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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s Department of Education is returning to its downtown Jackson headquarters, after fire and water damage led the agency to spend nearly a year in temporary quarters in Clinton.

Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Chuck McIntosh says insurance has paid all but $250,000 of $1.33 million in repairs so far, as well as nearly $650,000 for moving expenses and rent at Clinton’s South Pointe Business Park.

The department announced Tuesday that it will begin returning to the Central High School building near the state Capitol on Wednesday, planning to complete the move by Monday.

A July 19, 2015, fire in a trash bin behind the neighboring Marriott hotel broke out windows, setting off sprinklers. Though the fire didn’t cause structural damage, sprinklers caused water damage and sparked mold concerns.

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