By HEATHER WALTERS
The contract for Colleton County’s new superintendent has been approved by the Colleton County School Board, and the contract does include a stipulation that the new superintendent live in Colleton County while she serves as the local superintendent.
Dr. Vallerie Cave was chosen on May 26th by the Colleton County School Board from a final candidate pool of three people. Then, on June 2nd, the school board had a follow-up meeting to iron out the details of Cave’s contract and to set goals for Cave to accomplish.
During that June 2nd meeting, the school board approved a three-year contract for Cave.
She will be paid an annual salary of $175,000 per year.
Cave has also agreed that her primary residence will be in Colleton County, for as long as she is employed with the Colleton County School District, according to Sharon Witkin, chairwoman of the Colleton County School Board.
With the contract now approved, Cave will formally take on her role within the Colleton County School District on July 1st.
Witkin said the school board will meet “several times” in June to prepare for Cave’s July 1st start date with the local school board. “The process of establishing annual goals will be jointly approved by the Colleton County School Board of Trustees and our new superintendent, Dr. Cave, as she begins with our district mid-summer,” said Witkin.
According to her, priorities for the new superintendent will include increasing academic achievement throughout the district, but “especially for schools in need of improvement identified in the South Carolina School Report Card.”
Witkin also said there will be specific goals established that align with the district’s overall strategic plan and with the district’s Academic Recovery Plan for Students.
Until Cave was hired, the Colleton County School District has been led by interim Superintendent John Tindal since February of 2020, when the former superintendent left the district.
“The board is excited to have Dr. Vallerie Cave selected as our new superintendent for the Colleton County School District,” said Witkin. “Expectations are high, as is optimism for the successful direction provided by Dr. Cave.”
According to information provided by CCSO, Cave has more than 30 years of education experience. She carries degrees from Baptist College, currently Charleston Southern University, the University of South Carolina and Walden University. Cave is also a former teacher, principal and served in several director-level positions in school districts across South Carolina and Georgia.
Most recently, she is serving as the associate superintendent for K-12 School Transformation and Innovation for Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools.
