New Superintendent Hired; Process Criticized

Charleston County’s new superintendent of schools will enter office soon in the same way her predecessor left: in a hail of racial criticisms.
Last week, the School Board voted 5-4 along racial lines to select Gerrita Postlewait as the successor to Nancy McGinley. McGinley resigned last fall in the aftermath of the firing and rehiring of a high school football coach whose team’s actions many considered to be racist.
The largely white football team at Academic Magnet High School had begun celebrating wins by smashing watermelons, which angered many in the community.
Magnet is located on a former mostly black high school site in North Charleston, and has a largely white student population.
The coach was summarily fired and then quickly rehired, angering the board. McGinley, who has since opened an education consultancy office, resigned and the Board began a national search to replace her.
Adding to the charged atmosphere inside the district offices was the shooting of nine black parishioners a half-block away on Calhoun Street three weeks ago.
Some School Board members wanted to delay the final vote until the controversy around the shooting cooled.
Regardless, the vote was held and the Board selected Postlewait over two other candidates. One of those candidates, Lisa Herring, was already the district’s deputy superintendent, and is black.
Some in the black community thought that the recent incidents were proof that now was the time for a second black female superintendent, hearkening back to Maria Goodloe-Johnson’s abbreviated tenure.
School Board Chair Cindy Bohn Coats praised the Board’s diligence and Postlewait’s background, which includes a doctorate and a decade spent heading up Horry County’s public school district.
A final contract is being prepared before Postelwait assumes office.