Vicksburg Warren School District has made a lot of changes in the past few years, but they’ve been limited in ways by the regulations of the state.

On Friday, the Vicksburg Warren School District was one of three districts named a District of Innovation by the Mississippi Board of Education, which allows certain districts to try new practices.

VWSD Superintendent Chad Shealy said seven districts applied for the status, and while the board could have given out five designations, only three — Vicksburg, Corinth and Gulfport — were awarded District of Innovation status.

“The strength in that innovation is waivers from certain qualifications and requirements,” he said. “We were really out of the box with what we asked for.”

Shealy said he and his staff met with principals from the district to help come up with the list of requests.

“I asked them to recreate an educational system,” he said. “I asked what things they wished were gone and what they wished were here.”

Shealy said he hasn’t received word back on what requests have been granted under the district’s new title, but he’s excited about the changes to come.

“Our innovation surrounds providing multiple opportunities for student graduation; for flexible seat waiver times so we can offer on-site experiences through internships; the possibility of after school, virtual and weekend courses; the possibility of running a day schedule similar to a college schedule; and flexibility in professional and teacher certifications in order to get individuals from the workforce into the classroom,” he said.

Gulfport’s innovation includes starting an early college and beginning career academies and Corinth’s innovation is planning to start an early college as well as altering their schedule to allow longer breaks in the spring and fall that could be used as remediation periods.

“It felt so good to sit up there and listed to the whole school board brag on us,” he said. “Johnny Franklin, who’s from Vicksburg, was very complimentary of it. He grabbed my by the arm and said, ‘You’re doing a good job. You’re turning my town around.’ and that was good to hear from a real Vicksburger.”

Corinth’s change in schedule caused some concern with parents in Vicksburg and Warren County, but Shealy has assured them the change only affects Corinth and locally the school schedule will run along the same traditional time frame it has in the past.