The election for the Lexington County Two School Board was last Tuesday. For the first time since the year 2000, Bill Bingham was not on the ballot. He has no regrets.

“I was able to do what I set out to do,” said Bingham. “We improved the image of the district.”  He said he feels he has completed his community service, and it’s time to pass the baton onto someone else.

Bingham said the focus of the last 20 years while he was on the board was to address facilities and the district’s finances. In 2014, Lexington Two voters approved a $225 million bond referendum. Since, Cayce and Riverbank Elementary Schools have been constructed. The district has a new Innovation Center for career-minded students and several other schools have been renovated.

Plans are also being made for a fine arts center. Bingham said the district needs a large auditorium for drama performance, chorus presentations and other large-audience events, including staff development conferences.
“We don’t have a place like that to meet,” he said.

Bingham said with so many new and improved facilities in the district the image has changed.

“Perception becomes reality,” he said. and now Lexington Two, with all the new construction, has great curb appeal and that makes people want to move to it. “People like to see new school buildings. That affects their perception about the quality of education.”

Bingham also said the district is much more fiscally sound than it was before. And the mechanism is in place for a strong financial structure for the next decade, and beyond.

With his stint on the school board behind him, Bingham said he will have more time to spend with his business and with family.

“I need to focus on my business,” said Bingham.  He is the president of American Engineering Consultants, Inc. in Cayce.

Bingham’s daughter Courtney was Brookland-Cayce High School’s first student to graduate with a degree from Lexington Two’s Early College program. She has a nursing degree already and is at the MUSC Nursing School in Charleston.

Bill’s wife, Dr. Frieda Bingham, is the Math and Science Coordinator for Lexington Two. She is retiring in February.
Bill said he and Freida will now be able to spend more time with their children.
The two have two sons, too. Dr. Trey Bingham practices in West Columbia and Bradley lives in Cayce.

Bingham said the school board required a lot of time. It was a job with no salary.  And he said he is looking forward to moving to the next chapter in his life.