Of the 4,400 students enrolled in Petal School District in the 2023-24 school year, 68.6% were white, according to the Mississippi Department of Education.
This is a 1.1% decrease from the previous school year.
Among the five schools in the district, Petal High School had the largest enrollment of white students in the 2023-24 school year.
A snapshot of Petal School District’s student body showed that 68.6% of students were white, 18.1% were Black, 6.6% were multiracial, 5.9% were Hispanic, and 0.6% were Asian.
Petal School District roughly covers five schools within Forrest County and has a main office in Petal.
Mississippi’s schools, with an enrollment of 436,523 in the 2023-24 academic year, are mostly divided between two ethnicities, with Black or African American students being the largest racial group at 46.86%, followed by white students at 42.14%.
Students in the state showed a significant improvement in the 2022-23 academic year, demonstrating sustained progress in their post-pandemic recovery. Overall, 87% of schools and 91% of districts achieved a grade of C or better, compared to 81% of schools and 87% of districts in the prior year.
Results from the 2022-23 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) showed students reaching an all-time high in all core subjects. Students better performed on the Math and English portion of the test, achieving grades around 5% better than in the previous year.
| School | % Asian | % Black or African American | % Hispanic or Latino | % Multiracial | % White |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petal Elementary School | 0% | 17.3% | 0% | 14.4% | 68.3% |
| Petal High School | 0% | 19.4% | 6.8% | 6.3% | 67.5% |
| Petal Middle School | 0% | 17.7% | 5.9% | 6.8% | 69.6% |
| Petal Primary School | 0% | 17.3% | 5.9% | 9.0% | 67.8% |
| Petal Upper Elementary School | 0% | 18.2% | 4.7% | 5.5% | 71.6% |
