ANDERSON COUNTY — Lee D’Andrea, superintendent of the School District of Pickens County, will be the new superintendent of Pendleton-based Anderson School District 4.

D’Andrea, a former District 4 assistant superintendent, officially will take over in her new position on July 1, 2009, according to a District 4 news release. Until that time she will serve as superintendent-elect for District 4, and Interim Superintendent Maurice Lopez will continue to assume responsibility for the daily operations of the district, according to the release.District 4 trustees voted unanimously at a meeting Thursday to employ D’Andrea as superintendent for a term of three years at an annual salary of $130,000.

During a called meeting Thursday, School District of Pickens County trustees voted to release D’Andrea from her contract with that district.

D’Andrea’s knowledge of District 4 made her “a perfect fit” to help move the district forward, said Tom Dobbins, District 4 Board of Trustees chairman.

“All we need to focus on now (in District 4) is academics, and she is a very strong academic leader,” Dobbins said.

According to a news release, D’Andrea said, “Serving as the superintendent in the School District of Pickens County has been a fantastic opportunity. We have accomplished so much in the last two and a half years. Obviously, the facilities improvement program is monumental and historical in its entirety. Although safety and security issues were the predominate factors in making the decision to move forward quickly during my first year, we have also done an outstanding job of evaluating where we were and where we wanted to go. In planning four new high schools, we have researched and designed curriculum on a scale unavailable to most districts.

“It is very difficult to leave before the ribbon cuttings, but the people working on the implementation of our extensive planning are capable, dedicated professionals. The schools are truly schools of the future, not simply replicas of our present schools. The taxpayers and the students of Pickens County are the benefactors.”

D’Andrea has 19 years of experience in public education in South Carolina. She has served as a teacher, a building administrator and coordinator in Anderson School District 5, which is based in the city of Anderson, according to the news release.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in education form the University of Georgia, a master’s degree in elementary education from Clemson University and a doctorate in education leadership from Clemson, according to the release.

The District 4 board began a search for a superintendent after Gary Burgess retired from that position as of August.

Other finalists for the District 4 job were: Jeffrey Wilson, assistant superintendent for instruction in Anderson District 5; Randall Wall, academic improvement officer for the Beaufort High School Cluster in the Beaufort County School District; and Joanne Avery, deputy superintendent of District 4.

During the search process, District 4 trustees received letters of interest and resumes from 52 applicants from around the nation, according to the District 4 news release.

Oscar Thorsland, who serves on the School District of Pickens County Board of Trustees, said D’Andrea’s decision to move to Anderson County School District 4 was a surprise to him when the trustees met Thursday.

Thorsland said the board had recently extended D’Andrea’s contract for two more years.

“It has been a kind of a major surprise to me,” Thorsland said. “The dust hasn’t even settled yet.”

D’Andrea has been a “progressive” superintendent, he said, who has been trying to improve the learning environment in the district’s schools.

D’Andrea’s move, because it will not happen until 2009, will not effect the district’s building projects, Thorsland said.

“Everything is on schedule,” Thorsland said. “There is not any one person who determines the success of the ongoing building program. Besides, it’s not like we are going to be without a superintendent.”

Now comes the next step in the process of finding a new leader for Pickens County public schools.

Thorsland said the Pickens board will meet at their regularly scheduled time on Monday at 6:30 p.m.

First, the board members will gather for a closed session. The public portion of the meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Then there will be some discussion on how to proceed with a search for a new superintendent.

“I am sure our chairman, B.J. Skelton, will be setting up a search committee,” Thorsland said.

He said the trustees do not have any candidates in mind at this point.