SC State Board approves state of emergency for Jasper County

JASPER COUNTY, SC. (WTOC) - The South Carolina State School Board will take full control of the Jasper County School District.

It was approved this morning and overnight the board received a letter from county officials voicing their support for the move.

WTOC’s Aaron Dixon spoke with one of those elected officials and has more on this developing story.

After an hour of being in an executive session to talk about this request and hearing remarks from members of the school board in Jasper County, the board reached this decision to declare a state-of-emergency.

With this vote, State Superintendent Ellen Weaver is given control, which state law allows her to do if a district falls under one of four criteria.

In this case they are under fiscal emergency with no foreseeable path forward.

This vote comes following the inspector general’s report released early this month against the school district and former superintendent Dr. Rechel Anderson, which accused Dr. Anderson of fraud, mismanagement of funds, and instances where she put her needs of those of the students during her tenure.

Dr. Anderson was later fired last year and payed by the school district after a contentious vote in February.

The report also claimed that the board failed to supervise Dr. Anderson and hold her accountable.

It also mentioned that the board failed the management the taxpayers money.

Before the vote, three elected officials in Jasper County wrote a letter to the board’s chairwoman voicing their support.

They say quote, “the current state of the district poses a significant and immediate threat to the educational outcomes and overall well-being of the students it serves.”

The Jasper County School Board has 10 days to appeal this decision.

We have reached out to the legal team for the school board, for comment and to see if they are appealing, but we have not received a response.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

Jasper County elected officials support state takeover of the Jasper County School District

On Tuesday August 5th, WTOC reached out to the Mayor of Ridgeland, who said that they sent a letter to the South Carolina State Board of Education extending their support for the state to takeover the Jasper County School District.

See full letter below:

It was filled out and signed by the County Council Chairman, Mayor of Ridgeland, and Mayor of Hardeeville.

The Ridgeland Town Council held an Emergency Meeting and the letter was approved unanimously (4-0).

See full agenda below:

Stick with WTOC as we continue to follow this story.