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Chair's Welcome

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"Those of us who serve on the Fairfield County Education Foundation Board hope you will support our efforts to help attract the very best educators possible to our Fairfield County School District.  In order for our district to continue its progress towards providing an excellent education for all of our students, we must make our district and community an attractive and welcoming destination for those educators we seek to recruit and retain.

The growing teacher shortage in South Carolina and the Nation requires every school district to strengthen its competitive advantages, as it competes for the very best educators. The proposed village, a residential community for educators, will allow our district to be a state and national leader in providing educators with attractive and affordable housing, in close proximity to their schools, and provide unparalleled opportunities for teachers to collaborate.  We hope you will learn more about our efforts to help make Fairfield County Schools a desirable place for the very best educators to do their very best work.

Dr. Sue Rex, Chair

Professor Emeritus | Winthrop University 

Our History and Vision

The Fairfield School District in Winnsboro, S.C. established its first Education Foundation in 2018.  Because our state and nation are currently faced with a serious teacher shortage, especially in rural districts, our Foundation's first priority is to build the state’s first residential village for Educators. Driving to rural counties every day is a real detriment to recruiting and retaining teachers, and we believe providing safe, attractive housing options will give Fairfield a real advantage in attracting outstanding teachers to join with us in providing an excellent education for our children.

 

Our second goal for this year is to raise funds for student scholarships, faculty research, and special educational opportunities. The Foundation intends to work towards establishing an endowment, which will allow the Foundation to use a portion of the earned investment income from the corpus each year and allow this endowment to grow each year in perpetuity.  Our Foundation is currently working hard to submit grants locally and nationally and to inform businesses and individual donors as to how they can help make a difference for our Fairfield School District.

Meet Our Board Members

Darryl Huger

 

Vice Chair/Board Member

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Senior Communications Specialist

Dominion Energy of SC

Larry Johnson Jr.

 

Treasurer/Board Member

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Senior Accountant,

LTC Management Solutions

Dr. J.R. Green

 

Ex Officio Member

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Former Superintendent,
Fairfield County Schools District

William Frick, Esq.

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Board Member

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Sixth Circuit Deputy Public Defender

2019 S.C. Public Defender of the Year

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Verlanda Middleton

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Board Member

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2024-24 Fairfield County Schools
District Teacher of the Year

Fairfield Elementary School 

Dr. Shirley Davis Seibles

 

Board Member

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Retired Fairfield County 9-1-1

Ordained Elder, Zion Hopewell Full Gospel Family Worship Center

Gilbert, S.C

Clem Wood

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Secretary/Board Member

 

Admissions Director,
Pruitt Health

Lisa Brandenburg

 

Asst. Treasurer/Board Member

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(Retired) Coordinator of Intervention Services for Fairfield County Schools District

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Dr. Tony Hemingway

Ex Officio Member

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Current Superintendent,
Fairfield County Schools District

Saundra Ross Johnson

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Board Member

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Senior Advisor to Governor of Delaware

Former Cabinet Secretary for Housing & Human Resources

Winnsboro Native

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Kyreem Oakes

 

Board Member

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2023-24 Fairfield County Schools
District Teacher of the Year
Mathematics Teacher

Fairfield Elementary School 

Veronica Thomas

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Board Member

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2021-22 Fairfield County Schools

District Teacher of the Year

STEAM Early College Academy/

Dual Enrollment Programs Coordinator

Fairfield Central High School

Fairfield County Adult Education Coordinator

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Brian Winland

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Board Member

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TruVistaDirector - Market Development, South Carolina

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