COLUMBIA, S.C. — Finalists for Richland School District Two's new superintendent are in Columbia this week, facing interviews with the board, selected students, and community leaders.
The three finalists are Dr. Nia Campbell, who is the Chief academic officer for the Aurora Public Schools in Colorado; Dr. Benjamin Henry, the Regional superintendent of the Polk County Schools in Florida; and Dr. Kim Moore, who is the Assistant superintendent of career and innovative programs in the Pasco County School District in Florida.
The school board went into executive session with the first candidate on Monday as work toward the final selection steps, but it’s a process some say hasn’t been fully transparent.
“It’s what I've seen of this board, I haven't seen them be overly transparent over a lot of their dealings," said former Richland Two school board member James Manning. "From what I’ve seen, they’ve had more closed-door executive session meetings than I ever remember having.”
Manning served on the school board from 2010-2022, under three superintendents, and was a part of the hiring process for the last two superintendents. He says during his time, the district focused on hiring from within.
“It’s very different than what I understand the process to be for the current superintendent search with the current board," Manning said. "We did a superintendent-elect model, where he [Baron Davis] served alongside Dr. Hamm for some time, so we still had an opportunity for parents or folks to come to us and say this is a good choice, but it wasn’t a formal process like we’re seeing with this."
We reached out to selection committee chair Dr. Monica Scott to ask her about the process but had not heard back from her as of Tuesday evening.
School board secretary Angela Nash said she couldn't speak on policy but did say the district hired an outside firm to help with the process, and the candidates are in town this week for final interviews.
“They are going to be there all day long," Nash said. "They get there at 7:15 a.m., the board greets them, then they will meet with stakeholders in our community -- business leaders, parents, administrators -- and then finally, we are going to go through our interview process.”
Nash says the firm picked people to be on the stakeholder's group to help keep things transparent.
“The board is actually not a part of that process at all. We don’t pick the people for those groups for the stakeholder meetings," Nash said. "We are not a part of that process at all, it’s for good reason. I think it's a great way because there is no bias, anything like that. It keeps everything honest, and transparent.”
Officials say the final selection is scheduled for Friday, June 23rd at the 1 p.m. special called board meeting but a formal hiring announcement is not expected until Tuesday, June 27.
Manning says the process is moving quicker than he remembers seeing.
“I think the time frame this board has put on themselves to select the superintendent, I think is very short compared to what I’ve seen from other districts, and so I don’t think it allows that opportunity for the community to interact with the 3 individuals that are on the final list,” Manning said.
We asked if there was a chance for parents to meet the 3 candidates. Officials said some parents, who were selected to be part of stakeholder groups, would meet the candidates.
A formal hiring announcement is expected to be made at the regular board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 27th at 5:30 p.m.