The Berkley County South Carolina school district has accepted the resignation of former Montgomery County school superintendent Brenda Blackburn after 18 months of service in the midst of a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry.
This past week, Blackburn stepped down from her post. It comes just over a month after the FBI started a probe into the school district’s financial records. A former chief financial officer has also left the school district.
Brantley Thomas was fired after allegations that he transferred approximately $382,000 into a personal bank account between 2015 and last December.
No criminal charges have been filed as of yet, and the investigation is continuing.
Blackburn left Montgomery County in 2015 and joined the South Carolina school district, which has seen its share of problems.
Blackburn left Montgomery County in 2015 and joined the South Carolina school district, which has seen its share of problems.
Blackburn replaced Superintendent Rodney Thompson who was indicted in 2015 of an ethics charge. In December, he pleaded guilty and was given a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The jail sentence was suspended, and he was given a year’s probation.
Blackburn had served for five years in Christiansburg, and previously had served as an associate superintendent in Brevard Public Schools in Viera Beach, Florida. Before that, she had also been a teacher and school principal.
She was Berkley County’s first female superintendent, and the school board had expressed concern about the financial problems during her watch.
— Marty Gordon
