Jasper County school board votes to appeal state’s takeover: ‘You don’t know what I know’
In a twist, the Jasper County Board of Education agreed to appeal the state’s emergency declaration for the district Monday evening.
The appeal, if won, would reinstate the original nine-person board, regaining its authority to govern and oversee district operations.
The decision, made a week after classes started, follows years of alleged financial mismanagement by the former superintendent — whom the board hired. It also comes during a time when Jasper County has been recognized as one of the nation’s fastest-growing counties in terms of housing units this year, making it crucial to attract families and teachers to these classrooms. The district serves roughly 2,700 students and employs about 190 teachers across four schools.
After two hours of deliberation, eight members of the board voted for the appeal, with Priscilla Fraser being the sole abstention. The board also announced that they hired the law firm Robinson Gray to handle the appeal.
Before the formal vote, board members called the state’s move excessive, arguing the new law allowed a full takeover for “a few problems” and could erase local representation for up to six years. They said the district had made progress and the state already controlled its finances, making the disbanding unjustified. Some likened the move to using the district as a “guinea pig” and warned it undermined the community’s democratic voice.
Board member Daisy Mitchell said she had originally planned not to support an appeal, a position she had shared publicly the day before. However, after learning new information, she felt the board needed to stand firm and work toward making the district what it was meant to be — leading her to change her vote.
“I’m willing to give up my personal feelings for this for the best of our district,” she said. “And I know that does not sit well with some of you — I know it doesn’t — but you don’t know what I know.”
When asked what the constituents don’t know, she said she could not disclose the information since it was said in executive session.
This is the last known meeting of the board, which will soon be formally dissolved per the state’s emergency declaration. With no public comment section, most board members tried to vacate the room as community members present spoke of their frustrations.
Meeting atmosphere
Among the small group who attended the Monday meeting, most were current or former district employees.
LaQuandra Stevenson, a former district employee and teacher who was present at the meeting, worked with the former superintendent, Rechel Anderson, when Anderson was principal of Hardeeville Elementary from July 2010 to June 2013. While there, Stevenson said she enjoyed working with Anderson and was optimistic about her becoming superintendent in 2018.
However, after the release of the July 11 report by the State Inspector General, which detailed potential ethical and criminal infractions by Anderson, Stevenson said she just wants the district to do right by the students they serve.
Hardeeville Mayor Harry Williams and County Council Chairman John Kemp also attended Monday’s meeting but left about an hour in, while the board was still in executive session. Their presence may have stirred tension among board members; earlier this month, Williams and Kemp — along with Ridgeland Mayor Joey Malphrus — sent a letter to the state board on Aug. 4 urging it to declare a state of emergency and dissolve the local school board, without notifying the board in advance.
Board member Tedd Moyd criticized the local officials for siding with the state, saying he felt personally betrayed by colleagues he once considered friends.
“I’ve never heard of a county where municipalities and the county government go against the school board, especially the fastest-growing county in South Carolina,” Moyd said. “Why would you go against this?”
Before leaving the meeting, Williams rejected the idea that the letter was an act of disloyalty.
“We did not have any intention of betraying anyone,” he said. “They’re elected officials just like us. We respect any elected official and the difficulties they are enduring in their job, but we did all read the Inspector General’s report...there were a lot of issues that had to be addressed.”
He added, “This is not about loyalty to a board of education; in our minds, it is about a loyalty to our children in Jasper County and what’s best for them to get educated.”
State takeover timeline
The state takeover last week comes after the release of a July 11 report by the State Inspector General, which detailed financial mismanagement, ethics violations, unauthorized business ventures and forged documents by Anderson. Those findings have been referred to law enforcement for possible prosecution.
In a July 28 letter to the district, State Superintendent Ellen Weaver pointed to the board’s ongoing failure to take corrective action amid a worsening financial crisis.
The school district was first placed under Fiscal Watch status in March 2023 after failing to submit a required audit. That status was elevated to Fiscal Caution in February 2024, and then to Fiscal Emergency on August 2, 2024. The district did not appeal any of those designations.
The state has already appointed a new interim superintendent to lead the Jasper County School District and has spoken of a plan to stabilize the district’s finances and support students after the years of alleged financial mismanagement. The takeover is expected to last six years into the 2031 school year.
The takeover will be rolled out in two phases over six years, according to Ashley Story, outside counsel at White & Story Attorneys at Law, at the state board meeting last week. The first three years will focus on evaluating the district, providing support and stabilizing operations. In the second phase, the goal will be to transition back to a fully elected school board by the end of the process.
This story was originally published August 12, 2025 at 2:59 PM.
