
Photographer Adam Robison (27:34) talks about his photo essay on Ashley Pottery Studio.
Brad (31:39) breaks down the wackiest crime reports from last week.
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