Video: Board to Governor: Return Aberdeen Schools to Local Control

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – State officials are ready to return a northeast Mississippi school district to local control.

The state Board of Education voted Friday to ask Gov. Phil Bryant to declare that a state of emergency no longer exists in the Aberdeen school district.

A local school board has been meeting as advisers, says outgoing conservator Mac Curlee, and has hired former Oxford administrator Jeff Clay to become superintendent on July 1.

The state took over the 1,300-student district in 2012, citing rule violations.

Aberdeen’s academic rating rose from F to C while under state control. All its third-graders passed the state reading test this year.

Only the Leflore County and Tunica County districts would remain under state control if Bryant approves Aberdeen’s exit. Leflore County is scheduled to merge with Greenwood.