Chase Porter Creative
Char Fitzwater, Ph.D., this week registered as a District 1 candidate for the Charleston County School District Board of Trustees. An advocate for public education, Fitzwater says her campaign will emphasize strengthening board governance and leadership.
“I believe shared governance, community engagement, transparency and financial oversight are key responsibilities of the school board,” Fitzwater said. “I object to hidden agendas that plague our district board and want to see collaborative, positive governance supporting our students and educators.”
Fitzwater brings experience in both education and business. After a brief tenure as a special education teacher, she spent 22 years in business and consulting, including finance and strategy leadership roles at a Fortune 150 company and serving as chief financial officer and chief information officer of a regional insurance company. She later taught business, strategy and finance for 20 years at Immaculata University, where she served as business department chair for a decade and retired as professor emerita.
Fitzwater has been actively engaged with the current CCSD board. Until stepping down in January, she served as co-chair of the Education Governance Committee of the Charleston Area Justice Ministry.
While CCSD has made recent progress, Fitzwater said there is room for improvement. The district ranks highly in South Carolina, but the state ranks 41st nationally in K-12 education.
“We have a long way to go,” Fitzwater said. “I am committed to improving outcomes for all students across CCSD — by supporting the district’s proactive efforts and deepening community engagement.”