The Charleston County School District (CCSD) has a long history of controversy and has paid out numerous legal settlements, ranging from cases involving teachers being assaulted by students to school board members defaming volunteers The recent selection process for CCSD Superintendent is no exception.
The vacancy for the CCSD Superintendent stemmed from the controversial decision by former Superintendent Nancy McGinley to interrogate students at the Academic Magnet High School for their involvement in a post-game ritual of stomping on a watermelon following football victories. The interrogations were done by a diversity consultant without the knowledge of the School Board or their parents. Following McGinley’s resignation in October 2014, the School Board appointed CCSD Chief Financial Officer Michael Bobby as interim Superintendent and hired the South Carolina School Boards Association, a lobbying group, to conduct a search for a successor. A lot of people didn’t believe the search was broad enough for a school district with nearly 48,000 students in more than 80 schools.
In March of this year, NAACP leader Rev. Joseph Darby told WCSC-TV, “It has been a narrow search. It hasn’t really been a search.” The finalists for Superintendent were Michael Bobby, CCSD Associate Superintendent Lisa Herring, and former Horry County School District Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait.
After emerging from a prolonged executive session, the School Board selected Postlewait as the new Superintendent by a 5-4 vote. Many in the community were not happy with the selection process.
North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey remarked at a press conference, “Many concerns have been raised surrounding the interview process, which I believe should be revisited to explore a more diverse field of candidates.” Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott called the school board’s decision “another blatant act of racial insensitivity” and called upon Postlewait, who is white, to decline the job.
I have heard from several informed sources that highly qualified African-American Superintendent candidate Dr. Gary Burgess never even received confirmation of his application for the job. Dr. Burgess has been a successful teacher, principal, and superintendent in two Upstate counties and has served on a school board in Anderson County. Dr. Burgess is also a very effective communicator who would interact with the press, the teachers, and the community.
One of the problems with the CCSD has been top-down management. Up until 2007, when McGinley became Superintendent, the eight regional constituent school boards were empowered to make hiring decisions for principals, faculty, and staff. Now those decisions are being made by CCSD bureaucrats with no input from elected officials.
Four of the eight constituent school boards have passed resolutions to restore the power to hire staff, set bell schedules, and make decisions on student transfers. Constituent District 10, which represents the West Ashley schools, has not yet voted on the resolution. It meets on the first and third Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at 725 Wappoo Road, near St. Andrews Middle School (old St. Andrews High). The next District 10 meeting is scheduled for Aug. 3.
District 10 board member Henry Copeland supports the local control resolution. “If we had local control, parents would have more input on school governance,” said Copeland. “School decisions should be made by elected officials closest to them and not by bureaucrats at 75 Calhoun St. (the CCSD headquarters).”
Copeland notes that many parents, teachers and principals feel like that nobody is listening to them. He said, “We have got to have public servants who are actually receptive to the public.”
As I have talked about earlier, we have a very successful charter school in West Ashley, Orange Grove Elementary Charter School, which doesn’t report to the CCSD bureaucracy. It’s governed by an internal board of directors and consistently receives an Excellent rating by the S.C. Dept. of Education. Orange Grove will begin its middle school program during the 2015-20016 school year at the old Oakland Elementary School building..
John Steinberger is the former chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party, a leading Fair Tax advocate, and a West Ashley resident. He can be reached at
John.steinberger@scfairtax.org.
(843) 766-WEST (9378)
publisher@westof.net
