Alabama State Board of Education approves Bessemer City Schools takeover

The Alabama State Board of Education votes on a motion during its regular meeting on February 9, 2023. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

The Alabama State Board of Education unanimously voted Thursday to take over the Bessemer City school system amid allegations of mismanagement by the school board.

State Board of Education Superintendent Eric Mackey said the local school board passed a resolution acknowledging they need state intervention. He said Bessemer’s school board meetings over about a month but had not been able to get work done due to repeated lack of quorums. Mackey said, they “shouldn’t be having 90 meetings” and that “they can accomplish everything in one meeting per month.”

“Their academic problems are really not about lack of resources, not about lack of commitment on the part of their teachers, but the dysfunction at the top is filtering down,” said Mackey.

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Messages seeking comment were left Thursday with the Bessemer City School Board and superintendent.

Mackey said the State Board of Education will begin intervention immediately after voting on the resolution, and he expects the intervention to last “a couple of years” because the board is not as “responsible” or “effective” as it once was.

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Once the local school board can be effectively managed independently, Mackey believes academics will improve.

“I think we’re ready to move forward and I don’t see a way for Bessemer City to move forward without state intervention,” Mackey said.

Mackey also provided an update on the Sumter County schools takeover, which started in 2023 . He said there is still much work to be done, and he does not know when the intervention may be lifted yet.

Part of the problem, he said, is that they have four schools that do not have enough students. They have already closed one school and are in the process of closing another before closing a third one.

Sumter County’s population has not grown since the 1940’s , and the student body population is shrinking.

Sumter County Schools had about 1,700 students enrolled in the 2014-15 school year, according to the Alabama State Department of Education. In the 2022-23 school year, it had fallen to 990 , a 41% decrease. At the Thursday meeting, Mackey said the student population was around 700 for the 2023-2024 school year.

When the student population shrinks, less money comes into the district, leading to schools closures, facilities falling into disrepair and extracurricular activities cut.

Those affected often in the poorest households. In Sumter County Schools, about 89% of students are economically disadvantaged, compared to 65% statewide .

Mid last year, some school system officials welcomed a state intervention , saying problems have been allowed to linger.

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