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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools area superintendent Joel Ritchie said Wednesday that he is not a candidate to head the Chester County School District in South Carolina.
"I have withdrawn my name from consideration," said Ritchie, head of CMS' Central Learning Community, which oversees about 40 schools in the central part of Mecklenburg County.
Ritchie had been among three finalists selected by the Chester County School Board to become superintendent. The two other finalists -- Harriet Jaworowski, an associate superintendent with the Rock Hill Schools, and Thomas Graves, an assistant superintendent in Washington County, Va. -- also have withdrawn.
That apparently would leave Ron Wright, assistant superintendent of the Clover Schools, as the lone candidate to take over the Chester County district.
Wright also is a finalist for the vacant superintendent's position in Union County, S.C.
"I enjoyed my opportunity to be in Chester County and meet with the people there," said Ritchie, former principal at Butler High School in Matthews. "They have a lot of fine people working in the schools, and I wish them the best. But at this point, I don't think this is the direction I would want to go."
The Chester School Board had announced Tuesday that Jaworowski and Graves had withdrawn their names but did not announce Ritchie's withdrawal.
Wright is scheduled to meet with the public at a "drop-in" meeting at 4:30 p.m. today at the Chester County Memorial Building, 154 Main Street, in Chester.
The school board will interview Wright after the public session this evening and plans to select a superintendent Thursday.
The Chester County Schools have been without a fulltime superintendent since Larry Heath's retirement last June. Phil McDaniel, a retired superintendent, has headed the Chester system on an interim basis since then.
