GREENVILLE — Kim Jones wants her children to succeed. It’s why she rushed to a school board meeting on a sweltering Friday afternoon in June when she heard about plans to close Coleman Middle School, which her daughter and son attend.
She wanted board members to hear a mother’s voice and consider her children’s safety at a school that needs renovations and will likely be crowded this fall. She wanted to tell board members they were making a mistake.
Jones never got that chance.
Mayor Errick Simmons explains city hall cannot legally remove board members to concerned city school district parents, July 7, 2026 Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi TodayIn June, the Greenville school board voted 3-2 to send roughly 290 Coleman students to T.L. Weston Middle. Board President Antoinette Williams, board Secretary Allison Washington and board member Drew Newsom voted yes.
The vote took about 10 minutes, and the group took no questions or comments from the public. Williams told parents it was illegal to allow public comments because that was not on the agenda when it was adopted. District policy requires the public to request to address the board seven days before the meeting, Williams added.
Once the June meeting ended, Jones called out to board members who walked away without responding. She said that’s when she started to seriously consider private school for her children, even if it meant an extra job or more shifts.
She wasn’t alone in her concerns. On Tuesday, over a dozen parents, alumni and community leaders packed a Greenville City Council meeting and called on Mayor Errick Simmons and the city council to hold school board and district officials accountable for failing infrastructure and alleged mismanagement.
People said they also worry about the safety of the Weston campus because of needed repairs and crowding about 700 students from rival communities into spaces where, according to a previous principal, it was difficult to accommodate about 400.
“We do want to hear from you,” school board member Anjohnette Gibbs-Walton said. “And so please know that the overall intent is that we do what is best for our children, that we don’t expose them to mold or anything that could harm them. We want to partner with the community. In fact, some of you signed up to do just that.”
On June 25, Superintendent Ilean Richards cited moldy walls and a leaking roof as some causes to close Coleman for renovations and relocate its students. However, at least six parents and grandparents have since questioned the decision to move Coleman students to T.L. Weston, another district school in need of a new roof. Some parents called on city officials to remove board members — authority not granted under state law.
Coleman Middle School as seen from MS-1 in Greenville, Friday, June 26, 2026. Greenville public school officials have announced the closing of the school for much needed renovations. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi TodaySimmons asked the public to gather evidence of wrongdoing before reaching conclusions about school officials. City Attorney Brandon Dorsey responded to questions about how parents can address their grievances with the school district by suggesting they hire an attorney.
“Mississippi law provides established legal avenues for investigation and accountability through the courts and other authorized state entities,” Simmons said. “That legal reality, however, does not diminish our moral responsibility to advocate for our children.”
‘This doesn’t happen overnight’
Some parents and alumni also question how Colemen fell into such severe disrepair. They noted construction at Coleman in January 2025. The district also received federal money to address student safety, which could include roof replacements.
In 2020-21, the district received $58.3 million in federal aid. Now, Greenville schools might have to repay about $1.3 million of the aid because it was not properly recorded with documentation showing how the money was spent and allocated.
Gibbs-Walton told Mississippi Today that business manager and superintendent turnover had likely factored into why district officials could not provide further documentation to the state education department.
Anjohnette Gibbs-Walton, a Greenville school board member, addresses parent concerns at a city council meeting, July 7, 2026. Walton-Gibbs did not vote to relocate Coleman Middle School students to T.L. Weston Middle School. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi TodayThe district did not spend at least $5.5 million because officials missed the deadline to allocate the money for projects such as roof replacements.
Neither Richards nor any other district official responded to questions from Mississippi Today about how district finances were managed.
Construction projects made possible by pandemic relief dollars at T.L. Weston and Coleman were focused on heating, ventilation and air conditioning repairs, according to documents obtained by Mississippi Today. School leadership tabled a recommendation to replace the roof at T.L. Weston in November but greenlit spending $480,000 on HVAC repairs in the Coleman auditorium and $12 million on other HVAC repairs at Coleman as well as at T.L. Weston and Greenville High.
Sarah Lewis, who taught at Coleman before retiring in 2013, recalled inspections of district buildings throughout the year. She said she doesn’t understand how the maintenance staff missed mold and leaks.
“But I’m just thinking about accountability,” she told the city council. “Somebody didn’t do their job for it to get like that.”
Fears of violence
Several people said they worry that consolidating Coleman and Weston students into the same building will stoke old rivalries between the city’s north and south ends and spur violence.
“I really fear for their well-being,” Jones said of her son, who is entering eighth grade, and daughter, who is entering seventh. “I love my kids to death. I don’t want anything to happen to them. And I just don’t think it’s right.”
“It really breaks my heart that they don’t love these kids or care about these kids enough,” she said of the school board.
Coleman reported 127 incidents of violence in 2023-24, the most recent year with data available, and T.L. Weston reported 160 the same year, making it the most violent school in the district and among neighboring counties.
When Clayton Barksdale was principal of T.L. Weston in 2023-24, he said it was difficult to accommodate roughly 405 students. He said he remembers asking custodians to clear classrooms that had been used for storage to make space for more students. He said he doesn’t see how the building has the capacity for 700.
Gayla Fowler, a Greenville public schools parent, voices her concerns about school board member actions at a city council meeting, July 7, 2026 Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi Today“There is no question that merging two student populations will be challenging,” Barksdale said. “The key will be anticipating the challenges before they arrive rather than reacting to them after they occur.”
The challenges include the physical condition of Weston.
Gayla Fowler, a Greenville public schools alum, said she recently noticed safety concerns at T.L. Weston: fallen ceiling tiles in the building and what appeared to be mold. She noted classrooms that were blocked off, possibly because of leaks. Given the hazards, she said, she couldn’t bring herself to finish her son’s registration packet.
“I just hope we can come together and get something done for our children because I just don’t think it’s going to be fair,” Fowler told the city council. “I just can’t see it coming together and being peaceful. I think it’s going to be chaotic.”
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