Four public school districts in Mississippi regained their accreditation status Thursday.

In October, the Commission on School Accreditation unveiled annual accreditation statuses for all public school districts, which are either accredited, on probation, or withdrawn. On Thursday, the commission approved the upgrade of Calhoun County, Humphreys County, Kemper County, and Wayne County School districts from probation status to fully accredited.

For a district to remain accredited, it must be 100 percent compliant in all 32 state accreditation standards. Chief Accountability Officer Paula Vanderford told the commission that all four districts have either submitted documentation that clears the standards they were in violation of, or received a follow-up visit from the Mississippi Department of Education to verify they were compliant.

A handful of districts remain on probation for 2017-18 school year:  Coahoma County School District, Coahoma County Agricultural School, Durant Public School District,  Jackson Public School District, Jefferson County School District, Leake County School District, McComb School District, Natchez-Adams School District and North Bolivar School District, Hazlehurst School District, Leland School District, West Bolivar School District, Yazoo City School District and Yazoo County School District.

The commission also approved recommendations to change a few components of the state’s accountability system, which will be presented to the State Board of Education for approval in January.

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Kayleigh Skinner served the Mississippi Today team from January 2017 as an education and legislative reporter and advanced to senior level roles in 2020 to October 2023. Before joining Mississippi Today, Kayleigh worked at The Hechinger Report, Chalkbeat Tennessee, and The Commercial Appeal. She has appeared on MSNBC, NPR, and BBC Newsday Radio to discuss her reporting.