WCPS names new superintendent

GOLDSBORO — The Wayne County Board of Education unanimously approved the selection of Dr. Marcus (Marc) A. Whichard as the district’s new superintendent May 15. He was elected to a four-year term under a contract beginning July 1.

“We are very excited to welcome Dr. Whichard and his family to Wayne County,” said Wayne County Board of Education Chairman Wade Leatham. “Wayne County Public Schools is getting an experienced, sitting superintendent in North Carolina with a strong track record from his previous positions. He comes with enthusiastic recommendations from an array of outstanding education leaders in North Carolina. We are looking forward to his leadership and benefiting from his wide range of experiences in North Carolina Public Schools.”

Whichard was born and raised in Pitt County. He began his educational career as a history and English teacher at Tarboro High School in Edgecombe County following his graduation from East Carolina University. He has worked in all grade levels of educational leadership from elementary to high school to the central office.

As a principal, he led “turnaround” school projects at both a middle school and high school before becoming assistant superintendent of human resources for Edgecombe County Schools. He also has the unique distinction of having served as an elected member, vice chairman and chairman of the Pitt County Board of Education while working as a school administrator in Edgecombe County.

Whichard taught for six years at Tarboro High School before becoming assistant principal/interim principal at Sam D. Bundy Elementary School in Pitt County. He then moved back to Edgecombe County Schools as assistant principal at Southwest Edgecombe High School before being named principal at C.B. Martin Middle School in Edgecombe County.

That low-performing school exceeded growth for each of the two years he served as principal. He was then promoted to principal at Southwest Edgecombe High School, where that school exceeded growth for each of his four years there. He was selected as the Edgecombe County Public Schools Principal of the Year three times. He served as assistant superintendent of human resources with Edgecombe County Schools from 2015 to 2019, then became superintendent of the Whiteville City Schools in 2019, where he currently serves. Under his tenure, Whiteville City Schools ranked number one in the region on the 2022 Teacher Working Conditions Survey.

Dr. Whichard earned his Masters of School Administration and Doctor of Education degrees from East Carolina University in 2005 and 2017, respectively. He brings a total of 24 years of experience in public education to Wayne County Public Schools.

Whichard serves as a board member for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Whiteville, among other public leadership activities. He is married to Courtney Whichard, a licensed speech pathologist, and they have two sons who attend the public schools.

“I am honored and very excited to have been selected by the board as the next Superintendent of the Wayne County Public Schools,” Whichard said. “This is a school system and community with proud accomplishments and great promise, along with the need for growth and improvement. I look forward to becoming an active participant in the community and I pledge my complete efforts towards making the Wayne County Public Schools among the finest in America.”

— From the Wayne County Public Schools website