PICAYUNE — The three school systems in Pearl River County — Poplarville, Picayune and the Pearl River Co. school system at Carriere — received mostly mid-rankings in a new accountability system report released on Monday by the Mississippi Department of Education.

The new system ranks schools in the following descending order: 1. Star; 2. High-performing; 3. Successful; 4. Academic watch; 5. At-risk of failing; 6. Low-performing; and last 7. Failing.

Picayune and Poplarville districts were ranked at No. 4 academic watch and Pearl River County at Carriere was ranked No. 3 successful. However, all three districts are listed as accredited on the state Department of Education’s listing of districts and schools and their rankings.

Under the new accountability system, 91 of the state’s 152 school districts fall below the successful ranking. Only two districts received the highest, or star ranking: Pass Christian and Booneville; only 21 ranked high-performing and only 38 were ranked as successful, which means that only 61 of the state’s districts were considered successful or better. Of the rest, 45 were at-risk of failing and eight were failing.

In individual school rankings locally, two schools received high performance rankings, that is second from the top, and they were: Pearl River Central’s Upper Elementary and Poplarville’s Junior and Senior High School.

Pearl River Central High School came in at successful. All other schools in the county came in fourth on what is called “academic watch,” including all Picayune schools. The lower elementary schools in each district were not ranked because they go only through second grade and the testing for ranking begins in the third grade.

Thirty percent of the 152 state school districts were ranked as at-risk of failing.

The rankings are based on testing and evaluation data generated inside the schools, but it also ranks districts and individual schools against the rest of the nation.

Previously, schools were ranked against in-state achievement scores only. Now “to be the highest, the school or district has to be the best among the nation,” Kris Kasse, deputy superintendent of instructional programs for the State Dept. of Education, told The Associated Press.

Most of the schools in Pearl River County were put on “academic watch,” and that means those districts aren’t performing at a level acceptable to the Dept. of Education, Krasse said.

The two districts and 34 individual schools ranked star not only rank tops in the state but also nationwide under the new system.

Said Tom Burnham, newly appointed state education superintendent: “I have no doubt that we can see dramatic improvement in Mississippi’s schools. . .We have hardworking, dedicated teachers and administrators and talented students who are as bright and capable as students anywhere.”

Booneville’s superintendent Rickey Neaves told the AP that community involvement is one of the factors that’s benefited his district of 1,350 students. “If we have parent-teacher night, 80 to 85 percent of our parents come,” he said. “This community expects our school district to be successful.” Neaves has been superintendent in Booneville for three years. Booneville’s Star ranking means it is one of the best schools in the nation.

Contacted earlier this year by the Item, Pass Christian superintendent Sue Matheson said the thing that has placed her system at the top in the state and now in the nation with the recent rankings is “just plain hard work.”

She said some educators on the Coast will say that the reason Pass Christian is on top with Booneville in Mississippi, and with Boonville as two of the best schools in the nation, is because they have a lot of “smart rich kids” and they have a lot of casino tax money to throw around on special programs to boost their kids’ performance.

Nothing could be further from the truth, said Matheson.

“Tell those folks that say that, that 70 percent of our students are on free and reduced lunches. Tell them to come over and visit. Out of all the school systems, Pass Christian is by far the poorest,” she said. “No, we don’t have rich parents with smart kids. Most of the rich live over on Scenic Drive and send their kids to private schools. And we don’t have the gaming money that Biloxi and Gulfport has. We don’t get any.

“People are always looking for an excuse — it’s the students, it’s the parents; well, it’s the teachers, it’s the principals, it’s the superintendent, it’s the school board. No,” she said, “We do not accept excuses. We believe that every child, no matter what socio-economic level they are in, no matter what type of home they came from, we expect that child to come to school and learn, period, no excuses.”

The other “excuse” is that Pass Christian gets a better product out of the elementary schools and that is the reason for the high ranking.

Matheson pleads guilty.

“Well, that is probably correct. We start in kindergarten teaching and working with our kids, so that by the time they get to high school that is true, the high school is getting a better product because of what the elementary and middle school teachers are doing,” she said.

Asked if the rankings really show where a school system is and how it is performing, she said, “What I like about it is when our students score well, that’s telling me that the kids in Pass Christian can go anywhere in the U.S. and score well in any school district in the U.S.”

She added, “Again, we. . .I mean I, do not accept any excuses. There are no excuses when it comes to the teaching process. Whatever walks in the door, we will take that student and expect them to learn. It might mean tutoring before, during and after school, during summers, calling in consultants to come and work with us and decide what our strengths and weaknesses are. Whatever it takes. We are not going to leave any stone unturned. We are going to find a way to help every child that comes into our school district.”

Matheson has been in the Pass Christian school district for 16 years, working her way up to principal, then assistant superintendent and then for the past 7 years superintendent.

She’s a local product, having attended Biloxi schools and then graduating from USM.

“I am definitely a local product,” she said.

She also has Picayune connections.

Her first cousin is Garland Lee, mother of head coach Dodd Lee.

Her father, Harbin Miller, was born in Logtown and lived in Picayune most of his life. Her mother was Lettie McMichael, a Picayune native.

“I couldn’t get more local than that,” she laughed.

The Item made an attempt to contact all three Pearl River County superintendents but was unsuccessful.

In the 7-tier ranking system:

Overall the Pearl River County school district was rated No. 3 Successful; Pearl River Central Upper Elementary No. 2 high performing; Pearl River Central Jr. High No. 4 academic watch; Pearl River Central High No. 2 high-performing; overall Picayune school district was rated No. 4 academic watch; Nicholson elementary, Picayune Jr. High, Picayune High, Roseland Park Elementary, South Side Upper Elementary, West Side Elementary, all No. 4 academic watch; overall Poplarville school district ranked No. 4 academic watch; Poplarville Jr. & Sr. High, No. 2 high-performing; Poplarville Middle School No. 4 academic watch; Poplarville Upper Elementary No. 4 academic watch.