Tunica Academy

Tunica Academy is a K-12 non-denominational Christian private school located in unincorporated Tunica County, Mississippi, near Tunica.[1][2] The school was founded in 1964 and has been described as a segregation academy.[3] Tunica Academy is an accredited member of the Mississippi Private School Association.

Tunica Academy
Location
Tunica
,
(Tunica County)
,
Mississippi

United States
Coordinates34°40′51″N 90°23′23″W
Information
TypePrivate School, high school
Established1964
GradesK–12
Number of students234 (2014)
Color(s)Blue, White
Team nameBlue Devils
Websitewebsite

History
See also: Education segregation in the Mississippi Delta

The school was originally established by white parents in 1964 by the name Tunica Institute of Learning as a segregation academy in response to the court ordered desegregation of Tunica public schools. The name was later changed to Tunica Academy.[4][5] The first class to graduate was the class of 1970. The tuition of this school is $5200 per year.[6] The mascot of the school is the Blue Devils.

For the 1965–1966 school year, 67% of the Tunica Academy's tuition revenue came from grants provided by the state of Mississippi. In 1969, a federal court ruled that, since, in the court's opinion, Tunica Academy would refuse to admit qualified black students, the tuition grant program violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment.[7]

In 1969, the Clarion-Ledger reported that Tunica Academy enrolled about 225 students, or one-third of the white students in Tunica County.[8]

In 1970, the IRS suspended the school's non-profit status due to its policies of racial discrimination.[9]

In 1973, Tunica Academy was named in the Norwood v. Harrison decision by the US Supreme Court. The court held that any program that provides aid to schools that discriminate on the basis of race is unconstitutional. In its ruling, the high court noted that, as of 1971, Tunica Academy declined to attest to a racially non-discriminatory admissions policy.[10]

Demographics

As of 2010, 97% of the students were white. This differed from Tunica's public high school, Rosa Fort High School, where 98% were black.[11] In 2014 there were 16 African-American students out of a total student population of 234, or 7%, while the Tunica Public Schools student body was 97% African-American.[12][13]

References
  1. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Tunica town, MS" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  2. "Welcome to Tunica Academy." Tunica Academy. Retrieved on March 2, 2011. "584 Academy Drive — Tunica, MS 38676"
  3. Wright Austin, Sharon D. (2006). The transformation of plantation politics: Black politics, concentrated poverty, and social capital in the Mississippi Delta. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. p. 149. ISBN 0-7914-6801-1. OCLC 61461521.
  4. "History of Tunica Academy". TunicaAcademy.com. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  5. Herbert, Bob (16 May 1999). "In America; Haunted by Segregation". New York Times. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  6. "Tunica Academy 2017-18 Tuition" (PDF).
  7. Coffey v. State Educational Finance Commission 296 F. Supp. 1389 (S.D. Miss. 1969)
  8. Fleming, George (15 July 1969). "School Racial Figures Given". Clarion-Ledger. p. 1.
  9. "School Tax-Break Rescinded by IRS". Montgomery Advertiser. 20 August 1970. p. 1.
  10. Norwood v. Harrison, 413 U.S. 455 (1973); pp. 468-470.
  11. Dellinger, Matt. Interstate 69: The Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway. Simon and Schuster, August 24, 2010. ISBN 143917573X, 9781439175736. p. 147.
  12. "Tunica Academy". Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  13. Harlan, Chico (11 July 2015). "An opportunity gamed away For a county in the Deep South that reaped millions from casino business, poverty is still its spin of the wheel". Washington Post. Retrieved 3 August 2016.



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