Molly Spearman’s Entanglements: Florence 4 Board Says S.C. Superintendent Of Education And Her Enablers Are Spinning Web Of Deception

Members of the Florence 4 School Board and their spokesperson are going public about what they say is Spearman’s illegal siege of their powers.

Members of the Florence 4 School Board say they believe Molly Spearman and her enablers expected to swoop into their town, take over their school district and strip members of its school board of its power. and authority. They assert the S.C. Superintendent of Education is acting using a law that has not been enacted yet. Florence 4 Board members say they are most appalled that Spearman was arrogant enough to believe the citizens of Timmonsville would just sit back and allow her to lie, destroy their town and steal democracy without any opposition.

Residents say they are tired of being mis-categorized and taken for granted. “Molly Spearman never in a million years thought we would stand up and fight for our schools and our children. People make the mistake of thinking people who live in rural towns like ours are easy targets because they don’t view us as being intelligent or even functional for that matter. It’s past time for us to unite to stand against injustice. Molly Spearman engaged in thievery of the worst kind. She cancelled an election and robbed the citizens of our town of their right to vote. If that alone is not enough to make people stand up and fight, what is?” Darrell McFadden asked.

The chair of the Florence 4 Board describes their plight as a wake up call for the nation. “What I believe people are failing to realize is this is not just about Timmonsville. This is not about the state of South Carolina. Those of us who are serving on this board are standing up for all school districts across the nation. If Molly Spearman is allowed to get away with all that she has done here, you can bet your bottom dollar that State Superintendents of Education nationwide will try the same thing. Poor people, people of color and others who live in rural communities are in real trouble right now. Our fight is both necessary and righteous.” Lillie Mae Joe said.

Dr. Burgess and members of the Florence 4 Board assert Spearman and her representatives have repeatedly attempted to insult their intelligence through their actions, and correspondence. They identified what they say is a glaring example of what they describe as dubious intentions coming straight out of Spearman’s camp.

In a media report published in The Community Times on July 1, 2021 the S.C. Dept. of Education Chief Communications Director Ryan Brown referenced the South Carolina Code of Laws, and the assertion that those laws grant the S.C. Department of Education the authority to involve itself in local school board elections.

Mr. Brown specifically mentioned 59-19-315, which details information regarding the commencement of board trustee’s terms of office. Mr. Brown provided the code with no context attached. Dr. Burgess asserts Brown’s failure to provide context to go along with the numbers he spewed is by design. “Mr. Brown quoted a statute to make himself seem authoritative, knowledgeable and important. The truth of the matter is, the laws he referenced do not afford the S.C. Department of Education the authority to cancel an election and strip tax paying citizens of their right to elect representatives of their choosing,” Dr. Burgess said.

“Moreover, section 59-19-315 has absolutely nothing to do with what we are talking about in this case. Frankly his mention of it could be viewed as an intimidation tactic, because the statute also mentions penalties, or punishments, of trustees who do not succeed their powers. The statute calls for trustees to be fined or jailed if they continue to assert their authority,” Dr. Burgess added..

Section 59-19-315 reads as follows: “The term of office of every elected trustee of a school district must commence one week following the certification of his election.” Burgess and members of the Florence Board contend this section of the law is not applicable in this case. Spearman took over District 4, but according to Section 1,Chapter 18, title 59 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, Spearman did not have the legal authority to dissolve the Florence 4 Board or strip its members of their power.

The Act which would grant Spearman the authority to remove school board trustees from power was signed into law by Governor Henry McMaster in May of 2021. The Act, introduced as Article 16 Section 59811615 is not scheduled to be enacted into law until July 1, 2022. Spearman, dismantled the Florence 4 board in 2018. The trustees of the Allendale and Williamsburg County school boards were dissolved previously. Spearman removed the trustees of all three school districts before there was a law in place giving her the authority to do so.

In an article published by The State Newspaper on May 27, 2021, Spearman admitted she needed amendments made to the state statute to grant her the power she needed to remove elected members from school boards. In the same media report, Spearman stated members of the boards were distractions. “In the three districts that we have declared a state of emergency, there was negligence by some of the school board members and those same members continued to be a distraction while we were there working. That’s when it became apparent to me the best solution would be to dissolve those boards,” Spearman said.

Members of the Florence 4 Board have taken great offense to Spearman’s suggestion that they in any way have been a distraction. “Our board has remained quiet for nearly three years, because we were told we had no power. I would like Superintendent Spearman to explain how any of us were a distraction to her. If standing up to defend our rights, and speaking up about the powers she stole, without any authority to do so is a distraction, she had better get used to it.

What Ms. Spearman did to all of us was shameful, disgraceful and anti-democratic. Any distractions or crises that have been created rest squarely on the shoulders of Molly Spearman. This shameful display of corruption and deceit is 100% hers,” states Misty Hopkins.