District 56 extends contract for O’Shields

Laurens County District 56 Superintendent David O’Shields will impart the lessons he has learned from a career in education and from a father who labored in local textiles to District 56.

O’Shields received a contract extension with a 2-percent salary increase through 2021 during Monday night’s District 56 Board of Trustees meeting at Joanna-Woodson Elementary School. His prior contract ran through 2020.

“This is a reflection of what’s being done here, and what we’re doing together,” O’Shields said. “We all work together for the students, and I work with people. My dad was a supervisor in the mill, and he always told me that they you don’t have people work for you, they work with you, and I’ve always felt that way.”

O’Shields, a 1976 Clinton High graduate, took the job as interim superintendent on Oct. 1, 2009 and was named superintendent in 2011. Before rising to the district’s top post, O’Shields was a teacher, assistant principal and principal in District 56, including posts at Clinton Elementary, Bell Street Middle School and Clinton High.

O’Shields said the district will continue to focus improving education for all of its students.

“We’re going to continue to focus on the things we’re looking to improve whether it’s test scores, involvement, engagement or extra-curricular activities,” he said. “We’re going to continue to learn how we can do things better and how we can do the things that have been working well for us even better.”

O’Shields said he was happy with the extension, adding that he and members of the board have worked well together over the past decade.

“We have a very, very good board,” he said. “They work form the benefit of the students and the community. They and I work well together. We don’t always agree on everything, but we always come out agreeing on the same thing.”