The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Science. The lowest is 34% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Walthall Co School Dist
Walthall County School District is a small rural district in southern Mississippi, serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade across six schools. The enrollment is modest for a county-wide district, with students spread among Dexter Elementary, Salem Attendance Center, Tylertown Elementary, Tylertown Primary, Tylertown High School, and the Walthall County Career and Technology Center. The student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial White minority and small numbers of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, nor were figures for special populations such as English learners or students with individualized education programs, so the economic and special-needs profile of the district cannot be characterized from what was provided.
On state assessments, the district's results are mixed and generally on the weaker side. In math, proficiency across tested grades three through eight falls in a band that runs from roughly a quarter of students to just over two-fifths, with the strongest showing in the early grades and a noticeable dip in fifth grade. English language arts follows a similar pattern, with fourth grade standing out as the relative bright spot and third grade the lowest. Science results, available only for fifth and eighth grades, sit somewhat higher than the math and ELA averages, with nearly half of tested students reaching proficiency in eighth grade. A parent considering this district may want to ask the schools how they are addressing the middle-grade dips, particularly in fifth-grade math and third-grade literacy, where the numbers are weakest.
One publicly reported development is worth attention. The district's graduation rate has climbed over five years from a level that placed it near the bottom among Mississippi districts to a higher, though still modest, level. This is a sustained upward trend and speaks to real improvement in keeping students through to completion. The specific current rate was not included in the academic data sections, so a parent would want to confirm the latest figure directly with the district, but the trajectory described in publicly reported sources is encouraging for families weighing college and career readiness.
The district includes a dedicated career and technology center, which broadens the pathway for high school students beyond a purely academic track. Program-specific details such as which certifications or dual-credit opportunities are available were not provided, so families with older students should inquire about what the career center offers and how it connects to local employment.
Walthall County sits in a housing market that is well below both the Mississippi state benchmark and the national average. Homes across the district's zip codes cluster in a modest range, with the bulk of the market weighted toward Tylertown, the county seat. The area has seen a slight year-over-year decline in home values overall, though some pockets such as Kokomo and Osyka have posted gains. The price-to-income ratio is favorable compared with national norms, meaning housing here is relatively affordable for working families. Rental data was not available, so the rental picture cannot be described.
Several categories of information that parents often ask about were absent from the data provided. There were no figures on attendance, discipline, staffing ratios, course access, or civil-rights indicators such as harassment or bullying reports. No neighbor comparison set was available to position this district against its Mississippi county peers, and no locale brief was provided to describe the community context of individual towns. The district's strategic priorities, magnet or charter status, and Title I designation were all listed as unknown or missing.
What the available data does show is a small, rural, predominantly minority-serving district with assessment results that have room to grow, a graduation trend moving in the right direction, a career-technical option at the high school level, and housing that remains accessible to families of modest means. For a family rooted in or drawn to this part of southern Mississippi, the questions worth bringing to the district are practical: what is the current graduation rate, what the career center feeds into, how the middle grades are being supported, and what the schools are doing about the youngest students' literacy.
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