Rock Hill Schools hires new South Pointe High School principal for 2021-22 year

South Pointe High School has named its new leader.

Rock Hill Schools announced Tuesday afternoon that Valarie Williams, an educator and administrator for more than 17 years in North Carolina, will be South Pointe’s principal starting in early September.

She will be the third principal since the Rock Hill school opened in 2005.

Williams, who will be the first woman to serve as principal at South Pointe High, will be transitioning to the Rock Hill Schools team after spending seven years as Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction at Scotland County Schools in N.C., per a release from the district. In that role, she helped the district obtain millions of dollars in funding through grants, in addition to creating multiple new programs and initiatives for district-wide leadership.

Before that, Williams spent several years in various roles in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

Williams will succeed Marty Conner, who was reassigned as the district’s Administrator of Alternative Learning Programs in July. His exit caused quite a stir in the district — one that prompted South Pointe parents and recent alumni, as well as other community members, to speak out at a Rock Hill Schools Board of Trustees meeting in July calling for his reappointment.

The district began the selection process for a new South Pointe principal July 1, The Herald previously reported.

Williams’ hire also comes a day after former Rock Hill Schools superintendent Bill Cook unexpectedly resigned from his post after three years with the district.

Marek Marshall will continue to serve as interim principal until Williams takes over.

The hire of Williams is one of three administrative changes Rock Hill Schools announced on Tuesday: Maurice Murphy will be the district’s new Executive Director of Facilities Services, and Michael Cox will be the district’s Director of Facilities.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 5:07 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.