From staff reports
Dalton Daily Citizen
DALTON —
The Richland 2 school board in Columbia, S.C., has chosen a superintendent — Whitfield County Schools superintendent Katie Brochu was one of three finalists — but won’t publicly say who it is until Monday, according to The State newspaper.
Board chairman Bill Flemming told the newspaper the next school chief of Richland School District 2 will be revealed during the 7 p.m. board meeting.
“We came out (of executive session) and voted, directing our attorney to secure a contract,” he told the newspaper.
The salary is about $200,000.
Brochu, who could not be reached for comment on Saturday evening, told The Daily Citizen she was recruited by the district for the job.
“I didn’t look for a position; they asked me to have the conversation,” she said on Wednesday. “If it happens, it’s meant to be. If it doesn’t happen, I am extremely happy in Whitfield County.”
Brochu was one of 99 candidates for the position, which will be vacant because the current superintendent will retire at the end of the school year. She said Richland school officials asked her to consider the job at least partly because they were impressed with the Whitfield school system’s ability to raise the graduation rate, raise test scores, lower the property tax rate and lower the number of discipline issues — all while dealing with fast-paced growth. She said school system employees and the members of the board of education share in the district’s accomplishments.
The other candidates were Darrell Johnson, superintendent of Greenwood County, S.C., District 50, and Attila Weninger, superintendent of the Oak Park and River Forest High School District in Oak Park, Ill.
