Jackson Free Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Trustees over the second-largest school district in Mississippi have voted to close an elementary school and consolidate two middle schools.

The Jackson Public Schools board of trustees approved the plan Tuesday night, news outlets reported.

The change was needed to save money amid decreasing enrollment, a teacher shortage and a limited amount of funding to update old buildings, said Superintendent Errick Greene, The Clarion Ledger reported.

Jackson City Councilman De'Keither Stamps voiced opposition to the plan, fearing the closure could continue a string of disinvestment in his south Jackson ward, the newspaper reported.

The closure of the elementary school is the fifth such closure in the district in less than two years.

Jackson is home to five of the six charter schools in the state, the newspaper reported. Jackson Public Schools has to pay the schools for students who opt out of the public school district to attend charter schools.

Jackson Public Schools paid $2.6 million for nearly 1,000 students to attend charter schools for the 2017-18 school year, The Clarion Ledger reported citing a study by the local Better Together Commission.