North Sunflower Academy

North Sunflower Academy is a private school in unincorporated Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta area. The school is about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Ruleville and about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Drew. The school has grades Kindergarten through 12. As of 2002 the school draws students from Doddsville, Drew, Merigold, Ruleville, Schlater, Tutwiler, and Webb.

The school originated as a segregation academy. After the Drew School District was desegregated, White residents of Drew enrolled their children in North Sunflower Academy.

In 1969 the State of Mississippi passed a law written by Ruleville-based state senator Robert L. Crook that allowed Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman) employees to use up to $60 ($391.85 when adjusted for inflation) every month to pay for educational costs for their children. As a result some Parchman employees sent their children to North Sunflower Academy, and the State of Mississippi used general support funds to pay for some of North Sunflower Academy's transportation costs, including school buses, bus drivers, and gasoline. According to a circa November 1974 Delta Democrat Times article, the State of Mississippi spent over $250,000 ($1214068.83 when adjusted for inflation) in tuition costs and thousands of dollars in transportation costs for North Sunflower. By that time nobody had legally challenged that law in court. Constance Curry, author of Silver Rights, stated that it was legal under Mississippi law but may have been unconstitutional under U.S. federal law.

In 2002 the school had about 180 students, a decrease from its maximum of 200 from several years prior. Sarah W. Love, who was the headmaster, said that the lack of industry lead to a decrease in students. Many families moved to Cleveland, Mississippi, where the public schools were considered to be better than public schools in other Mississippi Delta towns.

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