The future of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science is again in question as state officials consider moving it from its current location on the Mississippi University for Women campus to Mississippi State University. MSMS is the state’s only public residential high school for academically gifted students.

The Mississippi Department of Education invited both MUW and MSU to submit proposals to expand MSMS. Both schools submitted proposals by the Feb. 25 deadline.

The RFP specifically stated that the expansion should include modern dorms, a specific residential area with dedicated security, and access to a wellness center with possible designated times and supervision for high school students. It also noted that MSMS should continue to operate with autonomy as a state public school under MDE supervision.

Leave It and Support It

The Mississippi Legislature established the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in 1987. The residential school for gifted 11th and 12th-grade students has shared campus space with Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Miss., since its creation, as specified by state law. The law also required the school to be governed by the Mississippi Board of Education.

Discussions about moving MSMS began during last year’s legislative session after some lawmakers argued that the current facilities need updates. However, MUW President Nora Miller said the request-for-proposals came as a surprise.

A sign outside of a two story red brick building that reads Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science
The historic Mary Wilson Home on the Mississippi University for Women campus in Columbus, Miss., houses the executive director’s office for the Mississippi School for Math and Science. MSMS is Mississippi’s only public residential high school for academically gifted students. Photo courtesy Mississippi University for Women

Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, authored a bill that would have relocated the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science from the MUW campus to MSU’s campus in Starkville.

“We knew that in December, the State Board of Education formed a subcommittee to look at plans for the future for MSMS, and I figured it would be several months before they came forward with anything,” Miller told the Mississippi Free Press on Feb. 28.

MDE said that it selected the two universities because both partner with MSMS for dual enrollment and research opportunities.

“Through the proposal process, the SBE aims to generate new ideas that will strengthen the school’s operations and ensure its future growth,” MDE said in a press release on Feb. 26. 

That press release also invited public feedback on the proposals. 

A woman in a blue top smiling towards the right of the image frame
Mississippi University for Women President Nora Miller said the university was blindsided when the Mississippi Department of Education requested proposals to expand the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science—and to potentially move it to MSU. AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

MUW officials and Columbus city leaders held a joint press conference on Feb. 24 where they implored lawmakers to keep MSMS in Columbus. During that press conference, Columbus Mayor Keith Gaskin said MSMS students are part of the Columbus community. 

“(MSMS students) become a part of the fabric of our community,” he said at the press conference. “With Tales from the Crypt, Eighth of May Emancipation Celebration that they put on, they are part of us. And so the reason that we’re here today is to make sure that everyone that is listening knows that they need to stay here. There is no reason for MSMS to be relocated.”

University leaders also decried the lack of funding. The Legislature funds the school as a line item during the appropriations process. Unlike other public schools, it does not benefit from local property taxes and cannot request a bond. The Mississippi Department of Education is responsible for lobbying for and distributing funding for MSMS.

“What MSMS pays is an annual operating fee, and that equates to about 69 cents per square foot of the space that they use,” Miller told the Mississippi Free Press. “An industry standard would be $6 per square foot. So we managed to take care of their facilities out of that $113,000. The rest of it we’re supporting. MSMS is not funded at a level to maintain and provide improvements.”

8 students perform a step routine on a large outdoor stage beneath a larger tree
Members of the Mississippi School for Math and Science Blue Diamondz perform a step routine to a crowd at the 2023 Eighth of May Emancipation Day event at Sandfield Cemetery in Columbus, Miss., on May 8, 2023. Photo by Heather Harrison

In its proposal, Mississippi University for Women highlighted the strengths of its 37-year partnership with MSMS. MUW proposed adding academic partnerships such as a joint honors experience with Ida E. Gordy Honors College and access to the W’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. The college also proposed renovating two existing vacant residence halls. The university estimated the approximate cost at $22 million. 

Creating Opportunities Through Expansion

Mississippi State University Vice President for Strategic Communications Sid Salter said the university did not lobby for an examination of its ability to house MSMS but did accept the opportunity to showcase what they could do to enhance the school.

“In our RFP response, we laid out the fact that we have a more robust offering of science and mathematics-based degrees, which is one key difference, and we have more expansive laboratory facilities,” Salter said. “Then just the difference in the size of the two institutions, the number of mathematics and various fields of sciences, the professors that we have (and) the scholars that we have makes a good argument for Mississippi State’s ability to not only replicate what MUW has done but to build upon it rather substantially.” 

Mississippi State University’s proposal offered a multi-faceted approach that includes an expansion of its existing partnership with the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District. MSU proposed constructing a new campus to include a state-of-the-art Starkville Oktibbeha County High School building and residential Mississippi School for Math and Science buildings on Highway 182. The university opened Partnership Middle School on its campus in 2020. That school provides education for the district’s 6th and 7th-grade students and provides a place for pre-service and in-service training for the MSU teacher preparation program.

A wide view of a university campus's tall red brick buildings on a green expanse
Mississippi State University submitted a proposal to house the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science at the request of the Mississippi Department of Education. The university proposes a new state-of-the-art campus that will include MSMS, and a new Starkville High School building on Highway 182.  Photo courtesy Robby Lozano/MSU

MSU officials said the campus would offer dual and sometimes triple use of facilities including classrooms and labs co-located in the new facilities, shared gymnasiums, sports fields, wellness centers, faculty and services. The plan also highlighted the opportunity for Mississippi School for Math and Science: Expansion students to take Career and Technical Education Courses and for students from both campuses to have access to dual-credit enrollment classes for students from both schools. The MSU proposal calls for $85 million in state funds.

“Imagine the state’s largest research institution, the local K-12 schools and a statewide residential high school completely in sync, providing the most innovative secondary and post-secondary educational opportunities available,” the proposal said. “MSU, SOCSD, and MSMS:E are poised to build such a partnership—an educational collaborative where families have choices among attending an A-rated college preparatory program, career-focused secondary pathways, and unique academic programs for gifted and talented students.”

Salter said MSU was transparent in its proposal about what it would take to improve the existing MSMS structure. However, the university did not include operating costs in its proposal. He said that is a discussion that will happen if MDE decides to make the move but indicated that MSU had the resources to support MSMS. 

“In the country and around the globe, there are economic challenges, and we’re not immune to them, but we’ve been good stewards of the resources that the taxpayers of Mississippi have given us, and we intend to continue to do that,” Salter told the Mississippi Free Press on Feb. 28. “If we’re tasked with operating MSMS, doing that in a very responsible way, it will be a key priority for us moving forward.”

The State Board of Education will develop a recommendation to the Legislature about the future of MSMS based on the proposals and stakeholder feedback. If the Legislature makes any changes to the location or operations of MSMS, the changes would likely go into effect starting with the 2026-27 school year.

Torsheta Jackson is MFP's Systemic and Education Editor. She is passionate about telling the unique and personal stories of the people, places and events in Mississippi. The Shuqualak, Miss., native holds a B.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Southern Mississippi and an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Mississippi. She has had bylines on Bash Brothers Media, Mississippi Scoreboard and in the Jackson Free Press. Torsheta lives in Richland, Miss., with her husband, Victor, and two of their four children.

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