Recap: Board of Trustees Selects New School Chief

UPDATED Tuesday 11:35 p.m.

By a vote of 7-5 the Board approved William Burke Royster as the new Superintendent of Greenville County Schools.

UPDATED Tuesday 8:58 p.m

The Greenville County School Board of Trustees is now in executive session discussing who the next superintendent of schools will be.

The regularly scheduled school board meeting began tonight with a public comment session that saw three speakers, one of whom was Fountain Inn Mayor Gary Long, voice their support for Greenville County Schools Assistant Superintendent William Burke Royster as the next head of the school district.

After completing the regular agenda items, the board of trustees, held a vote to go in to executive session to discuss and presumably vote on the next superintendent. But trustee Chuck Saylors opposed the idea of going into a private session, particularly after a marathon session on Saturday yielded no ressults. Saylors said that everything that needed to be said privately has already been said. Trustee Krystal Ball O'connor disagreed.

Saylors briefly sparred with trustee Leola Robinson-Simpson who also disagreed with him, but the board ultimately voted 10-2 to discuss the matter in private.

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The uneventful process of picking the new superintendent for Greenville County Schools hit a bumpy road over the weekend.

Board members met most of the day on Saturday and whether Lynn P. Moody, Eugene G. White, or William Burke Royster Jr. will be the new school chief.

Moody is the current superintendent of Rock Hill School District Three in York County; White is the superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools; and Royster is a deputy superintendent at Greenville County Schools.

The for day-long sessions. Over the weekend the Board was expected to choose one of the three as the new superintendent to the largest school district in the state and the 50^th largest in the country.

But the process took a turn when it was reported that Moody had allowed school to take place on Martin Luther King Day in Rock Hill, which she now leads. Some in the African-American community reacted strongly to the news. Some others questioned the timing of the news, wondering if it was done to disrupt the process in favor of Royster, who has local ties.

Meanwhile, White confirmed he is also a candidate for the superintendent slot in Mobile, Ala., which is near where he was raised. The website al.com reported that White told parents that he told the Greenville board, “Once I got to Mobile, all bets were off. I wanted to come to Mobile anyway. Quite frankly, this is where I want to stay.”

The possibility now exists that White is a candidate for a job he does not want.

The board meets at 7 and will cover the following agenda items before going in to executive session to discuss the superintendent position:

1. Welcome, Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance

2. Adoption of Consent Calendar

2.01 Minutes, Regular Board Meeting - February 28, 2012

2.02 Minutes, Special Called Meeting - March 5, 2012

2.03 Minutes, Special Called Meeting - March 13, 2012

2.04 Minutes, Special Called Meeting - March 14, 2012

2.05 Minutes, Special Called Meeting - March 15, 2012

2.06 Minutes. Special Called Meeting a.m.- March 20, 2012

2.07 Minutes, Special Called Meeting p.m. - March 20, 2012

2.08 Minutes, Special Called Meeting a.m. - March 21, 2012

2.09 Minutes, Special Called Meeting p.m. - March 21, 2012

2.10 Minutes, Special Called Meeting a.m. - March 22, 2012

2.11 Minutes, Special Called Meeting p.m. - March 22, 2012

2.12 Minutes, Special Called Meeting - March 24, 2012

2.13 Personnel Recommendations

2.14 Home Schooling Applications

3. Appearance of Visitors

4. Superintendent's Report

5. Action items

Action

5.01 Long Range Facilities Plan / CIP

Action

5.02 Audit of Eastside High School Student Activity Funds (July 1, 2010 through September 30, 2010)

Action

5.03 Audit of Student Activity Funds for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2011

Action

5.04 Request to Waive Board Policy IFCB

6. Information Items / Reports

Information

6.01 Internal Auditing Services' Project Status Report

Information, Action

6.02 Board Committee Reports

7. Finance Report

Information

7.01 FY 12 January Financial Reports