Ray Brooks School was a K-12 school in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Bolivar County, Mississippi Bolivar County ( ) is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,985. Its county seats are Rosedale and Cleveland. The county is named in honor of Simón Bolívar, earl ...

, near Benoit. In September 2015 it had 214 students. Its namesake was its first principal, Ray Brooks; it was originally known as the Nugent Center School,Ray Brooks School
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West Bolivar Consolidated School District The West Bolivar Consolidated School District is a public school district based in Rosedale, Mississippi (USA). It serves sections of Bolivar County. In addition to Rosedale, the district also serves the towns of Gunnison, Beulah, and Pace in ...

. Retrieved on July 2, 2017. and until 2014 was the only school of the Benoit School District, which served Benoit and Scott. From 2014 until 2020, it was a part of the

. Ray Brooks School closed in 2020.

History

The school built in 1959, originally served grades 1-12. It was also known as Benoit High School.Wilson hopes to break out the shoes'
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Franklin County Times Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral divi ...

''. January 10, 2002. Retrieved on July 3, 2017. In 1986 it was redesignated as a Kindergarten through 9th grade school. High school students were assigned to

West Bolivar High School West Bolivar High School is a senior high school in Rosedale, Mississippi, and a part of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District (formerly the West Bolivar School District). In addition to Rosedale it serves Gunnison, Pace, and Symonds, an ...

of the West Bolivar School District, in Rosedale. In 1998 the school received its current name. In 1999 it had 320 students, and in 2000 it had 268 students; that year principal Barbara Akon described it as the smallest school in the state. High school classes resumed in 2000. Linda Coleman, a

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member of the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...

from Mound Bayou, stated that the costs of transporting children to West Bolivar from Benoit were too high. The first high school class of that generation graduated in 2002. In 2002 the school was the second smallest school in the state. It was operated by the Benoit School District until July 1, 2014, when that district was consolidated into West Bolivar Consolidated. In 2020 there were a total of 161 students with each grade level having 20 or fewer students. - Also printed in ''

The Greenwood Commonwealth ''The Greenwood Commonwealth'' is a newspaper serving in and operating out of Greenwood, Mississippi. It began publication in 1896.See clipping of first
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second (p. 10) pages
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Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

. In 2020 the West Bolivar board voted to close Ray Brooks on a 3 to 2 basis due to declining tax revenue and enrollment district wide, with Ray Brooks chosen to close as it was more distant and because, of the options, the fewest children would have changes to their schooling. This is despite the school building perceived to be in better condition than others, with it being larger and newer than others. The two board members of the Rosedale area and one board member of the Shaw area, school board president Jackie Lloyd, voted to close Ray Brooks. The closure reflects a population loss occurring in the Mississippi Delta area. Tamara Lopez of Delta News TV stated "Residents in Benoit had mixed reactions to the announcement, some angry others sad."

References

External links

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* (at the time Ray Brooks was the sole school of the Benoit School District) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Ray School Schools in Bolivar County, Mississippi 1959 establishments in Mississippi Educational institutions established in 1959 2020 disestablishments in Mississippi Educational institutions disestablished in 2020 Public high schools in Mississippi Public middle schools in Mississippi Public elementary schools in Mississippi Public K–12 schools in the United States K–12 schools in Mississippi Defunct schools in Mississippi

History

References

Further reading

External links