Superintendent Addresses Recent District Employee Arrests

Superintendent Dr. Kelly Pew says that the recent arrest of two school district employees on drug charges did not involve students and did not occur on school grounds.

Kimberly Dawn Anthony, 43, and Daniel John Fahey, 48, face multiple charges following their arrests on Friday.

Anthony, a keyboarding teacher at Gettys Middle School, is charged with two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, distribution close to a school, distribution of a controlled substance within close proximity of a school, two counts of distribution of marijuana, two counts of distribution of marijuana within close proximity of a school, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana within proximity to a school.

Fahey, the district's School-to-work facilitator, is charged with distribution within proximity of a school, distribution of a controlled substance, distribution of a controlled substance near a school, two counts of distribution of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana near a school.

In a letter addressed to parents in the district, Pew addresses those arrests and the recent arrest of former EHS science teacher John Kilgallen, who is charged with sexual battery.

“The District considers these matters to be extremely serious and will respond to these employees’ misconduct swiftly and as required under South Carolina law,” Pew writes. “Our number one priority is the safety and well-being of the children in this District. In that regard, based on the information we have received from the Easley Police Department, I want to assure you that the incident that occurred this past Friday did not occur on school grounds and did not involve students.”

All district employees are required to submit to a SLED criminal background check and a Chapman criminal background check if coming to us from out-of-state, prior to starting work with the district, Pew writes.  

“In addition, the District conducts a thorough reference check prior to employing any applicant,” Pew said. “The District also requires all volunteers to have SLED criminal background checks every three years. All volunteers, as well as substitutes, receive information regarding expectations for conduct.

“In an effort to ensure that all employees understand the District’s expectation for employee conduct both on and off- the job, the District has adopted policies specifying the kind of behavior that is prohibited,” she continued.  “The District regularly provides training to ensure that employees understand those policies.”

Random drug checks of all district employees could become school district policy, Pew said.

“This past Wednesday night, our School Board’s Policy Committee reviewed the District’s student and employee drug policy and recommended that the District conduct random drug checks on all District employees to the extent that such checks are allowed by law,” Pew said.  “That recommendation is currently under review by the District’s legal counsel, and the full Board will receive further information regarding that recommendation within the next few weeks.”

“While I firmly believe that the majority of our employees provide a quality education for students and also serve as positive role models, unfortunately, there are some employees who make bad choices in their personal lives,” Pew said.  ‘Whenever such choices are brought to the District’s attention, we will investigate the situation and take appropriate employment action. I want to assure you that we take these situations seriously and that, as Superintendent, I will work with the Administration and the Board to make every effort to see that our students are safe at school.”