The South Carolina State Board of Education (SCDE) voted last week to revoke the educator license of a former Richland Two teacher who is accused of denying food to a student with special needs food.
Amber Nicole Kelley, a former special education teacher at Pontiac Elementary in Eglin, South Carolina, was prohibited from teaching in South Carolina after the state board voted to revoke her educator license on August 10.
On February 27, 2020, Richland Two officials placed Kelley on administrative leave following allegations that she “denied food to a student with special needs,” according to the state board.
As Richland Two officials were investigating that incident, they heard allegations that “Ms. Kelley had held students’ hands and caused students with special needs to strike themselves as a method of teaching them not to hit others.”
Following this investigation, Kelley resigned from Richland Two in March 2020.
State board officials met in August and found just cause to revoke Kelley’s educator certificate.
“Just cause includes unprofessional conduct, crime against the law of this State or the United States, and evident unfitness for position for which employed,” the state board said (see full order below).
Kelley was not criminally charged for the school-related incidents.
If Kelley wants to teach again in South Carolina, she will have to make a written request to SCDE and resubmit an application. She’d also have to complete a behavioral management course, among a number of other requirements.
Her order of revocation must be reported to the NASDTEC Clearinghouse and all South Carolina school districts, the SCDE report said.
Kelley is one of several Richland Two teachers who have had incidents reported to SCDE recently. A Richland Two reading interventionist’s license was suspended in July after he was arrested on child sex charges. In June, a Richland Two teacher who allegedly kidnapped a child during an Uber ride was suspended from teaching. Earlier this year, a former science teacher at Summit Parkway Middle School pleaded guilty to a child exploitation charge.
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