The Alabama State Board of Education authorized a takeover of Dallas County Schools, citing numerous financial problems that have riddled the small, rural school system.
A recent investigation found the district lacked “significant operational oversight,” costing it more than $12 million in federal grant repayments. State officials intervened after the board agreed that it needed help to get its finances back on track.
The state board of education voted unanimously to approve intervention at its board meeting on March 13. A takeover would mean the local board of education no longer has control over personnel, finance or operations.
“It’s going to be a very heavy lift,” State Superintendent Eric Mackey said after the vote. “There’s going to be a very heavy lift with us in there, and an almost impossible lift for a school board to do on its own.”
A June 2024 audit found the district did not properly account for professional development services paid with $4.9 million in COVID relief funding. State officials followed up in July and discovered additional issues, ultimately ordering the district to return at least $12.2 million in federal grant funds, according to a show-cause letter Mackey sent to board president Melvin Flanagan Brown on Feb. 21.
ALSDE received a response from Superintendent Anthony Sampson on Jan. 3 acknowledging the findings, but according to Mackey’s letter, the district did not propose a plan to address the deficiencies. Further investigation found that in recent months, the district has failed to fully close financial records, has inflated fund balances and owes at least $1.4 million for past invoices.
“This is a very serious matter and one I do not take lightly,” Mackey wrote in the letter. “Inaction and mismanagement put our students, teachers and school administrators at risk of continuously falling behind the ALSDE’s expectations and as the State Superintendent, I find that utterly unacceptable.”
Sampson did not return a request for comment from AL.com. He previously stated that the board would “work in concert” with the state as they figure out next steps. The local board voted Feb. 27 to agree to an intervention.
Dallas County is now one of three school systems currently under state intervention.
The system, which is one of the state’s poorest, had long been struggling with declining enrollment and revenues. In the past decade, the student population declined by more than 30%, from 3,264 students in 2014 to 2,203 students in 2024.
Mackey said the state has been working with the district since October on a repayment plan and is in talks with the federal government about reducing the amount owed.
“Obviously they can’t write a check like that in one day,” he said, noting that county debt ultimately falls on the state. “So we’ve got to try to do what we can to resolve this.”
Chief Academic Officer Daniel Boyd, who is currently overseeing Bessemer’s intervention, was appointed Thursday to guide the takeover in Dallas County. The state also will be in charge of deciding the district’s next superintendent after Sampson steps down at the end of the school year.
Mackey said he expects the intervention to take at least two years.
“It’s quite a knot we’re going to have to untangle,” he said.
ALBOE Vice President Tonya Chestnut, who represents the Dallas County area and used to work in the district, said the decision was “bittersweet.”
“You always hate to have to intervene,” she said. “But it’s always good to be able to go in and provide that support, because at the end of the day it’s about making sure that the children are receiving the quality education that they deserve.”
