Jasper County school board changes its mind, won’t fight state takeover
The Jasper County Board of Education is officially no more.
The nine-person board met virtually Monday evening and voted not to appeal the state’s emergency declaration for the district — reversing the contentious decision made last week.
The vote effectively ends each board member’s role and relinquishes their responsibility of governing and overseeing operations in the district.
The decision 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 about an hour of deliberation, the board’s vote on the appeal shifted from the previous week. While Chair Joyce Gerald, Tedd Moyd and Carolyn Bolden voted again in favor of the appeal, the remaining members reversed their votes.
What changed from last week?
Monday’s meeting was originally scheduled to select a new attorney, said now-former board member Priscilla Fraser. The district’s previous attorney had a conflict of interest with the state’s attorney, she said. She was not aware of the specific reason for the conflict.
In selecting new legal representation, the board had to vote on the appeal once again. Fraser speculates that once board members spoke with their constituents, their votes shifted.
Even before the original vote, community members and elected officials have voiced their discontent with the appeal.
Hardeeville Mayor Harry Williams, County Council Chairman John Kemp and Ridgeland Mayor Joey Malphrus sent a letter to the state board earlier this month urging it to declare a state of emergency and dissolve the local school board, without notifying the board in advance.
Despite there not being a public comment period at last week’s vote, former and current district employees also made their opinion of the vote known, yelling at board members as they tried to leave the meeting.
State takeover timeline
The state takeover on Aug. 5 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, Laura Hickson, 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.
What’s next?
The Jasper County School District, with the new superintendent, will hold a stakeholders’ strategic planning workshop Monday in Hardeeville and Tuesday in Ridgeland for community members, school faculty and local officials to discuss the future of the district’s education system.
Both sessions will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and have the same content, according to a district press release. Community members can sign up to attend the event and learn more about it here.
This story was originally published August 20, 2025 at 2:50 PM.
