Richland Two Board elects new officers
July 1, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – At the Tuesday, June 23, 2015 board meeting, the Richland School District Two Board of Trustees elected new officers to lead the board from July 2015 to June 2016. Board members elected James Manning to serve as their new chair, Susan Brill to serve as vice chair and Amelia B. McKie to serve as secretary.
James Manning was elected to the board in November 2010 and re-elected in 2014. He served as vice chair prior to being elected chair. Recognized by The State in 2012 as one of the Midland’s “Top 20 Under 40”, Manning has served as chair of the advisory board at the Richland Two Charter High School, as president of the Decker Boulevard Business Coalition, and member of the Spring Valley Rotary. He currently serves as the president of the Brookfield Neighborhood Association.
Susan Brill was elected to the board in June 2006 and re-elected in 2008 and 2012. This is her third time serving as vice chair of the board, and she has also served as secretary. Before being elected to the board, Brill served on Richland County Council from 1997–2004. Brill has served on the Spring Valley High School Education Foundation since 1987 and previously chaired the Historic Columbia Foundation. She also served on the Richland Two Education Foundation, the state board for Communities in Schools and the board of the S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Amelia B. McKie’s first term on the Richland School District Two Board of Trustees began in November 2014. A long-time public education supporter, McKie serves as vice chair of the S.C. School Improvement Council board and has served on numerous school support organizations. She is an S.C. Education Policy Fellow, a graduate of Leadership SC, and a member of the Spring 2015 class of participants in the Riley Institute at Furman’s Diversity Leaders Initiative.
Prior to the board officer elections, Richland Two Superintendent Debbie Hamm recognized outgoing chair, Calvin “Chip” Jackson, for his service the past 18 months. In November 2014, the board voted to move board officer elections to June to create continuity in board leadership during the critical budget process.
In thanking Jackson, Hamm said, “Mr. Jackson, in his typical leadership style, promoted collaboration among board members and kept the focus on issues directly related to success of our students.”
Jackson was elected to the Richland School District Two Board of Trustees in 2008
and re-elected in 2012. He has served as both chair and vice chair twice. Jackson has completed all six levels of the South Carolina School Board Association Boardmanship Institute. During his 30-year career as an educator and leader, Jackson was deputy superintendent for two state superintendents of education from 1996 until 2005.
