State board calls former Charleston Co. teacher’s actions unprofessional

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A former Charleston County teacher now has an ‘unprofessional conduct’ note on their permanent record for an incident at the Daniel Jenkins Academy.

In March of 2021, students accused Beth Vierling of using a racial slur in the classroom.

Vierling hasn’t worked for the Charleston County School District in more than two years, but the State Department of Education investigation findings about the 2021 incident came out Tuesday.

The state’s summary of the case says that the teacher was placed on administrative leave after several students said she used the N-word in class. Some students accuse Vierling of then repeating the word while reciting an old rhyme.

During the investigation, Vierling admitted she said the word and claimed she was repeating a student’s comment.

While the state board of education’s decision says it doesn’t find this incident reason enough to revoke Vierling’s teaching license, it finds her language racially inflammatory and unprofessional. Therefore an ‘unprofessional conduct’ will now appear by her teaching certificate and history on the state department’s records going forward.

Vierling resigned from the Charleston County School District later that same month. The district confirmed she has not worked for the district since March 5, 2021.

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