At the Feb. 20, 2024 board meeting, the Lexington County School District One Board of Trustees approved the hiring of Francina Gerald as principal of Pelion Elementary School, effective July 1, 2024. Gerald currently serves as principal of Sand Hill Elementary School in Dorchester School District Two. 

An experienced educator of almost 30 years, Gerald is a veteran school administrator, serving for five years at Hunter-Kinard-Tyler Elementary School in Orangeburg School District Four before she joined Sand Hill Elementary School in Dorchester School District Two, where she has served for five years. 

Gerald says, “A significant part of my principal job has been recognizing leadership skills in others to assist in building strong professional learning communities that positively impact student achievement.”

Her 15 years as a school administrator also includes time working as an administrative assistant and five years as an assistant principal. Gerald believes her 11 years of teaching at the middle and elementary school levels helped to mold her into a skilled and knowledgeable educator. She also spent time as the Priority Schools Program Manager in the Office of School Transformation at the South Carolina Department of Education. 

Gerald earned a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education and a Master of Education in special education from Clemson University and completed the Educational Leadership Program at the University of South Carolina. She holds elementary principal, elementary supervisor, special education (emotional disabilities), middle level language arts and elementary education certifications, as well as gifted and talented and Read 2 Succeed endorsements. Gerald is also an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Master Trainer.

Her professional affiliations include memberships in the Association for Supervision, Curriculum, and Development, South Carolina Alliance of Black School Educators, South Carolina Association of School Administrators, the South Carolina Education Association and National Education Association.