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A teacher in the Lexington-Richland 5 was charged with assaulting a student last fall. Despite the pending charges, her contract was renewed in March.
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The school board is trying to walk back on that decision, saying it did not have the information necessary to make it.
Sharon Sweatt, a special education teacher at Nursery Road Elementary School, was arrested in October 2025 and charged with third-degree assault and battery after an altercation with a student, The State previously reported.
A sheriff’s deputy was notified that administrators believed Sweatt had struck a child at the school in October. A teacher’s aide said she had witnessed Sweatt “pop” students “on the hands and buttocks” on numerous occasions when Sweatt wanted to discipline them.
The aide reportedly heard “a slapping sound and a student screaming” from Sweatt’s classroom while she was in the classroom next door and said she witnessed a student hitting, kicking and biting Sweatt during recess until Sweatt struck the student in the face. Another aide said she witnessed Sweatt grab a misbehaving student “by the belt loop of his pants” and “toss” him onto a carpeted area of the classroom.
At the time of her arrest, the district said Sweatt had been placed on leave because of the allegations, but declined to comment further.
As of July 2026, the case has not been closed or dismissed, according to the Lexington County Public Index. It is listed as “continued.”
But at , Sweatt’s contract was renewed, along with other teachers’ contracts.
A post shared by Dutch Fork Middle School on July 15 listed Sweatt as a new member of its staff for the upcoming school year. It sent community members reeling. The post had been taken down as of Tuesday afternoon, after Superintendent Akil Ross said it was made in error, as Sweatt remains on leave until the situation regarding her charges has been resolved.
District parents speak out
At Monday’s school board meeting, numerous parents signed up for public comment to speak out against the board’s March decision, which ended up being nearly 30 minutes of sometimes tearful testimony. Many who spoke were parents and caretakers of students with special needs, and condemned the board’s actions, others begged the board to take action.
Ashley Reeves, who said her son was in Sweatt’s class, said her son would come home from school with cuts and bruises on his face. He was uncharacteristically quiet, she said,’ and would shut himself in a dark room. His behavior regressed, including potty training.
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“I just don’t feel like this is something y’all need to remain impartial about and expect us to still want to be a part of this district,” Reeves said. “Our kids are the most important things to us.”
Danielle Pike was critical of the fact that Sweatt was given paid leave after “hurting a child that cannot tell anybody about what happened.” Megan Blanchett said that maintaining a contract is “not more important than our children’s safety.”
“I don’t care if it’s third degree assault,” Kim Friedricks, another district parent, told the board. “That’s still somebody laying their hands on somebody … is that okay?”
Is the board’s decision legal?
The school board voted to recant Sweatt’s reappointment to the district on Monday.
Board member Jason Baynham made a motion to withdraw Sweatt’s reappointment “because the board was not provided with pertinent information about this reappointment, and the reappointment is not appropriate.”
Despite apparent legal advice that suggested otherwise, and despite a failed motion to defer Baynham’s motion until the board received more information, that motion passed in a 5-1 vote, with an abstention. Mike Satterfield abstained from the vote and Kevin Scully opposed it. All other board members voted in favor of Baynham’s motion.
Ross was unsure of the legality of the vote. He told board members that under South Carolina state law, specifically Section 59-25-410, the district has to issue notice and has to give someone the “right to be heard” before deciding to terminate a contract. He recommended the board take one more meeting before making a decision.
“I would not put anybody in a classroom I thought was hurting student,” Ross said. “But we don’t have the privilege of violating any of these established laws.”
Ross said no one had all the facts of the case.
“This employee remains on administrative leave until this matter is fully resolved,” Ross said. “And we will balance the safety and security of our students and the due process rights of our staff by using the leave process until we have fully brought this to resolution.”
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