Pine Belt Times

Of the 3,550 students enrolled in Marion County schools in 2022-23 school year, 51.5% were white, according to the Mississippi Department of Education. This was the most represented ethnicity among Marion County students.

This is a 4.2% increase over the previous school year.

Countywide, West Marion High School had the largest enrollment of white students in the 2022-23 school year.

A snapshot of Marion County schools showed that 51.5% of the students were white, 44.0% were Black or African American, 1.2% were multiracial and 0.3% were Hispanic or Latino.

There are nine schools within Marion County.

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 of Latino %	Multiracial %	White %
West Marion High School	0%	28.5%	0%	0%	68.9%
Columbia High School	0%	48.6%	2.4%	0%	47.1%
Columbia Primary School	0%	44.2%	0%	3.2%	50.4%
East Marion Elementary School	0%	62.2%	0%	0%	31%
Jefferson Middle School	0%	52.3%	0%	0%	45%
West Marion Primary School	0%	22.7%	0%	4.3%	71.6%
Columbia Elementary School	0%	43.8%	0%	3.6%	49.1%
East Marion High School	0%	72.7%	0%	0%	25.5%
West Marion Elementary School	0%	22.8%	0%	0%	72.6%