Lexington 2 board member first from SC to lead National School Boards Association

The National School Boards Association’s first South Carolinian leader is from Lexington County.

Lexington 2 board member ElizaBeth “Beth” Dickerson Branham will be sworn in as president of the national association at its conference in Philadelphia this weekend.

“Every child deserves the best education possible, graduating from high school equipped for success in college or technical training, the military or workplace,” Branham said, according to a news release from Lexington 2.

Branham became a Lexington 2 board member in the fall of 2000. She was on the board of directors for the South Carolina School Boards Association, and served as president. Branham was also secretary-treasurer for the national school boards organization.

Before becoming a board member, she was an English teacher at Brookland-Cayce High School and earned a law degree from the University of South Carolina. She is a practicing lawyer and has a firm in West Columbia.

In addition to being the first South Carolinian president of the organization, Branham will be a woman in the role where there have been men serving as president at least the past two years.

The National School Boards Association is the umbrella organization for more than 90,000 school board members throughout the United States.