Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi officials say the Jackson city school district now meets special education standards, 18 months after the district nearly lost its accreditation over problems educating students with disabilities.

The state's second-largest school district has agreed to let the state Department of Education monitor its progress for another year and has promised to draw up a plan to sustain the progress it's made.

Jackson Superintendent Cedrick Gray says he expects that the state's Commission on School Accreditation will remove Jackson's probationary status soon.

But special education advocates say progress is uneven and they still get plenty of complaints about how the district treats students with disabilities. A lawsuit against the state Department of Education claiming "systemic" failings in Jackson special education is still pending, although the state wants it dismissed.