Berkley County School Board fires Amy Kovach

BERKELEY COUNTY, SC (WCSC) - The Berkeley County School Board has fired former Communications Director Amy Kovach.

According to a Tuesday night statement by the Berkeley County School District, Interim Superintendent Dr. Mike Turner recommended that the board terminate Kovach's employment with the district.

Officials say the board accepted the superintendent's recommendation and terminated Kovach's employment with the district.

Last month, Kovach pleaded guilty to one charge of misconduct in office and one count of use of government resources to influence an election.

Kovach was indicted by a Berkeley County grand jury in connection with the State Law Enforcement Division investigation into the school district's investigation into the 2012 Yes 4 Schools campaign.

"We in the District want to move on," read a statement by the district on Kovach's termination."We have new leadership, energized students, teachers, and staff members. Our focus is and always will be on providing an outstanding learning environment for all."

The district also commented Tuesday night on the legal fees in Kovach's case.

At various times during the investigation, questions were raised with respect to the District's payment of her legal fees. As we repeatedly noted, that is a statutory obligation, because South Carolina law explicitly states that if any school district employee is prosecuted for any act committed in good faith in the course of their employment, it is "the duty of the school district...to appear and defend the action in his behalf."

That's the law.

We even sought outside counsel on this matter. Former Circuit Court Judge Vic Rawl and University of South Carolina Distinguished Law Professor Emeritus John P. Freeman studied the facts and drew the same conclusion.

The law makes no preference to the ultimate outcome of a prosecution. Which is to say that the outcome of the prosecution is irrelevant to the Board's statutory obligation to provide legal representation.

Accordingly, we stand by our actions, as they were completely consistent with the laws of the State of South Carolina.

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