Helpful Resources

Section 59-32-20(B) of the South Carolina Code of Laws was amended June 2014 (H.4061, Act 293) after the passage of Erin's Law, named after childhood sexual assault survivor Erin Merryn.

The purpose of Erin's Law is to teach students how to stay safe, to tell if someone touches them inappropriately, to decide who will touch them, and what touches will be allowed or not allowed, and to learn what parts of their bodies are private and should not be touched.
This section of the law already requires school districts to have a Comprehensive Health Education program. The passage of Erin's Law added the requirement that districts annually provide age-appropriate instruction in sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention to all students in 4-year-old kindergarten through grade 12.
Experts estimate that one in four girls and one in six boys have been sexually abused before their 18th birthday. In other words, a regular classroom could have between four to six students who have been violated in some way and who may have never had any information on inappropriate touches, what they are and that these touches are wrong.

In addition, public schools in South Carolina are required to give age-appropriate education to students about the dangers and consequences of sexual extortion. with Gavin’s Law. Gavin's Law (H.3583) is new legislation, enacted in May 2023, that makes sexual extortion, the act of blackmailing someone using sexually explicit images or videos, a felony offense and an aggravated felony if the victim is a minor, vulnerable adult, or if the victim suffers bodily injury or death directly related to the crime. In 2022, 17-year-old Gavin Guffey was a victim of sexual extortion, resulting in him taking his own life. School districts are also required to notify parents about the passage of Gavin’s Law. 

Following recommendations from the S.C. Department of Education, Lexington County School District One is incorporating the requirements of Gavin’s Law into the Erin’s Law curriculum. 

In our elementary and middle schools, elementary and middle school counselors are providing age-appropriate Erin’s Law and Gavin’s Law lessons aligned with the expectations outlined by the South Carolina Department of Education.

Lexington One used the guide provided by the South Carolina Department of Education as it selected its curriculum components, as well as the scope and sequence of instruction. Instructional units are not written as stand-alone units. Instead, each lesson builds on the previous lesson or lessons.

In high schools, Pathways to Healing educators present the Erin’s and Gavin’s laws lessons annually for 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades. Their educators are certified facilitators and approved by South Carolina.  Their curriculum is peer reviewed and researched based.

Parents, of course, may review the course curriculum and lesson plans by contacting their child’s school counselor.

If you have any questions concerning Erin's Law or Gavin’s Law, the course instruction or materials, please contact either your school counselor or Lexington One’s School Counseling Director (803-821-1052).
 

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015. This bipartisan measure reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, the national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students. The prior reauthorization of ESEA, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, was enacted in 2001. ESSA was adopted, in part, to ensure that schools and school districts across the country employ teachers and instructional assistants who meet applicable state certification and licensure requirements in schools that receive federal funds.

ESSA includes provisions that help ensure success for students and schools:

• Advances equity by upholding critical protection for America’s disadvantaged and high–need students.

• Requires that all students in America be taught to high academic standards that prepare them to succeed in college and careers.

• Ensures that vital information is provided to educators, families, students and communities through annual statewide assessments that measure students’ progress toward those high standards.

• Helps to support and grow local innovations—including evidence–based and place–based interventions developed by local leaders and educators.

• Sustains and expands investments in increasing access to high–quality preschool.

• Maintains an expectation that there will be accountability and action to effect positive change in our lowest–performing schools

In compliance with the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act, parents may request the following information:

• Whether the student’s teacher:

  • has met state qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction;

  • is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which State qualification or licensing criteria have been waived; and

  • is teaching in the field of discipline that matches the certification of the teacher.

• Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

Lexington County School District One’s Board of Trustees places top priority on hiring, for all of our classrooms, teachers and paraprofessionals who meet applicable state certification and licensure requirements.

As part of our continued commitment to excellence, we ask each teacher to put information about his/her qualifications on his/her teacher web page. You can access those web pages by going to the website of your child’s school.

If you neither own a computer nor have access to the internet, the Gilbert, Lexington and Pelion branches of the Lexington County Public Library system all provide internet access.

If you cannot get this information from our website and would like to receive it, simply send a letter to your child’s principal. In that letter, please give your child’s name, the name of the teacher or paraprofessional, and the grade or subject that person teaches. Your child’s principal will provide you with the information after receiving your request.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records, gives parents certain rights with respect to their children’s education records, and requires that Lexington County School District One obtain your written consent or the student’s written consent if over 18 years of age, with certain exceptions, prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records.

Additional information on FERPA can be found in the Student Handbook. See the section on Notification of Rights Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Directory Information
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) allows student information that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy to be disclosed. FERPA refers to this as “directory information.”

A parent/guardian or a student who is 18 or older has the right to restrict the release of any or all of the types of information designated below as directory information by notifying the district annually.

Click here to read how to restrict the release of a student's directory information.

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment is a federal law that affords parents and students over 18 years of age certain rights regarding the manner in which Lexington County School District One conducts surveys, collects and uses information for marketing purposes, and does certain physical exams. 

Additional information on FERPA can be found in the Student Handbook. See the section on Notification of Rights Under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment.