State Board approves intervention in Bessemer schools; superintendent gives update on Sumter County progress

The Alabama State Board of Education voted unanimously on Aug. 8 to place the Bessemer City School System under state intervention, citing governance dysfunction and financial and operational concerns. State Superintendent Eric Mackey told the board the intervention will include appointment of a chief administrative officer and an audit-driven corrective effort.

The vote followed Mackey’s description of “very dysfunctional school board meetings” in Bessemer and what he characterized as the local board’s inability to approve contracts and essential maintenance. “They have had some very dysfunctional school board meetings,” Mackey said. He told the board the Department of Public Examiners conducted a special audit that “found several inconsistencies in the Board’s management of the system.”

Mackey said Dr. Daniel Boyd, a former Lowndes County superintendent and former deputy superintendent with the state, will serve as the chief administrative officer in Bessemer. “Person I have a great deal of confidence in and I know the board does is going to be the chief administrative officer in Bessemer,” Mackey said. The takeover will remain under the board’s authority; Mackey told members that a release from intervention will occur only on the board’s recommendation.

The superintendent told the board that some problems in Bessemer have produced direct impacts on buildings and operations — for example, he said the system has “buckets in the hallways because the board can't approve an architect or a contractor.” He also said the local board has at times been unable to maintain quorums, recounting, “They had, 90, I think 90 board meetings in a period of a very few months, almost none of which actually made because they couldn't get quorums.”

Board members voted in favor after Mackey’s presentation; the motion passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition.

Nut graf: The board’s action gives the state authority to manage Bessemer’s administration, facilities and academics while officials pursue corrective measures and financial review. Mackey framed intervention as necessary to restore basic governance so district staff can complete routine business and address academic and facility needs.

Mackey also delivered the board’s monthly status update on the Sumter County School System, which has been under state intervention for about a year. He reported that Sumter now has a full-time school finance officer, that most administrative and teaching positions are filled (except one math position with a promising applicant), and that facility and maintenance work has improved school buildings.

On academics, Mackey noted measurable progress: “Sumter County was one of those counties that had more than a 20 gain in third grade reading this year,” he said, while cautioning that the district remains in intervention.

Mackey described several facilities actions under way in Sumter County. The state closed Kinterbyshe School and has been maintaining the property while negotiating a transfer with a local community agency. The state previously closed Canterbury School and is in the process of closing York West End, a K–8 school with “extensive building problems.” He said Livingston Junior High has portions of the building condemned and that the state is maintaining “fire watch” coverage because the fire alarm system is not functioning.

To consolidate operations, Mackey said the state has approved bids and intends to break ground soon on additions to Sumter County Central High School to create a consolidated K–12 campus that will function as separate elementary, middle and high schools on one site. “The new campus is gonna come in at about $12,000,000,” Mackey said. He added that some estimates to repair the condemned building’s fire alarm system exceeded $2,000,000, and the state is prioritizing construction of the new campus instead of expensive patch repairs.

Mackey contrasted the districts’ problems, saying Sumter’s issues were structural but that state actions have begun to stabilize the district; by contrast, he said Bessemer’s primary barrier to functioning is governance breakdown at the board level. “It’s my opinion ... that their academic problems are really not about lack of resources ... but it's the dysfunction at the top is filtering down,” he said.

The board’s motion to intervene in Bessemer was introduced, seconded and approved by a unanimous voice vote.

Ending: The State Board set no public timeline in the meeting for the length of the Bessemer intervention beyond Mackey’s comment that intervention “might take 2 years” in some cases and that release will be by board action based on the state’s recommendations. Board members and state staff said they will work with local stakeholders as the intervention proceeds.