Jerry Oates is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer for the Sumter County school system in South Carolina. Here is a look at his resume:
Chief Human Resources Officer, Sumter County, South Carolina School System, June 2024 to present.
Deputy State Superintendent, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Raleigh, North Carolina, Feb. 2023 to Feb. 2023
Brunswick County Schools, North Carolina, Superintendent, 4 years, Nov. 2018 to Feb. 2023.
Brunswick County Schools, North Carolina, Associate Superintendent, 1 year, Nov. 2017, to Nov. 2018.
Brunswick County Schools, North Carolina, Executive Director of Human Resources, June 2015 to Nov. 2017.
No employment history from the time of his graduation in 2011 to 2015.
Of the three candidates for the Chesterfield County School Superintendent position, Jerry Oates’s qualifications are a real mystery. A look at his resume shows gaps in employment and a very strange history. He lists no employment for four years after he obtained his doctoral degree.
He then spent around eight years employed by the Brunswick County School System in North Carolina. The school system’s performance during his tenure was below the state average, and non-proficiency was 40% or greater in many categories.
Now, the most significant question mark comes into play in 2023. After resigning as a school superintendent, he will be employed by the North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction for ONE MONTH! What the heck happened? Did the State of North Carolina discover something about Oates that everyone else had missed? This is one Red Herring here.
After being unemployed, at least as presented on his resume on LinkedIn.com, for over a year, he backtracks in his career to become the Human Resource Officer for the Sumter County, South Carolina, School System. With less than a year in his current position, he wants to become our county’s school superintendent.
Talk about a dubious career. Can Chesterfield County take a chance with this man? His record, when he was a superintendent, is nothing to write home about, but when he obtains what should be a prestigious position, he only holds it for ONE MONTH. He goes from being the second in command of a state school system to being unemployed for a year, followed by taking a dead-end position as what used to be called the employment manager. In other words, this man has been going backwards in record time.
It is a colossal mistake to even consider Oates for the position of Chesterfield County School System Superintendent. If our school board is serious about hiring a superintendent who can reverse our graduates’ dismal achievement levels, Oates’ resume deserves to be placed in the circular file.