School District Takeover? What’s Going on in the Jasper County School District

This week, on August 5, 2025, the South Carolina State Board of Education approved Superintendent Ellen Weaver’s request to take control of the Jasper County School District. The board’s vote allows the South Carolina Department of Education to dissolve the locally elected school board and assume full operational control of the district.  

The decision comes after a string of investigations revealed deep-seated issues in Jasper County’s leadership and finances. In a letter to Jasper County School Board Chair Joyce Gerald, Weaver described the district’s state as one of “serious persistent fiscal issues” and “financial disarray.”   

Last month, South Carolina Inspector General Brian Lamkin released a report covering the possible ethics violations and criminal activity in the school district under former Superintendent Dr. Rechel Anderson’s leadership. 

This move marks the fifth time in recent years that the state has taken over a local school district, following similar actions in Allendale County in 2017 and Williamsburg County in 2018.  

What Law Allows a State Takeover? 

In 1998, the South Carolina General Assembly passed the Education Accountability Act allowing the State Superintendent to take over a district. 

The authority for the state to intervene in school district operations comes from South Carolina Code 59-18-1640, passed under the Education Accountability Act in 2022. The law allows the State Superintendent of Education to declare a “state of education emergency” in a school district under specific circumstances. One of those circumstances includes when a district is placed under fiscal emergency status, as outlined in Section 59-20-90, typically triggered by financial mismanagement which leads to a deficit.  

According to the law, the State Superintendent of Education has the authority to place a school district under a state-of-education-emergency under these conditions: 

“(1) the district is identified as underperforming for three consecutive years; 

(2) the district’s accreditation is denied;   

(3) the Superintendent of Education determines that a district’s turnaround plan results are insufficient; or  

(4) the district is classified as being in a fiscal emergency status pursuant to Section 59-20-90, or financial mismanagement resulting in a deficit has occurred.” 

Jasper County’s Path to Fiscal Emergency 

For the last year, Jasper County has been operating under the state of fiscal emergency, the worst of the tiers for school district financial problems. But the district’s fiscal challenges have been escalating for a while. On March 24, 2023, the district was placed under Fiscal Watch after failing to submit an audit within 60 days of the required December 1 deadline. It was escalated to Fiscal Caution on February 29, 2024, and finally designated under Fiscal Emergency on August 2, 2024.  The state board permitted the State Department of Education to take control of the district’s finances on December 4, 2024. Having financial control allowed the department to control the district’s finances; however, it did not grant any other decision-making abilities, hence the need for a full takeover. (Last month, the State Board held a special meeting concerning a financial takeover of the Marlboro County School District, which got approved and immediately went into effect….so Marlboro may be the next candidate for full takeover if financial takeover does not suffice.)

Since Jasper reached Fiscal Emergency status, the law allowed the State Department of Education to initiate a full takeover in an attempt to stabilize financial operations. Superintendent Weaver has the authority to determine when the intervention is no longer necessary.   

The Jasper County School District Board of Education (pictured above during an emergency meeting on July 28, 2025) did not object to any of the fiscal designations that led to the current state-of-education emergency classification. However, in an August 1, 2025, letter to Ellen Weaver, board chair Joyce Gerald defended the board’s actions and, on behalf of the board, requested more time to defend its commitment to addressing the district’s issues before a state-of-education-emergency was declared. 

What happens during a takeover? 

Now that the State Board has approved the takeover, Superintendent Weaver assumes the powers normally held by the district superintendent.  This includes decision making authority over budgeting, staffing, and setting the district’s educational priorities and instructional strategies. The role of district superintendent had been temporarily filled on an interim basis by Dr. Sam Whack. However, as of August 5, 2025, Weaver appointed former Superintendent of Florence School District 3, Dr. Laura Hickson, as the new interim superintendent of the Jasper district. Hickson recently retired from Florence 3 at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Now, she steps into this emergency role to help get Jasper County School District back on track. An August 6 statement from the Jasper County School District’s Public Information Office says, “We are confident Dr. Hickson’s leadership will provide stability, vision, and a clear and shared path to success as we move forward, restoring trust across the district and communities.”

What comes next? 

After Ellen Weaver made the takeover request, the State Board of Education had ten days to vote on it, which they did. Now that the State Board has approved Jasper County’s school district being taken over as well, the Jasper County district by law has a 10-day window to appeal to the Administrative Law Court. 

Even if an appeal occurs, it will not place an instant injunction on the action, as the State Superintendent’s takeover of the district immediately went into effect when the State Board approved her request. However, if an appeal were to be made and the Administrative Law Court rules in the county’s favor, the action would be undone. The only way to reverse the takeover would be a favorable ruling from the court. 

According to a state law that went into effect July 2022 due to efforts from former Superintendent Molly Spearman, the Jasper takeover will most likely last for six years. After the first three years of the State Department of Education setting goals for the school district to reach, lawmakers will have the ability to construct a new school board to make decisions for the remaining years. Afterwards, the decision will be made regarding whether state intervention is necessary or not. 

With the Jasper takeover now approved, the South Carolina Department of Education takes the reins of a district facing financial disarray, governance challenges, and low academic performance. Going forward, the state will be responsible for tasks such as guiding the district’s finances, appointing leadership, and addressing the issues that led to the fiscal emergency designation. Time will tell whether or not this approach will lead to long-term improvement and student success, but the intervention begins a new chapter for Jasper County’s schools and students, one that will be closely watched across the state. 

As the State Department of Education begins its work, the success of this effort may set the tone for how future educational emergencies are handled in South Carolina and beyond. After the board unanimously approved the takeover, Ellen Weaver said the decision “marks a new chapter of hope” for Jasper County. 

“Our priority is to restore trust, stability, and establish a clear path to success for Jasper County School District,” Weaver said. “Dr. Hickson and I are committed to working alongside educators, families, and the community to build a brighter future where every student is equipped to reach their full potential.”