Dive Brief:

• The Mississippi Board of Education has voted to let schools continue with athletic and extracurricular programming in the first year its loses its accreditation.  
• Previously, as soon as schools learned they were losing their accreditation, athletic teams would only get half a season.  Under the new plan, a school would be able to continue with athletic and extracurricular programing for the entire year -- and then if they remained in trouble, the programming would be cut in half the following year.  
• The two board members who voted against the idea said communities should be motivated to make their schools better and this plan doesn't support that mentality.    

Dive Insight:

The two board members against the change felt the state was celebrating the status quo if it didn't penalize the districts and their extracurricular programs.  In their view, students and their families would work harder to get out of the red if they were penalized and lost their athletics.  This, however, may not be the case.  According to the Associated Press four schools that had lost their accreditation said top athletes simply transferred to another district.