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by ERIN PARROTT
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As part of FITSNews’ ongoing monthly coverage of educator misconduct in South Carolina, we are reviewing the most recent disciplinary rulings handed down by the S.C. State Board of Education (SCSBE) involving teachers and school officials statewide.
In December of 2025, the board considered formal disciplinary action against sixteen (16) certified educators from across the Palmetto State. Of those cases, five orders of suspension were issued related to four educator arrests, one allegation of outside communication between an educator and a student, one order of permanent voluntary license surrender and one order of revocation.
According to the orders of suspension, the four the educator arrests involved domestic violence and unlawfully placing a child at risk of or causing harm to or willfully abandoning a child, exploitation of a vulnerable adult and felony charges of financial transaction card theft and financial transaction card fraud.
The permanent voluntary surrender followed a guilty plea on a harassment charge, while the order of revocation involved a guilty plea to a charge of pointing and presenting a firearm at a person.
The cases we’re focusing on this month involve educators from five different counties – Anderson, Charleston, Greenville, Richland and the S.C. Public Charter School District.
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DYLAN ROBERT DUKES
- Type: Permanent Voluntary Surrender
- Date: December 2, 2025
- Certificate: 295080
- Allegation: Arrested for the felony charge of stalking, plead guilty to first degree harassment.
- School: Starr Elementary School
- District: Anderson County School District Three
- Status: Certificate permanently surrendered.
On July 11, 2024, Dylan Robert Dukes – a music teacher at Starr Elementary School in Anderson County – was arrested for stalking after the SCSBE learned that he sent over sixty (60) “love letters” to a student who had recently graduated from the school. During a search of his classroom, it was discovered Dukes possessed several non-sexual photos of the student and had also recently joined the student’s church.
The following day (November 12, 2024), the stalking charge was dismissed and an Alford plea was entered on the charge of harassment, first degree, with the surrender of his educator certificate being a condition of the plea.
Dukes, an educator with over five years of experience, received a notice via regular and certified mail from the board on July 12, 2024 concerning action against his certificate, followed by a vote to accept the Consent Order of Voluntary Surrender on December 2, 2025.
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DAECIA ASHIREE MARSHALL
- Type: Summary Suspension
- Date: December 10, 2025
- Certificate: 318489
- Allegation: Arrested for second domestic violence and unlawfully placing a child at risk of or causing harm to or willfully abandoning a child.
- District: Greenville County School District
- Status: Certificate summarily suspended pending due process.
On or about October 29, 2025, Daecia Ashiree Marshall was arrested for second domestic violence and unlawfully placing a child at risk of or causing harm to or willfully abandoning a child while employed as a special education teacher for the Greenville County School District.
Marshall, who has over five years of educator experience, was placed on administrative leave as a result of her arrest. On December 10, 2025, the board issued an order suspending Marshall’s teaching license pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
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SADE NELSON
- Type: Summary Suspension
- Date: December 10, 2025
- Certificate: 311509
- Allegation: Arrested for domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature and unlawfully placing a child at risk of or causing harm to or willfully abandoning a child.
- School: St. John’s High School
- District: Charleston County School District
- Status: Certificate summarily suspended pending due process.
On or about October 29, 2025, Sade Nelson was arrested in Charleston County for domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature and unlawfully placing a child at risk of or causing harm to or willfully abandoning a child – while employed by the Charleston County School District.
Nelson, an educator with over 12 years of experience, was employed as a school counselor at St. John’s High School at the time of the incident. On December 10, 2025, the board issued an order suspending Nelson’s teaching license pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
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RELATED | EDUCATORS EXPOSED
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NZINGHA OAKES
- Type: Order of Revocation
- Date: December 2, 2025
- Certificate: 314098
- Allegation: Pled guilty to pointing and presenting a firearm at a person.
- District: Richland County School District Two
- Status: Certificate revoked with the right to reapply for certification after three years.
On March 24, 2024, Nzingha Oakes was charged in connection with an incident in which she allegedly pointed a firearm at another individual. Oakes later pleaded guilty on February 20, 2025, to the charge of pointing and presenting a firearm, and the board suspended her on March 10, 2025.
