Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams said she is not going to rush the search for a new Greenwood School Board member.
Bill Clay, who had served on the board since 2012, resigned from the board on Monday morning, leaving a seat vacant.
“I’m not going to be hasty with this,” said McAdams, adding that she wanted to vet candidates thoroughly to make sure they have a genuine desire to serve and improve the district for the sake of Greenwood’s children.
The mayor declined to say whom she was considering nominating for the position, but she said that she had two or three candidates in mind from the last time a board seat was vacant.
The mayor said that she is not wedded to the idea of tapping one of those candidates and that anybody interested in serving on the board should contact her office.
McAdams said there are a number of qualities that she is looking for in a board member, including a professional background in education, business experience and a history of community engagement. “All of those are factors,” she said.
The eventual nominee will have to be approved by the Greenwood City Council.
Clay, 64, resigned via a note left with the mayor’s secretary. He later told the Commonwealth that his decision was influenced by health concerns but alluded to other reasons on which he has declined to elaborate further.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted from my chest,” said Clay.
The board has experiencing a period of high turnover over the last few months. The two most recent appointees, Deirdre Mayes and Randy Clark, both brought business experience to the job.
Mayes, the board’s current president, was appointed in October 2015, coming out of retirement to fill the seat left vacant by Kathy Whicker. Mayes previously served as the district’s business director and was a longtime Greenwood city clerk.
Whicker resigned in July, mid-way through her five-year term.
Clark, a former band director and the owner of Clark Insurance Agency, was appointed to the board in December, replacing Connie Johnson, whose term expired at the end of 2015.
• Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
