HOUSTON -- The Texas education commissioner announced a state takeover of the troubled North Forest school district and a plan to oust the school board on Thursday. Commissioner Robert Scott said he plans to install a board of managers and hire a new superintendent by the time the school year starts in September.

The Texas Education Agency's actions are one-step below shutting down the entire school district, said agency spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson. Earlier this year, the state education agency placed the district on probation.

The commissioner's actions still need the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice in order to replace an elected school board with a three-member board of managers.

The TEA has only ousted school boards twice before: The Wilmer-Hutchins district near Dallas in 2006 and the Kendleton school district in 1992.

Scott said the state action was necessary because of “the district's extensive history of deficiencies, its recent significant problems and its current failure to consistently work cooperatively with the assigned management team.”

“While our management team and agency employees have helped cut (the district's budget) deficit and improve its academic performance, the district remains in a very precarious position,” Scott said in a statement.

As it is, North Forest ISD will enter the new school year with an $11.8 million budget deficit and it has been unable to obtain short-term loans to cover expenses.

The TEA also found problems with North Forest's special education program, failure to comply with No Child Left Behind requirements and the two high schools – now merged into one – have struggled, earning the state's lowest rating of Academically Unacceptable.

The school board appears to be the biggest problem, said the TEA.

Scott described the North Forest board as a “chronic problem” and unstable. He noted that the school board, after firing Superintendent James Simpson and paying him $230,000 in severance has tried to hire him back twice, only to be blocked by the TEA.

Scott said he hopes the board of managers will be able to stabilize the district as to prevent a total closure. The board of managers, which would have all the powers of an elected school board, can remain in place for up to two school years, said the TEA.