Covington County School District, MS

Original Research by School Decision on Covington County School District

Covington County School District is a rural Mississippi district serving students from kindergarten through twelfth grade across the communities of Collins, Mount Olive, and Seminary. The district operates roughly a dozen schools, including elementary, middle, and high school campuses in both Collins and Seminary, a combined attendance center in Mount Olive, a vocational-technical center, and an alternative school. One middle school campus, Carver Middle, is listed as closed. The district does not appear to operate any charter or magnet schools.

The student body is small for a county-wide district, and its racial composition is nearly evenly split between Black and White students, with smaller shares of Hispanic and multiracial students and a very small number of Asian and Pacific Islander students. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available in the provided records, so the economic profile of the student population cannot be characterized from this data. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was also missing.

On Mississippi's state assessment, the MAAP, the district's math results show a mixed but generally moderate picture. Proficiency in the earliest tested grades sits around the midpoint, with third grade among the stronger elementary results. Fifth grade math is the weakest elementary grade. Sixth grade stands out as the district's best math performance, with a clear majority of students reaching proficiency. Seventh and eighth grade math settle back into a moderate range. Across the tested grades, math results do not show a steep decline from elementary to middle school, which is a quieter strength than many districts can claim.

English language arts tells a different story. Elementary ELA proficiency holds fairly steady across grades three through six, with roughly half of students proficient in each. But seventh and eighth grade ELA drop sharply, with proficiency falling to about a third of tested students. This is the district's clearest soft spot, and a parent with a child entering those grades may want to look into what the schools are doing to address this decline. Science results are more encouraging. Fifth grade science is a genuine bright spot, with a strong majority of students proficient, and eighth grade science sits near the midpoint. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is unclear whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability over time. Statewide comparison data was not provided either, so the district's standing relative to other Mississippi districts cannot be stated here.

No graduation rate, course access, staffing, discipline, or attendance data was included in the available records. These are real gaps. A family evaluating the district's high schools would benefit from asking directly about graduation rates, advanced course offerings, and college or career pathways, since the data provided does not address them. The district does operate a vocational-technical center, which suggests at least some career-oriented programming, but the details were not available.

The housing market across the district's communities is modest by both state and national standards. Home values in the Collins and Mount Olive areas sit below the Mississippi state benchmark, while Seminary and the nearby Sumrall area trend higher. For a family considering a move, housing here is broadly affordable relative to income, and the estimated monthly mortgage cost remains low compared with national figures. Rental data was thin and came almost entirely from the adjacent Hattiesburg area, so it does not paint a reliable picture of rental costs within the district itself.

One publicly reported development worth understanding: in a federal court granted the district unitary status, releasing it from decades of desegregation oversight. This gave the district full control over attendance zones, staffing patterns, and school assignment policies. For families, that means boundary and assignment decisions are now made locally without court supervision, which could shape how resources and enrollment are distributed across the three communities over time.

What the data supports is a picture of a small, rural district with solid elementary instruction, a notable middle-school ELA weakness, promising science results, and a vocational-technical option at the secondary level. The missing data on graduation, staffing, and advanced coursework means families should supplement this picture with direct conversations at the school level.

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District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

2,547

Grades

KG–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 4%

Black 50%

White 41%

Asian 1%

Two+ 5%

Hawaiian / Pac. Isl. 0%

Schools in this District

10 schools are officially reported under this district.

COLLINS ELEMENTARY

COLLINS HIGH SCHOOL

CARVER MIDDLE SCHOOL

COVINGTON CO VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL

HOPEWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

MOUNT OLIVE ATTENDANCE CENTER

SEMINARY HIGH SCHOOL

COVINGTON COUNTY ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL

SEMINARY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

SEMINARY MIDDLE SCHOOL

Academic Performance

Percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards, by grade.

Mathematics

6 grades reported

53%

Grade 3

50%

Grade 4

42%

Grade 5

61%

Grade 6

49%

Grade 7

46%

Grade 8

English Language Arts

6 grades reported

51%

Grade 3

52%

Grade 4

53%

Grade 5

51%

Grade 6

35%

Grade 7

33%

Grade 8

Science

2 grades reported

69%

Grade 5

51%

Grade 8

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$176,845

Year-over-year change+2.7%

Range across 8 ZIP codes$88K to $279K

vs. state typical0.91x

vs. national typical0.48x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (8 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
39428	Collins	$168K	+3.4%	43.0%
39479	Seminary	$204K	+1.5%	26.1%
39119	Mount Olive	$150K	+3.3%	19.9%
39168	Taylorsville	$144K	+0.9%	5.6%
39482	Sumrall	$262K	+3.2%	4.5%
39402	Hattiesburg	$279K	+3.5%	0.4%
39474	Prentiss	$88K	-3.9%	0.2%
39401	Hattiesburg	$148K	-0.0%	0.2%

Rental Market

Typical monthly rent$1,388/mo

Year-over-year change+4.3%

Range across 2 ZIP codes$1,197 to $1,490/mo

Rent trend (12 months)

ZIP code rents (2 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Rent/mo	YoY	Weight
39402	Hattiesburg	$1,490	+3.9%	0.4%
39401	Hattiesburg	$1,197	+5.0%	0.2%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$892/mo

Home price / national median income2.1x

Annual rent / national median income19.9%

Rent exceeds est. mortgage by$496/mo

Comparison

State typical home value$194,242 (+1.1% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.