Following her guilty plea, Oakes – who has over a year of educator experience and was employed by Richland County School District Two – was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act to imprisonment for a term of five years, suspended upon the service of three years of probation. Oakes also successfully completed an anger management course.
The board voted to revoke Oakes’ teaching license on December 2, 2025 as a result of the criminal proceedings.
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DAMON B. OFFICER
- Type: Order of Suspension
- Date: December 2, 2025
- Certificate: 183865
- Allegation: Inappropriate communication with a student.
- School: Hollis Academy
- District: Greenville County School District
- Status: Certificate suspended for a period of two years.
On May 13, 2021, Damon B. Officer was placed on administrative leave after the Greenville County School District received reports that he had communicated via text message with a student at Tanglewood Middle School – where he previously served as an assistant principal prior to working at Hollis Academy – regarding non-school-related matters.
The student further reported that Officer had sent gifts on multiple occasions.
The school’s resource officer reviewed a substantial number of text messages exchanged between Officer and the student, and while the messages were not criminal in nature, district administrators determined the communications to be inappropriate. Records also indicate that Officer had previously been counseled by a supervisor regarding his interactions with students.
Officer, an educator with over twenty-five years of educator experience and no prior record of disciplinary action, later resigned from his position, effective July 1, 2021. The board voted to accept the Consent Order of Suspension of Officer’s educator certificate on December 2, 2025 for a period of two years.
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JEANNA A. STRONKOWSKY
- Type: Summary Suspension
- Date: December 10, 2025
- Certificate: 3094
- Allegation: Arrested for exploitation of a vulnerable adult, breach of trust with fraudulent intent, value of $10,000 or more, and crimes against a federally chartered or insured financial institution.
- District: Greenville County School District
- Status: Certificate summarily suspended pending due process.
On or about November 17, 2025, Jeanna A. Stronkowsky was arrested for exploitation of a vulnerable adult, breach of trust with fraudulent intent, value of $10,000 or more, and crimes against a federally chartered or insured financial institution – while employed as a teacher for the Greenville County School District.
In the events leading to her arrest, Stronkowsky allegedly exploited her position as power-of-attorney for a nursing home resident by stealing $67,082.44 from the victim’s bank account for her own personal benefit. She was booked into the Spartanburg County detention center where she awaits prosecution by the South Carolina attorney general’s office.
Stronkowsky, who has over three years of educator experience, was placed on administrative leave from the district on November 18, 2025. The board requested its chairman summarily suspend Stronkowsky’s educator certificate on December 10, 2025 pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
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CATHERINE G. WEAVER
- Type: Order of Suspension
- Date: December 2, 2025
- Certificate: 271414
- Allegation: Arrested for felony charges of financial transaction card theft and financial transaction card fraud.
- School: Green Elementary Charter School
- District: S.C. Public Charter School District
- Status: Certificate suspended for a period of one year.
On March 3, 2024, Catherine G. Weaver was placed on administrative leave from the S.C. Public Charter School District following allegations of credit card theft after an employee at Green Elementary Charter School reported that her credit card went missing and fraudulent transactions in the amount of $1,145.69 were charged onto the card.
School administration confirmed Weaver was responsible for the theft and she resigned her employment with the school effective March 10, 2024. Weaver was arrested for felony charges of financial transaction card theft and financial transaction card fraud on March 15, 2024 – followed by the board’s decision to summarily suspend her educator certificate on March 28, 2024.
Weaver, an educator with more than nine years of experience and no prior disciplinary history, expressed regret for her actions in a written statement after the board reinstated her educator certificate on December 18, 2024, following the state’s decision not to prosecute the criminal charges against her.
On December 2, 2025, the board voted to accept a consent order suspending Weaver’s educator certificate for one year.
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FITSNews will continue to monitor disciplinary actions from the SCSBE and report on the individuals, institutions and accountability gaps that allow this misconduct to occur.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Erin Parrott is a Greenville, S.C. native who graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2025 with a bachelor degree in broadcast journalism. Got feedback or a tip for Erin? Email her here.
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