CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The Lowcountry community got its first look at the first of three finalists for the Charleston County School District (CCSD) superintendent position.

CCSD held a meet and greet at Burke High School, and the school board encouraged community members to come hear from superintendent candidate Dr. Eric Gallien

Dr. Gallien’s meet and greet began with a warm welcome from the Burke High School band before he began mingling with school district officials and community members.

“We discussed things that if he is the right candidate,” Charleston community member Arthur Lawrence said, “and what he plans on doing in the first 100 days to make sure that they have community engagement.”

Charleston County School Board Chair Pam McKinney says prior to Thursday’s meet and greet, Gallien had the opportunity to learn more about the state’s second-largest school district.

“Early this morning,” McKinney said, “Dr. Gallien met with the Board. Then, he was able to tour three schools; we selected a middle school, an elementary school and a high school. After that, at four o’clock we had a focus group.”

That focus group was comprised on parents, teachers, principals, faith leaders and community leaders. Donnimechia Singleton was among those who participated.

“He seems as if he’s understanding,” Singleton said. “I did like most of his responses to questions dealing with the community, and the people as a whole.”

“You have different people pulling against each other,” Lawrence said, “and it’s not a specific plan to move these kids forward.”

And they’re hopeful the successful candidate will bring much-needed change.

“We got two more to go,” Singleton said. “I’ll be here for the other two candidates as well. Just to see who we are about to get to run our school district.”

The two other candidates will have meet and greets next Tuesday, May 30^th and Wednesday, May 31^st.