By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Frank Rodriguez received a big honor on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Rodriguez was named the 2025 South Carolina Superintendent of the Year by the S.C. Association of School Administrators (SCASA).
“Dr. Rodriguez is so deserving of this honor. I have seen firsthand what a hardworking, personable and excellent leader he is,” Beaufort County Board of Education Chair Christina Gwozdz said. “His ability to connect with the community and district employees is amazing. And no matter what, he always strives to ensure our students are challenged scholastically so they can meet success in their academic careers and life. It’s been an honor to work with him in my role as Board Chair as we moved very important initiatives forward that benefit our entire county, such as two overwhelmingly successful referendums and increasing our teacher pay to top in the state.”
Rodriguez told The Island News, on Monday, May 6, that he is deeply honored to receive the award, but the success of Beaufort County Schools is a team effort involving all the teachers and faculty who work for the district.
“It was very exciting, and it’s quite an honor to have been selected,” Rodriguez said. “I have a great team – I’m blessed with a great team – so the nice thing about this is that it reflects the work of our whole team here in Beaufort County. We are blessed to serve our 21,500 students and blessed to have a wonderful community to serve.”
According to the release from SCASA, Rodriguez received the honor in big part for the impact he has made in Beaufort County with his “innovative community engagement programs” that were designed to help students struggling with pandemic learning loss.
Thanks to these initiatives, ELA scores are at their highest ever, even surpassing pre-pandemic levels, per the release from Beaufort County School District (BCSD).
He has also gained trust in the community by insisting on a Citizen-Led Oversight Committee to monitor bond spending, which contributed to approval of the districts largest bond referendum in November 2023.
“In addition to his impactful initiatives around retaining top talent, mitigating pandemic learning loss and securing record-breaking bond funding, Dr. Rodriguez has made remarkable strides in enhancing communication and stakeholder engagement,” SCASA Executive Director Elizabeth “Beth” A. Phibbs said in the release. “Dr. Rodriguez is well-respected among his colleagues, and we are delighted to honor him as the 2025 South Carolina Superintendent of the Year.”
In addition to receiving the honor, Moseley Architects will provide a scholarship for Rodriguez to use to assist a student or teacher with professional development or college classes.
York District 2 (Clover School District) Superintendent Sheila Quinn was the other finalist for the award.
To be selected, nominated candidates participated in an application and interview process that was conducted by a team of South Carolina business, education and community leaders, according to the release from SCASA.
SCASA is a professional organization for school leaders in South Carolina and touts a membership of more than 5,400. Its focus is to support school leaders in providing the best educational opportunities for the South Carolina youth.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
