LAURINBURG — A large crowd gathered Tuesday at the A.B. Gibson Center to witness the swearing-in of Scotland County Schools’ newest district superintendent, Adell Baldwin.
During the ceremony attended by the school district’s Board of Education, family, friends, elected officials and former and new colleagues of Baldwin, the honorable Philip McRae, the Clerk of Superior Court for Scotland County, administered Baldwin the Oath of Office.
A raucous applause from those in attendance met Baldwin following the swearing-in.
“I’m going to make sure that the kids of Scotland County understand this, the one thing that I value to bring is the ability to dream,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin’s career in public education has spanned more than 25 years in North and South Carolina. Most recently, he has served as a principal for Marion County School District in South Carolina. Before joining MCSD, Baldwin served as the chief operations officer for the Center for Responsive Schools in Massachusetts, the chief operations officer for the Scotland County Schools, a CTE director, principal, assistant principal, and dropout prevention counselor for the Hoke County Schools, and a principal for the Bladen County Schools. He began his career as a teacher in Raeford.
Baldwin earned a bachelor’s degree in K-12 Physical Education and a master’s degree in School Administration from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He also obtained a doctorate in educational leadership from Wingate University.
On Feb. 27, the Scotland County Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to invoke the unilateral termination clause in the contract of Takeda LeGrand, the superintendent at the time. The decision was made during the Committee of the Whole meeting and was effective immediately.
Robert L. Logan has been serving in the interim role of superintendent since April.
Baldwin begins his duties on Thursday.