Jackson Public Schools — Policy Analysis 2026
Grand Total
63 / 106
59.4%
Base Score
57 / 96
Extra Credit
6 / 10
Score by Section
| Section | Score | Max | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culturally Responsive Training | 1 | 8 | Notes |
| Clear & Consistent Policies | 7 | 8 | Notes |
| Restorative Justice Practices | 4 | 8 | Notes |
| Bias Awareness & Mitigation | 3 | 8 | Notes |
| Culturally Relevant Curriculum | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Community Engagement & Collaboration | 7 | 8 | Notes |
| Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion | 1 | 8 | Notes |
| Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices | 7 | 8 | Notes |
| Data Collection & Analysis | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Student Voice & Leadership | 4 | 8 | Notes |
| Equitable Access to Support Services | 8 | 8 | Notes |
| Continuous Evaluation & Improvement | 5 | 8 | Notes |
| Extra Credit | 6 | 10 | Notes |
Suggestions to Improve the Score
Every item below its maximum, worst gap first, with the reviewer's own notes as the rationale.
Show suggestions (32)
- 1.1 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Mandatory cultural competency training for all staff — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public evidence of a mandatory, district-wide cultural competency training program for all JPS staff was found. This is further complicated by Mississippi's 2025 anti-DEI law (HB 1193), which the <cite index="135-2,135-3">law prohibits schools from requiring diversity training and maintaining DEI-related programs, courses and offices</cite>, and which is now being enforced a…
- 1.3 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Culturally relevant PD resources in staff learning — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). The Office of Teaching & Learning <cite index="21-8">initiates a system of district-wide strategic professional development that encompasses ongoing, planned, and comprehensive job-embedded experiences</cite>, but no specific culturally-relevant PD resource library or curriculum was identified, and the state's anti-DEI law now restricts such content.
- 1.4 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Regular feedback/measurement on training effectiveness — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public documentation of a formal feedback/measurement process specifically evaluating cultural-competency training effectiveness was found.
- 4.1 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Implicit bias training for staff — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No evidence of a specific implicit-bias training program for JPS staff was found, and Mississippi's anti-DEI law now bars schools from requiring 'diversity training' defined to include awareness of bias related to race, sex, and similar categories.
- 4.3 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Cultural competence checks in hiring — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). JPS publishes standard <cite index="201-1,201-2">nondiscrimination policy covering Protected Classes...in its educational programs and activities, including employment opportunities</cite>, but no specific 'cultural competence check' step in the hiring process was found.
- 5.2 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Teacher PD on integrating diverse perspectives — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No specific evidence of teacher professional development focused on integrating diverse perspectives into curriculum was found.
- 7.1 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Ongoing anti-bias/equity training — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No evidence of an ongoing, mandatory anti-bias/equity training series for staff was found; this type of programming is also now constrained by Mississippi's anti-DEI law.
- 7.2 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Workshops on culturally responsive teaching — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No specific workshops on culturally responsive teaching were identified in JPS professional development offerings.
- 7.4 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Participation in equity-focused conferences — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No public evidence of JPS staff participation in equity-focused external conferences was found.
- 12.1 [Continuous Evaluation & Improvement]: Standing committee/task force for discipline equity — Currently: Not Implemented (0/2 pts). No evidence of a standing committee or task force specifically dedicated to discipline equity was found; the district's 'Policy Committee' addresses broader governance, not a discipline-equity mandate specifically.
- EC5 [Extra Credit]: Describe additional policy… — Currently: Not rated (0/2 pts). No rationale recorded.
- 1.2 [Culturally Responsive Training]: Mentorship programs for culturally diverse staff — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS has a districtwide mentoring infrastructure, including a <cite index="116-7">JPS International Teacher Collective (JITC)</cite> that connects international educators with resources and support, but no program specifically targeted at mentoring 'culturally diverse' staff as a distinct equity initiative was found.
- 2.3 [Clear & Consistent Policies]: Staff training on consistent application — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). <cite index="2-1,2-2">Jackson Public Schools has been implementing the PBIS program across the entire district, and the Code of Student Conduct compliments and supports the district-wide implementation of PBIS</cite>, implying staff training, but no specific document detailing mandatory code-of-conduct application training for all staff was found.
- 3.1 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Restorative circles/conferences to repair harm — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Historically <cite index="111-2">JPS administrators... working to move the district towards restorative justice practices, which could eventually include dialogue circles in the classroom</cite>; current site-level examples (e.g., Jackson PreK-8 in PA, not MS) don't apply, so district-wide restorative circle implementation in JPS-MS remains unconfirmed as fully mandatory.
- 3.2 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Staff training in restorative practices — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). <cite index="145-8">The district has a few other planning grants run through partners that fund peer mediation and provides some teacher training</cite> toward restorative approaches, but no evidence of comprehensive, mandatory restorative-practice training for all staff was found.
- 3.3 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Curriculum integrates conflict-resolution skills — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS rolled out a conflict-resolution curriculum: <cite index="11-2,11-3">Tools for Life comes with curriculum for teachers to integrate into their lessons that teach students how to interact socially, understand their emotions and take appropriate actions when addressing conflict; JPS is rolling out the program in all its elementary and middle-school classrooms</cite>. Current status of thi…
- 3.4 [Restorative Justice Practices]: Peer mediation program — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS operates an official peer mediation program: <cite index="141-10,141-11">Jackson Public Schools is seeing positive results from the implementation of the T.A.P. (Talk About the Problems) peer mediation program for middle and high school students</cite>, though it is <cite index="141-13">currently being implemented in middle and high schools in south and west Jackson</cite> rather than district-wide.
