ST. STEPHEN, S.C. – The South Carolina State Board of Education has temporarily suspended the teaching certificate of a former Timberland High School teacher.
According to a consent order of suspension record, on Dec. 4, 2019, a custodian at the school reported seeing Dorothy Van Der Sterre Smith hugging a male student-athlete with her legs wrapped around his waist.
During the Berkeley County School District’s investigation, Smith admitted she often hugged her students. She felt that this particular student was joking by picking her up to show off his strength, the document states.
In a statement on the incident, Smith said that while she intended to form an emotional link with her students, she may have made herself too approachable and available to them. She has not worked as a certified educator since leaving the district in 2019.
Smith has over fifteen years of educator experience and has no prior record of disciplinary action with the State Board, the document states.
On Tuesday, the State Board voted to accept the consent order of suspension of Smith’s educator
certificate for a period of one year, to be served partly retroactive, beginning on June
30, 2021 and ending on June 30, 2022.
Smith must also complete the NASDTEC Prevention and Correction course prior to the reinstatement of her certification.
Smith will have to make a written request to the SCDE’s Office of Educator Services if she decides to have her certificate reinstated.
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