What goes into a state takeover of a school district?

MACON, Miss. (WCBI) – If Governor Bryant signs the State Board of Education’s resolution for a state of emergency, many families and employees with the Noxubee County School District want to know – what happens next?

This decision comes at a bad time for Noxubee County, as teachers should be making their way back to the classroom to get ready for the new school year in a little more than two weeks.

The details of a takeover include some serious micromanaging within the district, trying to get the schools back on their feet as soon as possible.

“Overall, the rationale provide was based on the fact that the district did have serious violations of federal and state law in accreditation standards, serious concerns regarding financial resources, serious pattern of poor academic performance, and inappropriate standards of governance,” said Chief Accountability Officer of the State Commission of School Accreditation, Paula Vanderford.

We attempted to reach out for community reaction.

With the school system being so imbedded in the county’s society, however, no one wanted to comment on camera but off camera say they are shocked things have gotten this out of hand.

This state board of education’s decision is only a suggestion and isn’t law yet, but all it needs is a signature for Governor Phil Bryant.

With that, the MDE board will move in and uproot the current administration.

“An interim superintendent will be appointed to oversee the day-to-day operation of the school district,” Vanderford continued. “The governor’s proclamation will also allow the district access to the school financial assistant fund that’s outlined in state statute to help the district during this time that they’re having cash flow issues.”

With a new interim superintendent, the state board of education will be working with district staff to fix all of these accreditation issues, while making the students’ academic performance the number one priority.