Dist. 5 Superintendent Expected to Retire

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Anderson School Dist. 5 Superintendent Tom Wilson, who has led the county’s largest district for the past 10 years, is expected to officially announce his retirement on Wednesday.

Wilson, who took the position in 2013, and the School Dist. 5 board are expected to announced his replacement soon.

During his tenure, Wilson championed the penny sales tax which allowed for major capital projects and improvements, including the Anderson Institute of Technology, which serves as the career center for districts, three, four and five.

During the pandemic, Wilson founded a virtual academy and also was a leader in encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations, offering bonuses to staff, faculty and students who chose to get the shot.

In 2020, he received the Order of the Palmetto, and was appointed by Governor Henry McMaster to serve on the Education Commission of the States (ECS). 

He also expanded athletic opportunities and facilities during his decade of leadership. His retirement comes at the completion of the new 62-acre facility at the Anderson Area YMCA Ducworth/Tucker Athletic Complex, which includes not only new fields for sports, but a state-of-the-art cross country facility aimed at attracting regional meets for high schools and colleges/universities.

Wilson grew up in Anderson on Boulevard Heights and attended North Anderson Elementary School, McCants Junior Hight, and is 1973 graduate of T.L. Hanna High School. Wilson also played football at Hanna, and later at Presbyterian College where his love for education grew. In the years that followed he spent 10 years as a classroom teachers followed by a decade of service as an assistant principal and principal in Georgia public schools and then an additional 10 years as superintendent of a pair of school districts in Georgia.

Greg Wilson