Aiken County schools announce superintendent finalists

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The Aiken County Public School District announced the finalists for the superintendent position on Tuesday.

The finalists include Dr. Chan Anderson, Dr. Amy Edwards and Dr. Corey Murphy.

Chan Anderson, Ed.D. is the only finalist that doesn’t currently work with the Aiken County Public School District. He currently serves as Superintendent for the Chesterfield County School District. It’s a role he has held since 2022. In his 29 years as an educator, Anderson served as an assistant Superintendent and an Executive Director in Chesterfield for nine years. He served nine years as a principal at Savannah Grove Elementary, R.N. Beck Learning Center and Park Lakes Elementary. He spent the first 10 years of his career in the Broward County School District in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. Anderson was also a classroom teacher for six years, basketball coach and assistant principal. He received his Doctor of Education and Educational Specialist degrees from Wingate University. He received a Masters in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Claflin University.

Amy Edwards, Ed.D. currently serves as the Chief Instructional Officer for Aiken County Public School District. She has held this position since August 2022. She has served as an Independent Educational Consultant for AME Solutions, LLC, a Transformation Leadership Coach with the S.C. Department of Education, an assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction in Orangeburg County Consolidated School District Three, Director of Curriculum and Instruction in Dorchester School District Four, Director of Testing, Research and ability, and Director of ELA k-12 and Media Specialists, Director of Staff Development, and District Literacy Coach in Spartanburg School District Six. She has served as president for the South Carolina Association of School s (SCASA) Instructional Leaders, as a board member for the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA), and currently serves on the board for Learning Forward S.C. Prior to these positions, Edwards was assistant principal for Academics at Sedgefield Middle School and Title I Curriculum Facilitator and Math Intervention teacher at College Park Middle School. She was a principal at Andrews Christian School and a classroom teacher at Andrews Primary/Elementary School and Rosemary Middle School.

Corey Murphy, Ph.D. currently serves as Chief Officer of Operations and Students Services in Aiken County Public School District, a role he has held since 2020. Prior to that, he was Chief of Staff at Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools in Williamsburg, Va., served five years as principal at Beaufort High School and five years as principal of Great Falls Middle/High School. He was an assistant principal at Camden High School as well as a classroom teacher for the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Eau Claire High School. He is also currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and has more than 23 years of honorable service. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy Degree, Educational Specialist Degree, Master of Education and his Bachelor of Science in Biology degrees from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.

“I have been pleased with the caliber of applicants to select from and am confident that the right candidate to serve as Aiken County’s next educational leader is among the group of finalists,” said Aiken County School Board Chairman Cam Nuessle.

In August, King Laurence announced his retirement for the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

The South Carolina School Boards Association is held community input meetings on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6.

As Aiken County moved forward, they asked anyone in the community: “What qualities and characteristics do you want in your next superintendent?”

“We just want to know that the you know that the children’s best interest is taken into consideration,” said Mark Hedman, who has a student at North Augusta.

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