Friday morning while the Lincoln County Mississippi Scholarsprogram was receiving accolades from the Mississippi Department ofEducation Board of Directors in Jackson, back at home residentswere being informed of mixed accolades in the form of schoolaccountability rankings.

Brookhaven schools improved with a High Performing ranking whileLincoln County schools’ ranking slipped to an Academic Watch level.Franklin County and Lawrence County schools received a similarAcademic Watch ranking while Copiah County schools were listed asbeing At Risk of Failing.

While there is celebration at the Brookhaven School District therewas disappointment at Lincoln County. Said Lincoln County SchoolDistrict Superintendent Terry Brister, “We’ve had progression andimprovement each and every year and then for us to come up short isnot a just reflection of the hard work of our faculty andstudents.”

We have witnessed some of the hard work at the Lincoln Countyschools and well understand the frustration of the system’ssuperintendent.

An example of Lincoln County’s successes is the Biomedical program,headed by Kathy McKone, at Enterprise Attendance Center. Withfacilities that would be the envy of many college campuses,students are being introduced to a whole new world of sciences andtechnology. A whole new world that may one day open new industrialopportunities locally, as students’ educational experiences arebroadened and our workforce is more technologically advanced.

Disappointment and frustrations aside, the just-released rankingsgive direction to areas of attention that no doubt the LincolnCounty system will be working to correct. And of course Brookhavennow has the task of building onto its High Performingranking.

The recognition by the State Board of Education of Lincoln County’sMississippi Scholars Program is a reflection of the commitment thatBrookhaven and Lincoln County have placed on education in our area.The commitment by educators, civic and business leaders to raisingthe bar for our students is being recognized not only across thestate, but also regionally and nationally.

As Southwest Mississippi works toward solving some of its economicwoes, the betterment of our educational systems should beeveryone’s ultimate goal.

The State Board of Education recognition Friday morning shows thatwhile locally we have accomplished much, there still is some workto be done. And with the community support that we have, there isno doubt our schools are heading in the right direction.