JACKSON, Miss.—With a string of balloons held firmly in her hand, Constance Washington lifted her head toward the afternoon sky and closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face.
She spent over a decade teaching at Wingfield High School, one of 13 Jackson Public Schools slated to be consolidated or closed for good this year.
Washington stood shoulder-to-shoulder with other educators, students and alumni on Wednesday, May 29, to commemorate the last day of classes and celebrate what was.
“Two wings, one falcon,” the crowd chanted, a nod to their mascot.
A countdown of “Three, two, one” cued the gatherers to release their balloons.
Washington shouted enthusiastically as she let the balloons drift from her grasp. Still, she couldn’t hold back her tears over the closing of the school to which she feels so connected.
“I’m emotional because not only have I been here for a decade, all five of my children attended here,” Washington said. “I told some of my colleagues, the closing of Wingfield to me is like having a funeral for a loved one that I’ll never get to see again.”
The educator paused for a moment to greet a student who had walked up and reached out for a hug before he headed home.
“No matter what comes here, it’ll never be the Wingfield that I know and love,” she said, turning and pointing up toward the school’s name sprawled across the side of the building.
“This was family. These people were my family. These people have been here for me, for my children. You don’t get that everywhere you go,” she continued.
History of Wingfield High School
In an interview with the Mississippi Free Press on Wednesday, 66-year-old Wingfield High School alumna and former JPS school teacher Terri Palmer reflected on her transition into the previously all-white school as a sophomore decades ago.
“I had never heard of Wingfield,” Palmer said. “I guess it was over here for them. This was their area. It’s not now. (But) when they told us we had to go, we had to go.”
Wingfield High School opened its doors in 1966 in South Jackson, which was then a majority-white area of the city.
“It was probably one of the last schools built exclusively for white people,” Jackson State University archivist Angela Stewart told the Mississippi Free Press on Feb. 16.
Three years after the school’s opening, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1969 decision in the case Alexander v. Holmes required school districts still resisting integration to desegregate immediately—14 years after the historic Brown v. Board decision.
“Continued operation of racially segregated schools under the standard of ‘all deliberate speed’ is no longer constitutionally permissible. School districts must immediately terminate dual school systems based on race and operate only unitary school systems,” the Supreme Court ruled.
In the years that followed, many white Jacksonians fled the city for the emerging suburbs, following the trend of white flight happening around the country.
As Jackson became a majority-Black city, moving to South Jackson became a beacon of success for middle-class Black families.
But in more recent years, the movement of Black families out of Jackson deepened the hole in the city’s population and in JPS classrooms.
While Jackson’s public-school system would swell to more than 33,000 students in the early 1990s, the district’s population has not reached pre-integration levels since 1970.
Student attendance at Jackson’s public schools has declined and the district has closed or consolidated a bevy of schools in recent years.
Regardless of the history of its founding, Wingfield High School became a cherished institution in the community, now a predominantly Black neighborhood.
Palmer said that she understood the district’s decision to close the school was spurred by dwindling enrollment numbers.
“I worked in Jackson Public Schools for 34 years,” Palmer said. “I know that we’re losing children. Of course, I hate that it had to be Wingfield. … They have to do what they have to do.”
JPS Cites Low Attendance, Staffing Shortages
On Dec. 19, 2023, the board of the Jackson Public Schools District voted 5-1 to close or consolidate 13 schools, accepting a proposal from JPS Superintendent Errick Greene who cited low student attendance and the cost to maintain aging buildings as part of the basis for his decision.
The superintendent implored the board to vote in favor of the plan and compared the decision to that of a diabetic choosing whether or not to amputate a limb.
“While ours is not the same, we do happen to be in a situation where if we do not take drastic action right now, not tomorrow, not next year, not in a couple of years, (but) right now … that we could in effect, create a situation where our system cannot survive because we didn’t take the measures to stop the bleeding,” Greene told the board.
The district held community meetings for months where Greene explained his decision to residents.
Wingfield High School alumni were particularly vocal with their frustration and concerns.
“The merger of these scholars … will definitely increase violence and it will affect their education,” alumna Valencia White told Greene during an Oct. 9, 2023, town hall, Mississippi Today reported.
‘Today’s Bittersweet, But It’s Been a Great Journey’
During the May 29 ceremony at Wingfield High School, many students were eager to share their thoughts regarding the closure and to reflect on what their time at the school was like.
Some expressed anxiety over what may come next; others expressed gratitude for what was and excitement for the future.
“My two years being here was an enjoyment. I loved the other kids and the teachers,” Carrissa Townsend, who will be a junior this fall, told the Mississippi Free Press. “I’m sad that it had to close because I couldn’t finish out and graduate (here).”
Townsend wrapped her arm around her friend Emarah Pointer as the two posed for a photo. The pair said they looked forward to attending Jim Hill High School next year.
As the ceremony came to a close, students headed to lunch and the crowd dissipated. Some alumni and teachers hung around outside, still talking, laughing, gathering for pictures.
Songs like “End of The Road” by Boyz II Men and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” blasted through the halls.
The school’s principal, Roderick Smith, a towering figure, proudly donned a blue and white Wingfield jersey with the number 24.
He reflected on his tenure at the school in an interview with the Mississippi Free Press.
“This is year 13,” Smith said. “I started out as a teacher, moved to an interventionist, then an assistant principal and the head principal. For the past seven years I’ve been holding it down as the head principal here,” he continued.
He lamented over lost potential and what could have been, but shared his gratitude.
“Today’s bittersweet, but it’s been a great journey,” Smith said. “I’ve met a lot of great people, worked with a lot of great people, gotten to know a lot of great families. Overall, I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.”
The Jackson Public School District held the final graduation ceremony for Wingfield High School on May 31, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. at the Mississippi Coliseum. JPS livestreams all graduation ceremonies on their YouTube channel.
