From bus driver to student information system coordinator, Beth Broadway retires after 50 years in UCPS

Long before student data lived in digital systems and decades before Infinite Campus became the district’s student information system, Beth Broadway was already part of Union County Public Schools.

Now, after more than 47 years of official service and a connection spanning over five decades, Broadway is preparing to retire June 30 as the district’s student information systems (SIS) coordinator.

Her UCPS story began as a student, when she drove a school bus during her junior and senior years of high school.

“I got paid to go to school,” she said with a laugh. “And I knew everyone on my route. The kids were my friends from the neighborhood.”

After graduating from Piedmont High School, Broadway planned to attend college but instead took a front office position at Piedmont Middle School, an unexpected step that became the start of her lifelong career in public education.

“I just happened to fall into it,” she said. “And then I stayed.”

Early mentors Gwyn Griffin and Cookie Jacumin helped shape those early years, guiding her through office work as district operations shifted from paper records and typewriters into digital systems.

“They took me under their wing and taught me,” Broadway said.

She eventually moved into student information systems work and joined the technology department in 2003. There, she supported data managers across the district through multiple generations of student information systems, from early platforms like SIM, NC WISE and PowerSchool to Infinite Campus.

Over time, she said the work became less about the systems themselves and more about the people using them.

“We’re like a family,” she said. “We take care of each other.”

That culture, colleagues say, is one she helped build.

Cassaundra Price, administrative assistant to the chief technology officer, has worked alongside Broadway for more than two decades and described her as one of the most dependable and compassionate colleagues she has known.

“She is one of the most helpful people I’ve worked with,” Price said. “She is eager to do things the right way and is very caring of the people she oversees—not only professionally, but personally as well.”

Price said that influence shows up in everyday interactions.

“It’s very apparent in how she treats others,” she said. “It’s who she is.”

Leah Croom, also a student information systems coordinator, first met Broadway when she was a student at Piedmont Middle School.

“I always tell my kids to be nice to everybody because you never know who you’re going to be interviewing with one day,” Croom said.

Years later, the two now work alongside each other.

“She knows the job, policies and procedures, and how to help people,” Croom said. “She is just a very caring person.”

Croom remembered the quieter ways Broadway built connection among staff, often through food shared during meetings.

“She would bake for us—cookies, fudge, chocolate bread,” Croom said. “It made those meetings feel welcoming.”

She coordinated a hospitality fund used to support colleagues during illness or loss.

“That’s the kind of culture she helped create,” Croom said.

Broadway said that sense of connection has defined her career more than any role or system.

That support became especially meaningful during her recent health challenges, including a battle with breast cancer and multiple knee surgeries.

“They checked on me, emailed me, texted me, called me, sent cards,” she said. “They took care of me.”

For Broadway, those moments stand among the most meaningful of her career.

“What’s kept me here is the people,” she said. “The data managers, getting to know them, helping them the best I can.”

Over the decades, she has watched entire generations move through UCPS.

“It gives me a larger family,” she said. “It’s like watching my own nieces and nephews grow up and succeed.”

Asked what she is most proud of, Broadway pointed not to systems or titles but to relationships.

“To me, it’s the friendship among all the data managers,” she said. “Having that unity and being able to work together.”

As she prepares for retirement, Broadway plans to focus first on recovery and rest after recent medical procedures. Beyond that, she is looking forward to visiting friends and seeing what comes next.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do,” she said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Still, she leaves UCPS with a steady sense of gratitude shaped by decades of service.

“It’s been a job,” she said. “But it’s the people that made it special. They weren’t just a job—this wasn’t just work. It was a family.”

After more than 50 years connected to UCPS, Broadway’s legacy is reflected in the people she supported and the connections she built along the way.

“This is not an ending,” she said. “It’s a new beginning.”