New Richland 2 superintendent named after 6-month vacancy

Kim Moore has been named superintendent in the Richland 2 school district, the district announced Tuesday.

Moore will replace Baron Davis, who resigned six months ago after six years as superintendent of the northeast Richland County district adjacent to Fort Jackson.

Moore’s official start date is July 3, Richland 2 spokesperson Ishmael Tate said. The contract is tentatively slated to last three years, board member Monica Scott said. Details of Moore’s salary were not yet available, Tate said.

“I am committed to one thing and one thing only and that is to provide the best educational experience for each student we are privileged to teach,” Moore said. ”Education is my passion. It is the reason I get up every day and my joy.”

Most recently, Moore was the assistant superintendent of career and innovative programs for the Pasco County School District in the Tampa, Florida, area, overseeing over 80,000 students. She led the district’s workforce development programs, PreK-12 STEM/STEAM schools and technical college.

After retiring from the military as a U.S. Army Chemical Corps Officer, she was a science and resource teacher, principal, administrator, director and assistant superintendent in the Tampa area. She has also been an adjunct faculty member for Nova Southeastern University and executive director of Maxwell Leadership, an organization that provides leadership training.

Moore earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Widener University and a master’s degree in administration from Central Michigan University. She earned an educational specialist degree and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University.

Moore is married with five children and six grandchildren.

“I am just elated, I am giddy like a little kid in a candy store,” board member Monica Scott said. “Dr. Moore comes with so many credentials.”

Scott said Moore comes with fresh ideas. She also noted that Moore is Richland 2’s first female African American superintendent.

Moore specialized in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare during her time with the military, she said.

“Over the next 90 days — it’s part of my entry plan — I’m going to be asking one question,” Moore said. “I want to know what the good, the bad and the ugly is. Because once we know that then we can get about the business of addressing those issues.”

As part of a military family herself, Moore said, she can relate to the families of Fort Jackson in Richland 2.

“As a mother, the first thing that I did when I moved (while enlisted) was to find the right school for my children,” Moore said. “That’s what every military parent wants, just like every one of our civilian parents want, is the best school for their child, a place where their child feels that they belong, where people care about them, and where they’re going to get the education that they need to get.”

The other two finalists for the position were Benjamin Henry and Nia Campbell.

The finalists each spent a day in Columbia for interviews with the school board and groups of parents, students, teachers, administrators, business and community leaders that were selected by lottery, according to a district release. The selection was made on June 23 at a special called school board meeting and announced at the school board meeting on Tuesday, June 27.

Moore was approved by a 6-1 vote of the school board Tuesday. Board member Lindsay Agostini said she voted no due to the “inconsistency or rush of the process.”

“I would like to see things go a little bit differently in terms of how we proceeded,” Agostini said.

Agostini is the immediate past chairwoman of the board. New board executive officers were voted in at the June 27 meeting after Moore was selected. Joe Trapp was voted board chairman, Angela Nash vice chair and Tamika Washington secretary.

Davis, the former superintendent, resigned in January amid rumors of his potential firing. The former school board, the majority of which had terms that ended last November, had narrowly voted to extended his contract only months prior. Davis was paid $615,000 via a settlement agreement upon his departure, and he and the board agreed not to make disparaging comments about one another.

The school district considered 39 applicants from 20 states, officials said.