The Board of Trustees of the Saluda County School District unanimously voted Monday night to hire Dr. David Mathis as the new Superintendent effective July 1, 2008.

  Dr. Pete Stone will be retiring after six years of outstanding service to the District. Dr. David Mathis’ starting salary will be $130,000.

  "We are excited to have an educator with such outstanding credentials join us in District One," said School Board Chairman Ben Harrison.

  The search was organized by Dr. David Eubanks, currently the Interim Superintendent in Union County, who also performs various consulting services for several South Carolina school districts. The Board members have spent numerous hours in recent weeks conducting interviews with several outstanding, well qualified South Carolina educators.

  It is anticipated that between now and July 1 that Dr. Mathis will serve as Superintendent-Elect, and in that capacity, will perform any and all duties as may be deemed appropriate and agreed upon by the Board. The Board expects Dr. Mathis to be in the District intermittently during the next few weeks in order to begin meeting with employees and familiarizing himself with District operations. Following is biographical information and educational experience for Dr. Mathis:

  David M. Mathis is the current Associate Superintendent for Administration with Aiken County Schools where he oversees human resources, special education, federal programs, as well as all assessment programs for a student population of approximately 25,000 students and 3,000 employees. Appointed to the position in 2006, Dr. Mathis leads the efforts in the district to ensure quality instruction is provided through the most current diagnostic data available. Through his leadership all 40 schools in Aiken County participate in a comprehensive assessment program that drives daily instructional decisions of teachers throughout the district. Aiken County Schools was recognized in 2007 for narrowing the achievement gap by increased student performance of historically underachieving groups of students. Dr. Mathis works closely with an Aiken County foundation, Public Education Partners, who assists schools in innovative practices that promote student learning. In 2007, Midland Valley High School was awarded over $1,000,000 to provide incoming freshmen with laptop computers. The students will utilize the laptops at home and school throughout their high school career. The grant was awarded again for the incoming freshmen in 2008.

  Dr. Mathis is no stranger to Saluda County having spent much of his professional career in neighboring Edgefield County. He began his career as a middle school social studies teacher and moved through the ranks as an assistant principal, principal, and assistant superintendent for instruction before taking the associate superintendent’s position in Aiken County. While serving as principal of Merriweather Elementary School, Dr. Mathis guided the school into award winning status as the recipient of multiple state writing awards and incentive awards for excellence in student performance. As Assistant Superintendent he assisted in Johnston-Edgefield-Trenton Middle School’s recognition as the coveted Palmetto’s Finest. Recognizing the correlation of instrumental music to student achievement, Dr. Mathis established full-size piano labs in each elementary school to provide each student a foundation in the arts. His instructional leadership was a vital influence on Edgefield schools meeting federal mandates of No Child Left Behind’s Adequate Yearly Progress, narrowing the achievement gap in reading and math, scoring above the state and national average on the SAT college entrance exam, and brining multi-million dollar federal grants to the district.

  He has also earned international recognition. In 2006, Dr. Mathis was one of six individuals elected as members-at-large to the Leadership Council of the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. Educators recognize ASCD internationally as the premier organization for providing leadership in improving the quality of education. Most recently, Dr. Mathis was tapped to be a part of the nominating committee that will select the team that will lead the organization through the next three years.

  Additionally, Dr. Mathis serves the South Carolina Association of School Administrators as the chairman of the Carolina First Palmetto’s Finest Awards. Each year this organization selects two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school as the "finest" in South Carolina. This award is considered the ‘Academy Awards’ for schools in the state. His work with this committee has allowed him to travel the state and evaluate the best that South Carolina has to offer its students.

  While most of his career has been spent as an administrator, Dr. Mathis has not ventured far from the classroom. He is an adjunct professor for Columbia College in the Master of Divergent Learning degree program where he teaches courses in learning styles, assessment, and student conflict mediation. He sees his work with Columbia College as a way to remain grounded in the day-to-day responsibilities and expectations of classroom teachers. Dr. Mathis holds a foundational belief that the greatest indicator of student performance is the high-level of quality instruction that a teacher delivers to his/her students each day.