Parents allege SC school district, principal ‘covered up’ abuse of special needs students

Parents of special needs students at an Horry County elementary school allege that the school district and school’s principal allegedly “covered up” abuse of the students.

The number of lawsuits against the school district, former principal and special education teacher now have climbed to six.

The suits allege the physical and emotional/mental abuse happened at Ocean Bay Elementary School during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, conducted by former special education teacher Grace McColgan.

The suits also name Horry County Schools District and the school’s principal at the time Rebecca Schroyer.

Horry County Schools “does not comment on matters related to pending litigation,” according to district spokesperson Lisa Bourcier by email. Bourcier would not say whether the district will represent Schroyer in the litigation, adding, “No additional information is available at this time.”

Schroyer remains on administrative leave and getting paid her salary by the district. Her charges related to the child neglect case against McColgan were dropped in February 2024.

Schroyer was charged in November 2022 with two counts of failing to report a child neglect allegation for an incident that happened during the 2021-22 school year. However, she still faces an administrative review of her credentials by the South Carolina Department of Education. Properly reporting suspected child abuse is required by South Carolina’s mandated reporters law, which includes educational professionals.

McColgan pleaded guilty in July 2023 to charges involving child neglect and received a sentence of 30 days in jail. She had been charged with six counts of unlawful conduct towards a child, including allegedly smacking students and rubbing hand sanitizer on an open wound, during from the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years

The suits, filed April 19, claim that the district never warned parents that their children had been harmed or were at risk of being harmed despite the district’s investigation which resulted in McColgan’s suspension for six weeks. McColgan was eventually allowed back into the classroom as a teacher, an Horry County Police report said.

It was not until police became involved and started investigating the matter that Schroyer and the school district in October 2022 told parents that their children were harmed or were at risk of harm, the suit says.

Kristen Lehnert, one of the parents who filed a suit, claiming that McColgan assaulted her child by hitting him in the back of his head with her hand and a wand she used as a pointer. Another parent, Lindsay Boyles, said in the suit that McColgan allegedly slapped her son on the back of his head and denied him the use of bathrooms.

Parents Ashley Aitken and Brett Aitken claim in the suit that McColgan “violently” pulled the child by the arm off the floor and kept their child in a dark bathroom as a punishment.

The suits accuse the district of failure to keep the children from harm, provide adequate safety measures and failure to monitor the students and report the abuse to parents.

The suits are asking for a jury trial.