SUMTER, S.C. — The Sumter School Board announced its three finalists for the district’s next superintendent this week, and that list includes Scotland County School Superintendent Ron Hargrave.
Hargrave, along with Cynthia Ambrose, who is the deputy superintendent for learning services for Charleston County Schools, and Penelope Martin-Knox, who is the chief of school climate and safety for Baltimore County Public Schools in Maryland, are the three finalists for the position.
“B.W.P. and Associates, a consulting firm that worked with the Sumter County Board of Education on their superintendent search process, contacted me about this opportunity,” Hargrave said in a statement. “After speaking with members of the firm and the Sumter School District Board of Trustees, I feel like this is an opportunity that I want to pursue on behalf of my family.
“Serving the students and staff of Scotland County Schools has been my commitment for the past five years and will continue to be so long as I serve as superintendent,” he added.
At the Sumter School Board’s meeting B.W.P. and Associates vetted and recommended all three to the board. The trustees received 50 applications for the position from candidates covering 21 states. Of the 50 candidates, 19 were currently serving as superintendents.
“We were very impressed with the high quality of the initial candidates we interviewed,” said Board Chairman Ralph Canty in a statement. “We are looking for the right person who can lead us forward. We have three strong finalists, and our job now is to narrow these to the one who will be our next leader.”
The candidates will be meeting with members of the school board, legislators, local leadership and the community in the next couple of weeks.
Sumter School District enrolls more than 16,500 students, as compared with Scotland County Schools, which has an enrollment estimate of more than 5,500 students.
The board is expected to name the new superintendent in the first half of March.
Hargrave has severed as superintendent for Scotland County Schools since June 1, 2014, and, in April 2018, it was announced he was selected as a finalist for Florence School District One superintendent, but the position went to another finalist.
The resume of each candidate can be found on sumterschools.net.
Katelin Gandee can be reached at 910-506-3171 or [email protected].
