Mississippi Public Schools
ABOUT
Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools
Headquartered at William Carey University
Welcome to Mississippi’s only statewide educational consortium. PREPS was organized over 40 years ago in 1976 as a non-profit organization dedicated to serving Mississippi Public Schools. PREPS is governed by a board of directors made up of current Mississippi school district superintendents representing the congressional districts.
Current Board Members:
Dr. Edward Lee Childress, Corinth School District Superintendent (PREPS president)
Dr. Amy Carter, Meridian Public Schools Superintendent
Dr. Matthew L. Dillon, Petal School District Superintendent
Dr. Carla Evers, Pass Christian School District Superintendent
Mrs. Babette Duty, Covington County School District Superintendent
Mr. Jesse King, Leland Public School District Superintendent
Dr. Cederick Ellis, McComb School District Superintendent
Dr. Ken Barron, Yazoo County School District Superintendent
Mr. Corey Uselton, Desoto County School District Superintendent
Dr. Eddie Peasant, William Carey University Assistant Dean of School of Education
Chuck Benigno, Ph.D.
Executive Director
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Patti Permenter, Ed.D.
Associate Director
Dr. Benigno is currently an associate professor at WCU. He served as the superintendent of the Laurel Schools (2010-2017). Benigno has been named Who’s Who Among American Teachers, Coach of the Year and was the 2014 Mississippi “Superintendent of the Year”. Dr. Benigno is the author of Teaching: Excellence or Survival?He has served as a motivational speaker for schools and corporations across the Southeast.
Dr. Permenter served as a K-12 educator for 28 years and obtained National Board Certification as an Early Childhood Generalist during her tenure. She works with public school faculties and pre-service teachers as the PREPS Associate Director as well as teaches courses as an assistant professor at William Carey University. Additionally, Dr. Permenter serves as the co-chair for the Mississippi Rural Education Association.
Mrs. Ingram joined PREPS with 33 years of experience with Jones Jr. College Financial Aid. She was loyal to the office for all of those years with the last few years serving as the assistant director. She enjoys travelling and working with our PREPS membership.
