By: Rayleigh Rozier

The Jackson County School System will hold two public hearings to discuss Superintendent April Howard’s recommendation to demolish West Jackson Primary School and replace it with a new middle school on-site. The recommendation is being offered as a solution to the overcrowding of West Jackson Middle School, and would establish a school capable of accommodating 775 students with the potential to expand and hold up to 1,100.

Currently, an estimated 7,295 students attend Jackson County schools, and 1,679 of those students attend the school system’s two middle schools.

The public hearings on the middle school proposal will be at 6 p.m. on Sept. 10 at the Jackson County Board of Education central office, and at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 14 in the West Jackson Elementary School cafeteria.

The numbers below are estimates obtained from attendance reports for the 2013-2014 school year.