Bessemer City Schools gives consent for state intervention over district

BESSEMER, Ala. ( WIAT ) – At a specially-called meeting Monday night, the Bessemer City Schools board unanimously voted to consent to state intervention in the district.

The state board of education will vote on intervention for Bessemer City Schools on Aug. 8. If the motion is adopted, the state takeover will begin the following day.

On July 9, the Bessemer Board of Education met to discuss a plan of action for improvement items detailed in a letter to the district from state superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey. Lee Jones, board president, says last week, they were able to sit down with Dr. Mackey and hear from him firsthand, which he says is ultimately what changed the board’s mind about accepting the state takeover.

“We felt that it would be a win-win situation for us,” Jones said.

The Bessemer Board of Education says it’s looking at this as a partnership with the state instead of a takeover. Mackey hopes to only be involved for two years. He says while some big work can be done in the first 12 months, that’s also when deeper issues are uncovered and have to be resolved.

“One of the goals when you do an intervention from the state level is you make sure that you uncover any places where there might be glitches or might be some dysfunction and you get those things worked out so that you’re not turning problems back over to the local school board,” Mackey said.

Mackey says parents should be patient as there will likely be growing pains during the state intervention but says everything is being done with students’ wellbeing in mind.

“We would not be going into Bessemer if we did not expect changes,” Mackey said. “We expect changes in the culture so we expect a culture of high expectations for children and high expectations for adults.”

Bessemer City Schools expects the next two years to be positive for the district.

“We are still dedicated in serving our students the best way that we can and it’s all about the children, period,” Jones said.

The Bessemer Board of Education says the state will be able to give them access to resources the district needs to improve.

“We as a board wasn’t doing the correct things that we needed to be doing and so that’s when [Mackey] stepped in and said he was going to intervene to help us out,” Jones said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42.