Petal School District

The Petal School District is a public school district based in Petal, Mississippi (USA). In 1976, the Petal Schools District was formed after the community decided that it wanted the local school system to be separate from the county school system.^[2]

Petal School District
Location
Petal, MS
District information
Type	Public
Grades	K-12
Established	1976
Superintendent	Dr. Matthew Dillon
Asst. superintendent(s)	Dr. Kelli Brown Dr. Rob Knight
Accreditation	Blue Ribbon (Petal High School) 2007[1] 2022[1]
Students and staff
District mascot	Big Red (Panther)
Colors	Red & White
Other information
Schedule	Office hours 7:30 Am - 4:30 Pm Elementary Schools 7:30 Am - 2:55 Pm Secondary Schools 8:30 Am - 3:55 Pm
Website	www.petalschools.com

It includes Petal and the Forrest County portion of Eastabuchie.^[3]

Schools

• Petal High School (Grades 9–12)
• Petal Middle School (Grades 7–8)
• Petal Upper Elementary School (formerly W.L. Smith) (Grades 5–6)
• Petal Elementary School (Grades 3–4)
• Petal Primary School (Grades K-2)

Demographics

Previous school years

School Year	Enrollment	Gender Makeup		Racial Makeup
		Female	Male	Asian	African American	Hispanic	Native American	White
2006-07[4]	3,872	48%	52%	*	12.89%	1.55%	*	84.89%
2005-06[5]	3,806	49%	51%	0.50%	12.14%	1.21%	0.08%	86.07%
2004-05[5]	3,697	50%	50%	0.43%	11.14%	1.00%	0.16%	87.26%
2003-04[5]	3,701	50%	50%	0.32%	11.46%	0.92%	0.19%	87.11%
2002-03[6]	3,679	49%	51%	0.16%	11.42%	0.71%	0.19%	87.52%

Recent school years

School Year	Enrollment	Gender Makeup		Racial Makeup
		Female	Male	Asian	African American	Hispanic	Native American	White
2022-23[4]	4,392	48%	52%	0.59%	17.67%	5.60%	*	69.72%
2021-22[4]	4,264	49%	51%	0.54%	17.14%	5.21%	*	71.34%
2020-21[4]	4,106	49%	51%	*	16.98%	5.28%	*	71.89%
2019-20[4]	4,169	49%	51%	0.86%	17.74%	5.09%	*	72.85%

Promotion/Retention Rate

Recent school years

School Year	Class Size	% Promotion	# Retention	% Retention
2022-23[7]	2977	96.6%	102	3.4%
2021-22[7]	2970	95.9	121	4.1%
2020-21[7]	2893	96.4%	109	3.7%
2019-20[7]	N/A	96.0%	116	4.0%

Accountability statistics

	2006-07[8]	2005-06[9]	2004-05[10]	2003-04[11]	2002-03[12]
District Accreditation Status	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited
School Performance Classifications
Level 5 (Superior Performing) Schools	3	3	3	3	3
Level 4 (Exemplary) Schools	0	0	0	0	0
Level 3 (Successful) Schools	0	0	0	0	0
Level 2 (Under Performing) Schools	0	0	0	0	0
Level 1 (Low Performing) Schools	0	0	0	0	0
Not Assigned	1	1	1	1	1

Notable alumni

• Ralph Dunagin (1955), cartoonist^[13]
• Ray Perkins (1959), NFL running back and coach, Super Bowl V champion^[14]
• Tom Walters (1960), NFL safety^[15]
• Richard Gerald Jordan (1964), death row inmate^[16]
• Tom King (1965), politician, former member of the Mississippi Legislature^[17]
• Nate Rolison (1995), MLB first baseman^[18]
• Anthony Alford (2012), MLB outfielder^[19]
• Demarcus Evans (2015), MLB pitcher^[20]
• Javon Patterson (2015), NFL center^[21]
• Phat Watts (2018), wide receiver for the Tulane Green Wave^[22]
• Duece Watts (2018), CFL wide receiver^[22]
• DeCarlos Nicholson (2020), cornerback for the USC Trojans^[23]

See also

• List of school districts in Mississippi