- 4.2 [Bias Awareness & Mitigation]: Processes to review discipline data for disparities — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS has historically tracked and reviewed suspension data: <cite index="58-6">Wallace showed the school board suspension rates from throughout last school year, and her office tracks the data in order to make 'rapid response' visits to those schools with the highest suspension rates</cite>; current disaggregation by race for internal equity review was not independently confirmed.
- 5.3 [Culturally Relevant Curriculum]: Community collaboration for supplemental resources — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS maintains an extensive community-partner network ('Adopters') including <cite index="45-1">100 Black Men of Jackson</cite> and dozens of other local organizations, though it's unclear how directly these supply supplemental curriculum content versus general school support.
- 6.3 [Community Engagement & Collaboration]: Advisory committees with community representation — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). General parent organizational structures exist district-wide (PTA/PTSA), but no specific standing advisory committee with formal community representation focused on school discipline/equity policy was identified for JPS.
- 7.3 [Professional Development on Equity & Inclusion]: Equity topics in staff meetings/PD — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Equity is an explicit core value embedded in district messaging (<cite index="19-2,19-3">our vision of equity, put simply, is 'all means all'...providing each scholar in each school with equitable access to high-quality instruction, courses, and resources</cite>), but no specific evidence of equity being a recurring staff-meeting/PD agenda item was found.
- 8.3 [Mental Health & Trauma-Informed Practices]: Trauma-informed staff training — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS maintains a dedicated Trauma-Informed Schools resource hub stating <cite index="68-1,68-2">we understand the importance of them feeling safe and supported... we also acknowledge that mental health and wellness are innately connected to scholars' success</cite>, but it is unclear whether formal trauma-informed training is mandatory for all staff versus resource-based.
- 9.2 [Data Collection & Analysis]: Regular audits of discipline practices — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Historical evidence shows the district conducted discipline-practice reviews: <cite index="58-6">her office tracks the data in order to make 'rapid response' visits to those schools with the highest suspension rates</cite>; current, ongoing formal audits were not independently confirmed.
- 9.3 [Data Collection & Analysis]: Data-informed interventions/adjustments — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS uses data to drive interventions through its MTSS framework, evidenced by an active <cite index="167-3">RFP 2026-03-27 Pre K-12 Diagnostic Assessment and Tiered Intervention (MTSS/RTI) Program for Reading and Mathematics</cite>, though this is academic rather than discipline-specific.
- 9.4 [Data Collection & Analysis]: Transparent reporting to stakeholders — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS publishes annual <cite index="189-5">JPS MDE Accountability Report Card[s]</cite> and maintains a Finance Transparency Reporting page, but a dedicated public discipline-equity report was not found.
- 10.1 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student advisory councils/leadership groups — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS students regularly participate in the state-level <cite index="50-1">Mississippi Department of Education's (MDE) 2025-26 State Superintendent's Student Advisory Council</cite>, but no distinct JPS-internal, district-wide student advisory council for discipline/policy feedback was confirmed.
- 10.2 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student feedback informs policy/procedures — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS solicits feedback from students via surveys such as the Learning Experience survey and the <cite index="157-4">THRIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE REPORT [which] gathers input from students, school staff, and families</cite>, but a direct pipeline from this feedback into policy change was not confirmed.
- 10.3 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Students facilitate restorative processes — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). Through T.A.P., <cite index="141-13,141-14,141-15">students are at the center of the T.A.P. program... Students are most impacted by conflict resolution in their community</cite>, giving students a role in facilitating peer conflict resolution, though not full restorative-conference facilitation district-wide.
- 10.4 [Student Voice & Leadership]: Student-led peer education — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). <cite index="141-9,141-10">T.A.P. empowers students and strengthens schools, all while also helping students develop communication and leadership skills</cite> as trained peer mediators, representing student-led peer education in select schools rather than district-wide.
- 12.3 [Continuous Evaluation & Improvement]: Benchmarking vs. state/national comparators — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). JPS is a member of and has been benchmarked by the <cite index="186-2">Council of the Great City Schools, representing 70 large school districts across the nation</cite>, which provides comparative urban-district data, though recent discipline-specific benchmarking was not confirmed.
- EC3 [Extra Credit]: 'JPS Joy' strategic commitment — a formal five-year strategic-plan pillar dedicated to belonging, relationship-building, and holistic wellness alongside academics. — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). <cite index="43-5">Commitment 3: JPS Joy — We commit to fostering a sense of belonging, nurturing trusted relationships, while promoting the kind of risk-taking, engagement, and inquiry that are vital for lifelong learning</cite>, an explicit district-level commitment to school climate that goe…
- EC4 [Extra Credit]: Dedicated Trauma-Informed Schools resource office under Climate & Wellness, providing a trauma pyramid framework and curated teacher resources district-wide. — Currently: In-work (1/2 pts). <cite index="71-7">In order to respond to students who have experienced trauma, we are developing schools with safe and respectful environments that enable scholars to build caring relationships with adults and peers, self-regulate their emotions and behaviors, and succeed academically</cite>.