Palm Beach County schools official named finalist for top job in rural South Carolina county
The Palm Beach County School District's top academic official has been named a finalist for a superintendent's job in a rural South Carolina county that has a school district just 1.5% the size of Palm Beach County.
Glenda Sheffield, chief academic officer of a district serving nearly 200,000 students, is one of three finalists for the top job in Hampton County, South Carolina, located about 100 miles southeast of the state capitol of Columbia.
Hampton County's school district serves just under 3,000 students across 10 school campuses.
The county was thrust into the international spotlight in 2021 following the double murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, the wife and 22-year-old son of prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two life terms in prison.
Sheffield joins David Laws Jr., the director of innovation and career and technical education in the Sumter County, South Carolina, school district, and John Tharp, principal of a high school in York County, South Carolina, in vying for the job.
Sumter County's school district serves about 16,000 students while York Comprehensive High School, where Tharp is the principal, has around 1,400 students.
Sheffield has a long history in Palm Beach County schools: She has been the chief academic officer for five years and previously worked as the south regional instructional superintendent. She was the principal of William T. Dwyer High, Howell L. Watkins Middle and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary.
Prior to her hiring by the school district in 1993, Sheffield obtained her bachelor's degree from Vorhees University, a private and historically Black university about 35 miles north of Hampton County. She went on to get her master's from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a doctorate in education from Nova Southeastern University in Broward County.
Sheffield earns about $209,000 per year for her current role in Palm Beach County. She is responsible for all academic programming decisions in the school district, including testing, graduation, instructional material selection and compliance with state law regarding academic standards.
In August, Sheffield was named a finalist in a superintendent search in Georgetown County, South Carolina, located between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. The school district hired Bethany A. Giles for the job in September.
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