Some incidents of ‘sexual assault’ noted on CCSD school report card were incorrectly coded, board chair says

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Newly released school report cards from the South Carolina Department of Education note there were more than a dozen reports, collectively, of sexual assault and rape/attempted rape in the Charleston County School District last year.

District leaders, though, say some of those instances were incorrectly coded.

The ‘student safety’ section of the 2021-22 school report cards released Monday highlight 11 incidents of “sexual assault (not rape)” and three incidents of “rape or attempted rape.”

Charleston County School Board Chairman Rev. Dr. Eric Mack said there are two distinctions when it comes to the 14 reported incidents: forcible or non-forcible sexual offenses.

CCSD’s Director of School Support, Shavonna Coakley, explained:

“The State Department of Education defines a 610 Forced Sex Offense (labeled as “incidents of rape/attempted rape” on the state report card) as any sexual act directed against another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent. The act does not require penetration. When the offense is recorded, it will automatically report to the state as rape because the behavior is against another person’s will.”

Non-forcible sexual offenses are defined as “unlawful, unforced sexual acts or indecent exposure that is overtly sexual in nature, or other sexually inappropriate behavior. This coding is used in the absence of force, and the act committed is egregious or done in public,” according to Coakley.

“It is my understanding that 1 non-forcible incident occurred at a charter school, and 10 non-forcible incidents were incorrectly coded, therefore, resulting in inaccurate reporting for the 2021-2022 end-of-the-year report,” said Dr. Mack.

The report does not specify if the reports were made at the elementary, middle, or high school level nor does it provide any context of those claims.

Coakley said that in all instances, law enforcement was involved.

In a statement Thursday, Dr. Mack said the board makes no effort to minimize disciplinary infractions.

“It takes, particularly seriously, those of a forced or unforced sexual nature. Law enforcement is involved when there are infractions of any sexual nature, and administrators follow District disciplinary protocols regarding consequences,” he said.

Dr. Mack noted that new administrators who enter the district will receive adequate training, coaching and oversight of all discipline code to “ensure we eliminate these coding errors” in the future.

A look at report cards from other area school districts revealed that only one incident of non-rape sexual assault was reported in Berkeley County. There were three reports of non-rape sexual assault in the Colleton County School District and one report in Georgetown County. There were none reported in either category for Dorchester District 2, 4, or the Williamsburg County School District.