School Board discusses student athlete discipline
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
The Darlington County Board of Education convened a work session May 22 and discussed revisions to the district’s disciplinary policies for student athletes.
Darlington County School District superintendent Dr. Eddie Ingram said these revisions came from a committee headed up by Hartsville High School athletic director Phyllis Griggs that included representatives from all district schools. Ingram said the committee’s goal was to establish a uniform set of rules that applies to all student athletes, regardless of their school or sport.
“We don’t really have anything district-wide in place, so we thought it wise to add something district-wide so we could be as consistent as possible,” said Ingram.

Hartsville High School principal Dr. Charles Burry speaking at the May 22 Darlington County School Board work session.
Photo by Samantha Lyles
Changes to the substance abuse policy include mandatory minimum one game suspensions for any infractions, suspensions from all athletic functions for a full calendar year for second offenses (unless criminal charges are dropped or the student is found not guilty in court), and a requirement to complete 50 hours of supervised community service for a third offense, even if criminal charges are dropped.
Board members Wanda Hassler and Thelma Dawson voiced concerns over one revision which specified that student athletes found in possession of alcohol, drugs, or drug paraphernalia on school property or at a school event would be subject to the DCSD code of conduct, but if the offense takes place elsewhere the student could face additional disciplinary sanctions “at the discretion of the coach.”
Hassler worried that the phrase opened the door for subjectivity in matters of policy enforcement.
“Some may enforce it one way, and some may enforce it another,” said Hassler. “It’s got to be written such that it is equitable.”
Hassler added that it might be better to make these decisions at the district level to give coaches some insulation from public pressure.
“They’re gonna get called for bias on it,” said Hassler.
Hartsville High School principal Dr. Charles Burry gave an example where this provision for coaches discretion would be used: if student athletes are caught drinking alcohol at a party, not on school property or during school hours, “it’s not subject to school discipline, but it does need to be subject to the athletic coach’s discipline because it’s a violation of his or her team rules.”
Burry noted that the phrase in question does not provide a route for coaches to circumvent disciplinary policies.
“That means that coaches can go over and above this if he or she wants to,” said Burry. “They can’t do less, but they can do more.”
Ingram agreed, saying that as a former coach he believes coaches should be able to exercise some degree of discretion in these matters.
“Certain behaviors in the community constitute a dismissal from the team. Sometimes there might be a charge, sometimes there might not be a charge. But if it caused havoc on the team, if it caused resentment from the other players, if it caused too much discord…I might make the decision that you’re not playing for me,” said Ingram.
Burry wondered if some board members were “missing the whole point” of the policy revisions, saying that previous versions of the district’s substance abuse policy allowed student athletes to get back on the playing field with no mandatory suspensions even if they were facing criminal drug charges. He referred to the case of a Hartsville High football player arrested for marijuana possession last December, just two days before Hartsville was set to play for the 4A state title.
In that case, with no mandatory minimum suspensions and no provisions for coach’s discretion, the player’s suspension was immediately lifted after showing proof of his enrollment in a substance abuse counseling program. He was required to complete 15 hours of community service in January of 2017.
“I’m not sure we could have dreamed up a worst case scenario than what happened, so we’re trying to address that,” said Dr. Burry, noting that the policy revisions close a loophole that allows suspensions to be waived upon enrollment in a substance abuse program. “It could be waived as soon as I got the letter. That’s what allowed the situation in December to happen. We went by the policy.”
Also at this meeting, the Board agreed in principle to raise hourly pay for Hartsville Police Department School Resource Officers (SROs) working in DSCD schools. Currently, officers from the Darlington Police Department and Darlington County Sheriff’s Office are paid $25 per hour and Hartsville officers are paid $23 per hour. HPD has SROs working in six district schools.
Hartsville Mayor Pro Tem Johnny Andrews and city manager Natalie Zeigler told the Board that HPD’s cost per officer is about $27 per hour, and raising their officers pay rate to match the $25 hourly rate of other department should cost the district about $20,000 annually.
The Board also talked about adding requests for a long form birth certificate and two proofs of residency to DCSD’s current student registration requirements. After some discussion on the difficulty of obtaining a long form birth certificate and how that request might place an undue burden on parents with transportation problems, the Board agreed to strike that provision before it comes up for a vote at their next regular meeting. The two proofs of residency will still be required, as Board chairman Jamie Morphis noted that this can discourage parents from attempting to register their kids in schools outside their zoned area.
All matters at this work session were for information and discussion only; no votes or binding actions were taken. The next regular meeting of the Darlington County Board of Education is scheduled for June 12 at 6 p.m in the Board/Community Conference Room of Administrative Annex #1 at 102 Park St. in Darlington. This meeting is open to the public.