Challengers win in some Richland County school board races. Here are results
The school boards for Richland County’s two largest districts saw a shake-up as late election results Tuesday night showed challengers leading several races.
Richland County voters chose who would be leading their schools in Richland District 1 and Richland District 2 after several years of controversy and respective investigations by the state Inspector General.
Two at-large seats and two district-specific seats on the Richland 1 school board were on the 2024 ballot.
Two candidates ran for the District 4 seat. Challenger and former district principal Ericka Hursey won in a landslide against incumbent Cheryl Harris.
Four candidates ran for the District 2 seat. Incumbent Jamie Devine kept his seat.
Five candidates ran for two at-large seats. Incumbent Angela Clyburn and challenger Richard E. Moore won the contest, with Angela Brown and incumbent Tamika Myers following close behind.
Ten candidates were vying for three at-large seats on the Richland 2 school board. Incumbent Monica Elkins kept her seat. Newcomers Shelley Williams and Gary Dennis were also elected, beating out incumbent Lashonda McFadden in a tight race.
Both boards have seven members, and the winners will serve four-year terms. Here are the results of Tuesday’s election.
Richland 1
Richland 1 serves about 22,000 students in central and southern parts of the county from St. Andrews to Hopkins, including the capital city.
Voters throughout the district picked two at-large board members from five candidates, including incumbents Clyburn and Myers and challengers John Black, Brown and Richard Moore.
In the at-large election, winners Clyburn and Moore received 25.29% and 24.34% of the votes, respectively. Brown received 23.69%, Myers received 18.41% of votes and Black received 7.81%.
Voters near downtown Columbia chose a board member from four candidates for the District 2 seat, including Devine and challengers Lee Carroll, Steven Diaz and Christa Williams.
Devine won with 33.95% of the vote. Diaz received 29.53%, Williams received 26.43% and Carroll received 9.8%.
Voters in Lower Richland elected a board member from two candidates for the District 4 seat, Harris and Hursey.
Hursey held a strong lead throughout the night and won with 62.83% of the vote while Harris received 36.84%.
The 2024 election follows a year of controversy for Richland 1 including fiscal concerns and on the tails of another state-ordered audit.
The district was forced to halt construction of the $31 million Vince Ford Early Learning Center in Lower Richland after failing to obtain the proper permitting. It quickly came under fire by state education Superintendent Ellen Weaver, who ordered an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General.
The investigation determined that Richland 1 broke the law and cost taxpayers more than $350,000 when it began construction without proper permissions by state and local authorities. The probe also found illegal or unauthorized procurements.
Soon after, Weaver escalated the Education Department’s financial status for Richland 1 from “fiscal watch” to “fiscal caution,” the second most severe, and then urged the district to abandon the project, claiming it had already “wasted” $6 million.
The early learning center site on Caughman and Rawlinson roads has been untouched since January. At least three lawsuits have been filed against Richland 1, one involving violations of South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act and two that claim the early learning center construction site has led to flooding and damage to nearby homes.
Richland 2
Richland 2 serves nearly 30,000 students in the northeastern parts of the county, from Blythewood to Fort Jackson.
Voters throughout the district elected three at-large school board members from ten candidates. Monica Elkins (formerly Monica Scott) and Lashonda McFadden were running for reelection. Candidates Brenda Branic, Franklin Davis, Gary Dennis, Dionne Sumpter Fleshman, James Mobley, Brett Porterfield, Larry Smalls and Shelley Williams also ran.
Current board member Lindsay Agostini did not run for reelection.
Elkins kept her seat with 18.39% of the vote. Williams won a seat with 15.08%. Dennis also won a seat with 10.78%. Branic received 10.38% and McFadden lost reelection with 10.37% of the vote. All other candidates received less than 10%.
A 2022 report by the Office of the Inspector General, ordered by Gov. Henry McMaster, criticized the board for dysfunction and infighting, and found that only 14% of its agenda items related to academic concerns.
Soon after the last Richland 2 election, which restructured the board majority, the board dismissed former Superintendent Baron Davis after a six-hour, closed-door meeting. They paid him $615,000 to resign. New Superintendent Kim Moore was hired last June.
The district was also put on “fiscal watch” by the state Department of Education for submitting an audit four months late in 2023. They were released from that status earlier this year.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 10:37 PM.
