The Natchez Adams School District has its hands full without the Mississippi Department of Education adding to its woes.

Come to find out, students in Natchez public school 10th grade did considerably better in the testing than was announced late last week by the state education department.

Apparently, the error in the testing results was discovered Monday night and new data was released Tuesday morning.

In the original release of information, Natchez 10th graders were said to have scored lower in all four testing categories — history, English, algebra and biology — as compared to last year.

In actuality, scores for public school 10th graders here were up 13.9 percent from 2013 in U.S. history and up 11.5 percent in English.

The 10th graders still scored lower than last year’s students in algebra and biology, but not by as much as was reported.

The communications director for the Mississippi Department of Education said the original data released included that of students who had retaken the test, when it should have included only first-time test takers.

A statement from the state education department provided no explanation as to how the error occurred.

While at first glance, some may think these errors are minor.

They are not minor.

Imagine the effect on teachers and administrators who have worked to meet and exceed state standards, only to be given this negative feedback.

How deflating that is at a time when bad news is the last thing needed.

Natchez wasn’t alone in getting these flawed test results. School districts all over the state learned results they had been given were incorrect.

The Mississippi Department of Education should explain to the students, teachers and administrators of Mississippi how this error occurred and more importantly what steps it plans to take to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Not taking those steps erodes the integrity of the testing it requires of our state’s public school students.