Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The South Carolina State Board of Education (SCSBE) has taken decisive action against three educators, suspending the licenses of two and permanently revoking the license of a third following allegations and convictions related to serious misconduct.
State law allows SCSBE to “either revoke or suspend the certificate” of any educator based on “just cause.” According to the statute (S.C. Code of Laws § 59-25-160), this definition can include “unprofessional conduct, (a) crime against the law of this state, and evident unfitness for position for which employed.”

***
“If the agency finds that the public health, safety or welfare imperatively requires emergency action and incorporates a finding to that effect in its order, summary suspension of a license may be ordered pending proceedings for revocation or other action,” the statute noted.
Actions against the three individuals were announced by the board earlier this month…
***

(Spartanburg County Detention Center)
GARY BURGESS
Gary Burgess, 67, a prominent figure in South Carolina education, resigned from his position as vice chairman of the Anderson County school board after his arrest on November 27, 2024. Burgess faces two charges of sexually assaulting a minor in 1976 in Spartanburg County.
This is not Burgess’s first brush with controversy. In 2009, he was arrested and charged with solicitation for immoral purposes but was acquitted later that year. Burgess has previously served as a principal, superintendent and candidate for the state board.
Burgess was released on November 27, 2024 after posting a $10,000 surety bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 13, 2025.
According to the SCSBE’s suspension order (.pdf), Burgess “may pose a threat to the health, safety and welfare of students.” Therefore, his educator certificate was “summarily suspended until a due process hearing is held and/or this matter is otherwise resolved.”
As with anyone accused of committing any crime, Burgess is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as he may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges filed against him.
Burgess suspension was ordered on January 14, 2025.
***

(J. Reuben Long Detention Center)
CHAD HORSLEY
Dr. Chad Nathan Horsley, a 47-year-old teacher at McDonald Elementary in the Georgetown County School District (GCSD), was placed on administrative leave on December 18, 2024, following his arrest on five felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor.
On or about December 18, 2024, Horsley was arrested on five felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, 3rd degree. It is alleged that Dr. Horsley knowingly and willingly possessed material visual representation of minors engaged in sexual activity or appearing in a state of sexually explicit nudity. The material was allegedly located on an electronic device in Dr. Horsley’s residence.
GCSD placed on administrative leave on December 18, 2024 by the school district. On January 7, 2025, the SCSBE voted to suspend Dr. Horsley’s educator certificate pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.
As with Burgess, the board determined in its order (.pdf) that due to his arrest on the aforementioned charges he “may pose a threat to the health, safety and welfare of students.”
Horsley is currently incarcerated at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center awaiting trial. Like Burgess, he is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as he may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges filed against him
***

(Kentucky Department of Corrections)
CHARLES WEBER
On January 7, 2025, the SCSBE permanently revoked the teaching certificate of 44-year-old Charles Harold Weber of Inman, S.C.
Weber’s certification had been suspended since 2022 after he was arrested in Kentucky on a felony charge of using electronic communication systems to procure a minor.
Weber – who had over 12 years of teaching experience – was convicted of this charge in March 2023. He had previously been suspended in 2018 for inappropriate communications with a minor but his certification was reinstated in 2019. At the time of his arrest, Mr. Weber was employed by High Point Academy in the South Carolina Public Charter School District.
He was terminated from the school following his 2022 arrest.
According to its suspension order (.pdf), the state board determined Weber “engaged in unprofessional conduct, immorality, conduct involving moral turpitude, and crime against the law of this state or the United States due to his conviction on the felony charge of unlawful use of electronic means originating or received to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activities.”
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Callie Lyons is a journalist, researcher and author. Her 2007 book ‘Stain-Resistant, Nonstick, Waterproof and Lethal’ was the first to cover forever chemicals and their impact on communities – a story later told in the movie ‘Dark Waters.’ Her investigative work has been featured in media outlets, publications, and documentaries all over the world. Lyons also appears in ‘Citizen Sleuth’ – a 2023 documentary exploring the genre of true crime.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
1 comment
Hopefully after SBE purges all the perverts and drug users they find they will move on to the subversive neo-Marxists and communists embedded in public education. A guy can dream, can’t he?