SC Board of Education seizes Jasper County School District’s finances after audit problems
The South Carolina Board of Education voted Tuesday to take control of the Jasper County School District’s finances due to concerns about financial mismanagement, including late audits. This decision follows the district’s firing of its superintendent, an investigation by the state inspector general into potential fraud and scrutiny over questionable travel expenses made by school district officials.
This comes after an Aug. 2 letter to state Inspector General Brian Lamkin from State Superintendent Ellen Weaver who requested his office conduct an investigation into the school district for “fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, misconduct, violations of state and federal law, and wrongdoing.”
As a result of the board meeting, the state will now manage Jasper County schools’ finances at least through June, with the option to extend as needed for fiscal recovery, according to the S.C. Daily Gazette. However, unlike a full takeover, this control is limited to financial oversight and does not affect the local school board’s decision-making authority, as explained by a department attorney.
Late filings triggered a fiscal watch
The state placed the district on a fiscal watch, the lowest of three tiers, in March 2023 for missing the deadline to submit it’s 2022 audit, which was later turned in more than 60 days after it was due. The district was moved to fiscal caution in February for not submitting its 2023 audit and then elevated again in August into fiscal emergency, the most severe level, for still not having the 2023 audit turned in.
The district has also failed to submit its audit for the 2024 fiscal year despite a Dec. 1 deadline. However, districts are allowed to submit their filings by Dec. 16 without consequence due to Hurricane Helene, according to an Oct. 15 letter sent to Weaver from the state.
This came after a Post and Courier investigation published in July revealed that school district officials have spent over $228,000 on travel and lodging since 2020. That same month district Superintendent Rechel Anderson was placed on paid administrative leave and later fired by the school board during an Oct. 25 meeting with no reason provided to the public. Anderson has denied all wrongdoing.
Russell Zimmerman, the district’s interim director of finance, who is working with the state to complete the audits, is being kept in his position by the state, county Treasurer Michael Skinner said. Skinner, who has been working with Zimmerman to gather the school district’s paperwork, which has been located in the Treasurer’s office, said this is a sign of faith by the state in Zimmerman as he tries to address the issues at the district.
Skinner noted that the information Zimmerman initially received from the previous administration was even worse than what Skinner had walked into, making it challenging, if not impossible, for Zimmerman to find the necessary paperwork to provide the needed information for the auditors.
The school district serves about 2,700 students and includes two elementary schools, a high school and other programs, according to the district’s website.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 11:54 AM.
