COLUMBIA, South Carolina -- Dayton Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Percy Mack has accepted the job of Superintendent at Richland One Schools in Columbia, S.C.

He will begin his new duties on July 1.

The Richland One School Board made the announcement on Friday morning, saying that Mack was unanimously approved as their new superintendent.

The announcement comes after an extensive search that was conducted for the district by BWP and Associates, which is a search firm in Libertyville, Ill.

During the search, the school board received 59 completed applications and the full board conducted interviews with six candidates before naming three finalists.

The school board said that while all three candidates were personally and professionally impressive, after careful deliberation, the board felt that Mack was best suited to lead the district.

Mack has been the superintendent of Dayton Public Schools since 2002. His many accomplishments as superintendent in Dayton include moving the district from academic emergency status to continuous improvement status in just four years.

In the interim, between now and July 1, 2008, Mack will designated as Richland One’s superintendent-elect and will perform those duties mutually agreed upon by the board and Mack.

The announcement is conditioned upon the mutual agreement to the terms of a written employment contract.

News Center 7 has calls into Dayton Public Schools for their reaction. At this time, the calls have not been returned.