SALISBURY — Rowan-Salisbury School Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Greggory “Gregg” Slate will finish out the month before transferring to Davidson County Schools, where his tenure as superintendent will begin.

Slate will officially begin on Feb. 1.

A release from Davidson County Schools described the selection process as “meticulous,” including applications from a “diverse pool of 19 highly qualified candidates” from nine states.

The DCS board credited Slate’s experience, exemplary leadership and unwavering dedication to students and staff as grounds for his selection.

“The board is confident that Dr. Slate’s vision and expertise will propel DCS to new heights of academic achievement and success,” the release said.

Slate’s career in education saw him rise from teaching high school history and social studies to holding district-wide administrative positions.

“I started teaching in Lexington Senior High school back in ’99-2000,” Slate said in an interview with the Post. “In 2006, I was Lexington secondary teacher of the year, my last year there.”

Following his stint in Lexington, Slate held multiple positions for Guilford County Schools. Those positions included executive director of student services, district safety and emergency management, principal, assistant principal, instructional coach and curriculum intervention specialist.

Slate left GCS in 2015 to become executive director of secondary schools, administration and athletics for Rockingham County Schools.

Slate indicated that he was proud of the work he had done in low-performing schools throughout his various career stops.

“We did a lot of great work (in GCS), improving scholarships, graduation rates and college acceptance,” Slate said. “We (also) closed the graduation gap. Our white students and black students were graduating at the same clip. We did a lot of good things.”

Slate is also proud of the work he did creating a crisis emergency plan that proved beneficial during a string of tornadoes a few years ago.

When he came to RSS, Slate initially served as the chief schools officer.

“After the pandemic, I came to Rowan in the spring of 2022 as chief schools officer. I served in that capacity until Withers came. She did a reorganization, and I became the chief administrative officer of the district.”

While with RSS, Slate has supervised components such as technology, student assignments, family and community engagement, family wellness accountability, district safety, alternative learning and due process, Title IX and multi-tiered systems of support.