DR. TAYLOR After one year of retirement, Dr. Ed Taylor is looking forward to leading the Cherokee County School District in his new role as interim superintendent.

Taylor plans to spend part of Wednesday and Thursday meeting with district and school staff in Cherokee County schools. The longtime Laurens superintendent on Monday was named interim superintendent by the Cherokee County School Board and is expected to start the full-time position next week.

While an employment agreement has not been signed, school board chairman Donnie Lee school board chairman Donnie Lee Smith said district attorneys have negotiated a proposed salary of $11,500 per month for Taylor’s services. He will work on a month-tomonth, full-time basis until the school district hires a new permanent superintendent. The school board will consider approving Taylor’s employment contract at its Sept. 13 meeting.

Taylor said he is excited about the opportunity to work in the Cherokee County School District. He was superintendent for Laurens School District No. 55 from 1994 until his retirement in 2009.

“I loved being superintendent. It was very enjoyable and a challenge,” Taylor said Tuesday. “After I retired last year, I got to step away and do some things I always wanted to do. I am looking forward to getting into the Cherokee County schools and helping move things to a higher level.”

Taylor was one of three retired superintendents interviewed by school board members Monday evening during a 3-hour executive session. He was interviewed along with retired superintendents Dr. Walter Tobin and Dr. Phil McDaniel.

Taylor has 38 years of education experience. His resume includes eight years as principal at Chesterfield High School, four years as director of secondary instruction in Darlington County School District and two years as superintendent in Clarendon County District 3.

While at Laurens, Taylor was named the Outstanding Superintendent of the Year in 2000 by the South Carolina School Boards Association. He and his wife, Loren, have three grown children and three grandchildren.

Taylor said he plans to live in Cherokee County while serving as interim superintendent.

The board voted 6-3 to hire Taylor at Monday’s meeting. He replaces Kim Bagwell, who was reassigned last week by the school board to become personnel director. Bagwell had been the interim superintendent since the March retirement of superintendent Dr. Bill James.

“The hiring of Dr. Taylor and the resulting reassign- ment of Ms. Bagwell is a change in leadership with which not all Board members or members of this community agree. However, the sole mission of this Board is to provide the children of our community with a quality education,” Smith said in a press release late Tuesday afternoon. “In that regard, I can assure our community and our public that this Board will seek the most qualified and capable person to be our permanent Superintendent. In the meantime, I believe that the hiring of Dr. Taylor will both bring stability to this District, and also serve to refocus this Board and our community on the business of educating children, rather than on perpetuating rumors and accusations.”

Billy Blackwell, Robin Duncan Harper and Cheryll Smith voted against Taylor’s hiring and chose not to participate in interviewing the interim superintendent candidates. Harper and Smith were the only board members to support Blackwell’s motions to conduct the interim superintendent interviews in open session and add public comments to the agenda.

“The public is here, and they deserve to have some say on what’s going on here,” Blackwell said.

Before the executive session, Harper said she objected to the school board’s decision to interview interim superintendents without discussing the qualifications for the position.

“Taxpayers will have to foot the bill for a new contract with a new interim when we already have one under contract,” Harper said. “Ms. Bagwell has performed her duties and for no reason certain members of this board have decided to remove her for political vendettas and being a whistle blower of mismanagement as it appears over $3 million has surfaced that was not originally shown in the budget. This appears to be a way to undermine Ms. Bagwell and her accomplishments in this county and the Cherokee County School System.”

Bagwell will continue to receive her director’s salary in the district office as well as the $25,000 originally negotiated with the school board to serve as interim superintendent for the 2010-2011 school year.

“While $25,000 is certainly a significant amount of money, I believe that it will prove to be money well spent to both place Ms. Bagwell in a position where all her talents and expertise are evident, while also getting the benefit of the knowledge and experience of a retired superintendent with more than 35 years in education, including 15 years as superintendent in a school district that is similar in a number of ways to the Cherokee County School District,” Smith said.