Mississippi Superintendent of Education Henry Johnson, foreground, listens Tuesday as Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent James Price talks and County Judge Johnny Price listens at the Youth Court Assistance Center.(Meredith Spencer The Vicksburg Post)

[8/25/04]Mississippi’s superintendent of education visited the Youth Court Assistance Center and programs at Grove Street School on Tuesday, saying he was impressed with the level of cooperation he observed.

“The collaboration of the judicial, social and school systems is very important in making sure children don’t fall through the cracks,” said Henry Johnson, who heads the Mississippi Department of Education, after a tour of the Grove Street and Warren County Youth Court facilities. “If we can’t keep children in school and we can’t keep children healthy, that negatively impacts the level of education.”

His comments came after a tour with state Sen. Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg; Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent James Price, Trustees Zelmarine Murphy and Betty Tolliver; and Assistant Superintendent John Walls.

Johnson oversees the 152 public school districts in the state. He was appointed by the state board of education in 2002.

Among alternatives for challenged students here is combining the efforts of the youth court and the school district for students with behavioral problems who are not succeeding in mainstream courses. The assistance center was developed in 2003 by Youth Court Judge Johnny Price and James Price, who are not related but were both new to their posts last year.

Grove Street School reopened this year as the 9,000-student district’s alternative education setting and houses classes for overage students, GED students, the parent center and classes for students with behavioral problems.

Students who are detained in the detention center and who are assigned to Grove Street continue to receive an education rather than being suspended and sent home; and behavior specialists work with court and school officials.

About 125 students are served under the programs at Grove Street, and Principal Gloria Sims expected that number to increase.

“We’re still in the process of trying to identify students who are overage or may need the GED classes,” she said. “We’re trying to give them an opportunity to succeed in their home schools first.”

That number is up from the 40 students who were in alternative programs at Bovina Elementary, the alternative school last year.

James Price said additional programs serving three times the number of students is the reason for a $120,000 increase in the budget for alternative programs.

The district spent about $700,000 at Bovina and will spend $820,000 at Grove.

Price said the increase also included the hiring of an assistant principal and assistant teachers.

The judge and the state and district superintendents said communication is key in the success of the program.

“It works because of the cooperation,” Judge Price said. “We’re on top of the children. They will do what I tell them to do or face the consequences.”

Johnson would not say if he would recommend this program to other districts in the state.

“If there’s anything unique here, it’s the total community effort; that’s the key,” Superintendent Price said. “All the players are vested. It’s not an issue of replicating our system, everyone has to find their own niche.”

And Johnson added, “But everyone has got to address the issue, and they have seemingly addressed it very well.”