Hearing for Kingstree teacher set for Sept. 24

KINGSTREE — Former Kingstree teacher David Tisdale has a hearing scheduled for a Sept. 24 at 1:30 p.m. in Kingstree regarding his recent arrest.

The hearing, which will take place at the Kingstree Town Hall building, will be a criminal proceeding during which a judge will determine if there was probable cause leading to Tisdale’s arrest. If cause is found, the matter will go on to a grand jury who will decide whether to indict the former Kingstree Elementary school teacher on the charges presented.

Tisdale was arrested Aug. 25 in relation to a 1993 incident where he exposed himself to a former student.

Attorney Charles David Barr of Barr and Barr, PA in Kingstree confirmed that he is currently representing Tisdale. Barr said he could not comment on his client’s upcoming hearing.

The Williamsburg County Solicitor’s office will offer a defense for the probable cause of the arrest at the Sept. 24 hearing. Solicitor Ronnie Sabb could not be reached for comment.

Tisdale is also involved in a separate legal action that has been filed against the Williamsburg County School District by Lake City attorney Cezar E. McKnight. McKnight said he has filed a case against the district on behalf of another former Tisdale student and expects to go to trial sometime in the next year and a half-provided a settlement is not reached before hand.

The Sept. 24 hearing will deal only with Tisdale’s Aug. 25 arrest and the 1993 incident.

McKnight’s client claims the teacher had propositioned students for sex sometime between 2005 and 2006. When his client’s mother, an employee of the district, issued a complaint regarding the incident, McKnight said she was subsequently demoted. The attorney also told The Weekly Observer that Tisdale was made Teacher of the Year within the district around the time the alleged incident occurred.

School district officials declined to comment on the Tisdale case, saying that according to South Carolina law, a teacher released by the district has the right to request a hearing before the Board of Trustees within fifteen days of his dismissal. Should he choose to do so, Tisdale would have the right to appear with legal counsel before the board to present evidence and hear witnesses’ testimony on the accusations made against him. Tisdale’s employment was terminated Aug. 20, meaning he would have to request a hearing no later than Sept. 4.

The district has declined comment whether Tisdale has requested such a hearing at this time. Officials could not be reached for comment on the upcoming Sept. 24 hearing.

Events leading up to Tisdale’s Aug. 25 arrest involved separate accusations that he had solicited a student for sex via an e-mail sent sometime before April of this year. Tisdale was placed on administrative leave by the district April 3, 2009, and Kingstree Police said the teacher had been cleared of the e-mail allegations since then.

However, Attorney McKnight said he was only aware that Tisdale had not yet been charged with the email incident and that he was unaware the teacher had been cleared of the matter altogether.

To date, Tisdale has been involved in at least three alleged incidents involving students and sexual solicitation, including the 1993 incident-which the subject of the Sept. 24 hearing. In 1993, police said a student accused Tisdale of taking him into the media center of a local high school, where he played a pornographic video and exposed himself to the student.

The student quickly left, reporting the incident to local authorities immediately.

Authorities said not enough evidence existed to charge Tisdale in 1993 but that the school district was notified and did not dismiss the Kingstree teacher. Police also mentioned that several complaints regarding Tisdale making inappropriate remarks to students had been filed since the 1993 episode. McKnight’s case is the only one known at this time to have filed separate charges relating to Tisdale.