The Lexington County School District Three Board of Trustees approved Todd A. Bedenbaugh as the new Chief Operations Officer during its monthly meeting that was held on February 14, 2023. Mr. Bedenbaugh joined Lexington Three in June 2022 from Lexington-Richland School District Five where he served as the Executive Director of Operations. Most recently, he oversaw Lexington Three’s Child Nutrition and School Security department as the director.
Mr. Bedenbaugh earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degree from the University of South Carolina in 1988 and 1996, respectively. He started his career in education with the Charleston County School District in 2000, serving as the Director of Nutrition and Food Services. In 2005, he took a job with the South Carolina Department of Education where he oversaw school child nutrition, healthy schools, school nursing and medicaid auditing programs across the Palmetto state as the Director of Health and Nutrition. Mr. Bedenbaugh made the move to Lexington-Richland School District Five in 2013 to serve as the Executive Director of Operations. In this role, he supervised the district’s Transportation, Technology, Facilities, Maintenance, Capital Maintenance Projects and Student Nutrition departments. He was also in charge of new construction projects and custodial services for Lex-Rich Five.
Throughout his career, Mr. Bedenbaugh has been the recipient of numerous prestigious honors including the Southeast Child Nutrition Director of the Year Award in 2018, the SC State Director of the Year Award in 2018, and the Superintendent’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Vision in 2018. He was also named to the School Nutrition Hall of Fame in 2021, has served as the President of the School Nutrition Association (2006 and 2016) and received the USDA Best Practice Award in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Mr. Bedenbaugh, who is a graduate of Lexington Three’s Batesburg-Leesville High School, will officially begin his duties as Chief Operations Officer in the district in July 2023.