Timmonsville Residents Accuse SC State Superintendent Of Education Of Racketeering And Abuse Of Power

Timmonsville has been in a battle with South Carolina State Superintendent of Education, Molly Spearman since the fall of 2020 over her stated plans to close the town’s only high school. Recent information reveals the initial takeover had to do with the elementary and middle school losing accreditation. Based on information provided that situation was corrected with the understanding the local board would return to power. Before the return of power to the local board the education department detected a second issue, the size of Timmonsville High School and a financial crisis. "I was reminded District Four's financial issues were exacerbated under Spearman's leadership when she hired two superintendents, simultaneously, with a combined annual salary of over $250,000.00. Additionally, she contracted with Florence School District One, under her auspices and leadership, to handle District Four's finances. At the end of that year the audit showed several deficiencies with how Florence One had handled the process for management of Florence Four's Finances. The issue was concerning enough for Spearman to move the management of District Four's finances to the department of education," provides Gary Burgess of Florence County School District Four.

Recent revelations about the methods used by Spearman to maneuver and move forward with her plans with what citizens describe as impunity, has residents decrying that she has gone too far.

Duly elected members of the Florence District 4 School Board, report that Molly Spearman not only told them they no longer had any role in terms of the governance of the school district, but they revealed something in a recent meeting that left many in attendance in shock. According to the accusation levied in the meeting, a representative from Spearman’s office contacted David Alford, who currently serves as the Florence County Election Director, and told him that there was no need to schedule an election for Florence 4 school board members during the 2020 election cycle.

According to Darrell McFadden, who was elected to the Florence 4 School Board in 2019, he became aware that there was something askew when candidates were announced in the local newspaper. “I knew that there were three open seats for the Florence 4 School Board, and when I discovered that our seats weren’t mentioned in the newspaper along with those from other communities, I called Mr. Alford who told me that he was advised that there would not be an election for Florence 4. He stated that was the word he got from Cathy Hazelwood who serves as the Deputy Superintendent, Division for Legal Affairs for the South Carolina Department of Education.”, McFadden said.

McFadden stated that he personally called Hazelwood to find out why the election for the school board in School District 4 was cancelled. “When I called and spoke to Ms. Hazelwood, I was told that our election was being cancelled because the state did not have the money to pay for the election. I was very confused by that response, because our election is local and the state has nothing to do with local elections. Based on this alone, I question whether anything regarding the transition of Florence 4 into Florence 1 is legal.”, McFadden said.

As far as many of the residents in Timmonsville are concerned, they say that Molly Spearman has gone completely rogue. “Whether people realize it or not, Molly Spearman and her minions have lied, schemed, manipulated and bulldozed their way into our town. What Molly is engaged in right now is one of the most outlandish examples of racketeering I have ever seen. Molly has used the powers entrusted to her by the South Carolina General Assembly to bully, intimidate and hold an entire town of people hostage. Somebody has to be held accountable for this.”, Richard “Butch” Hodges said. Mr. Hodges is a former member of the Florence 4 School Board.

Citizens say they are outraged by what they say is an extreme level of arrogance and mafia styled tactics levied at them by Spearman. “I am just trying to understand what or who gave Molly Spearman the authority to cancel a local election? At this point, we are no longer talking about voter suppression here, this is far worse than that. Molly has stripped away our right to choose our own elected officials. She is wiping the slate clean and the people of Timmonsville right along with it. Nothing about this is right. People had better pay very close attention to what is happening here in Timmonsville, because Molly Spearman and her wrecking crew could be heading to their town next,” Elaine Baker said.

There has been no report to the citizens of Timmonsville or the District Four Trustees regarding finance from Spearman's education department.