COLUMBIA — Richland One Superintendent Craig Witherspoon is set to resign on June 30 after a decade of leading the Columbia school district.

The district's board on Nov. 12 unanimously approved a mutual separation agreement. The surprise development comes a week after school board elections resulted in a not-yet-seated board expected to be critical of his administration.

"I appreciate the ability to serve," Witherspoon said. "We have done some amazing things in this district."

Witherspoon was hired as superintendent in February 2015. His separation agreement will include six months of health coverage and a year's salary, which was raised to $258,121 last December .

He did not explain why he decided to step down, but said he had been considering his future since before the election.

Several board members praised Witherspoon for his years of leadership, describing him as an advocate for students who helped introduce new programs.

"I want to thank you publicly for being one of the most innovative leaders that this district has ever had," board member Cheryl Harris said.

Controversy has surrounded Witherspoon's administration since he was hired after serving as a superintendent in Birmingham, Ala., but it reached new heights during the past two years.

The S.C. Department of Education placed the district under scrutiny in December 2022 after an audit discovered now-fixed problems with its purchase card system. The next year, controversial mid-year teacher reassignments brought some students and parents into Columbia streets to protest against a backdrop of teacher hiring struggles, though district leaders said the reassignments were necessary for balancing staff across schools.

And this year, a July state inspector general investigation reported financial mismanagement and wasted money related to the district's long-controversial $31 million early learning center project, which was halted after the district started construction without a necessary permit. The partly built site has sat unworked since January, but continues to rack up bills.

Those findings have put Richland One's finances under increasing pressure from the state education department. The state rejected the district's plan to address the inspector general's findings in October, and announced that an independent audit team would be helping the district develop a new plan.

That rejection prompted some district leaders to assert a lack of cooperation with the district on the part of state officials.

Amid those controversies, school board races this year pitted members of the board's majority, who supported the now-outgoing superintendent, against challengers who criticized his leadership and pointed to various fiscal issues, staffing problems and academic struggles — though teacher vacancies have reduced amid rising pay.

Voters split the difference, reelecting two incumbents and electing two of the challengers. Those flipped seats were enough that the new board, which will be sworn in on Nov. 15, was expected to have a majority likely to be critical of the administration.

That new board now will be tasked with hiring a new long-term leader for the district's 22,000 students, and potentially appointing an interim superintendent if no one is hired by June 30. Shortly after the Nov. 12 meeting ended, board chair Aaron Bishop told reporters it was too early to comment on that process.

Witherspoon's departure gets the district "moving in the right direction," according to Ericka Hursey, one of the two incoming board members. She said she thought the change would give staff some "hope" and help the district retain more employees.

The first step in hiring a new superintendent is to find a search firm, Hursey said.

According to the terms of Witherspoon's separation agreement, he can leave the district early with 30 days of notice, and the board can ask him to leave with 60 days of notice. His current contract expires in June 2026.

Reach Ian Grenier at 803-968-1951. Follow him on X @IanGrenier1.