Chester Co. school district offers few details about superintendent’s absence, ‘personal leave’

Agnes Slayman, superintendent of Chester County schools, is on “personal leave” for an indefinite amount of time, district officials told The Herald on Wednesday.

District spokeswoman Brooke Clinton said she could not give details about why Slayman is on leave, when her leave began, or whether the superintendent is being paid while on leave. Slayman could not be reached by The Herald on Wednesday.

The school district’s two associate superintendents – Charles King and Jeff Gardner – are handling Slayman’s duties in her absence, Clinton said.

The Herald submitted questions via email to King and Gardner on Wednesday afternoon but they did not respond. Denise Lawson, chair of the Chester County school board, could not be reached Wednesday afternoon.

Slayman has been in charge of Chester County schools since January 2012. She’s spent more than 30 years in education and as an advocate for public schools, including serving as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent. Before being hired in Chester County, Slayman worked for the Kershaw County school district.

Slayman’s absence comes at a time of contention surrounding who will serve as security or law enforcement at Chester High School’s home football games.

Chester police agencies, the City Council, the County Council and the school district have quibbled this summer over whether city police officers have legal jurisdiction to provide security during home games at Chester High’s stadium. The stadium is located outside Chester city limits and would normally fall in the Chester County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction.

But relations between the Sheriff’s Office and Chester County schools became strained this year when the school district dropped deputies from serving as in-school security/full-time school resource officers.

The district instead hired a private security firm which began working in the schools in July. Private security guards can work during athletic events but do not have the same arrest powers as police officers or deputies, according to the S.C. Attorney General’s Office.

Earlier this week, the Chester County Council considered a request from the school district and the Chester Police Department to allow city officers to serve as security at the Chester High’s home football games. The council debated the request but took no action after sheriff’s representatives challenged the legality of such an agreement between the city and the school district.

Chester school officials did not indicate that Slayman’s current leave is connected to the recent controversy over school and athletic event security. Instead, district officials said details about Slayman’s absence would not be made available.

As superintendent, Slayman has led efforts to improve technology education for students and has focused on retaining the district’s top teachers and administrators. Last fall, she was selected as one of 100 superintendents nationwide to visit the White House to participate in a one-day meeting centered on discussing the expanding role of technology in K12 schools.

Slayman is the first female superintendent to serve Chester County schools.

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 9:47 PM with the headline "Chester Co. school district offers few details about superintendent’s absence, ‘personal leave’."