National award-winning Midlands principal resigns from district job to pursue passion

Akil Ross will resign by the end of 2018 from his post at Lexington-Richland 5 school district to pursue a new opportunity as a speaker and educator coach.

He is leaving his job as director of secondary education for the district after just four months. He started in July, and oversaw all of the district’s high school principals and academic efforts.

Ross might be best known for being named 2018 National Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals while he was principal of Chapin High School.

During that same time period, Ross was named state high school principal of the year and a member of The State newspaper’s 20 Under 40 class. And Chapin High School was recognized with a South Carolina Palmetto’s Finest Award. Graduation rates at the school rose from 82 to 96 percent by 2016.

He was known for being an approachable face and a reliable presence in students’ lives, even attending the funerals for students’ loved ones.

Over the past year, Ross said he has been invited to speak across the country, according to a news release from the district. School leaders wanted to find out more about his work as an exemplary principal, but they also wanted to know how he became a nationally recognized school leader.

In a profile published last year at thestate.com, Ross revealed that he had failed third grade. At the time, he doctored his report cards, turning Fs into As to trick his mother. But then he turned his educational career around. He wound up at Duke University, played football for the Blue Devils and became a teacher.

He said he wants to pursue his work as a speaker with his “whole heart beginning in January,” according to a district news release.

“I have always believed that when you commit to something, you must commit with your whole heart,” he said. “... As a result, I will answer a calling to pursue speaking and coaching school leaders.”

In February, when his move from Chapin High to the district was announced, Ross made that same point: he wanted to groom school leaders.

“The success we have had at Chapin High serves as a model for schools across the state and country, and this position will allow me to coach and mentor instructional leaders,” he told The State in February.

He could not be reached for an interview for this story. Ross started at District 5 in 2005. In his absence, former Director of Secondary Education Reggie Dean, who retired in July 2017, will serve as interim director.

“We appreciate all that Dr. Ross has done as an administrator and director,” Superintendent Christina Melton said, according to the release. “The legacy that he leaves here will never be forgotten, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.”