South Carolina DHEC confirms bat activity at Manning High School

COLUMBIA, SC (WACH) --- The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, confirmed with WACH FOX, that they were notified of bat activity inside the Manning High School gymnasium.

Officials tell us they were notified last Friday Jan. 26, 2024.

Just this week school administrators switched to eLearning Thursday and Friday out of an abundance of caution.

According to an email sent to WACH FOX, DHEC states:

DHEC has provided important rabies information to faculty to share with staff and parents to help identify anyone who may have had direct contact with a bat. No bats have been submitted for rabies testing at this time. Testing animals for rabies is recommended when there are known exposures, and no high-risk contact has been found at this time. School officials reported that a wildlife control operator inspected the gymnasium over the weekend of Jan. 26, 2024. School officials are working with the wildlife control operator to ensure all bats are removed and to implement suggested repairs to stop bats from entering the gymnasium.

Infected bats can transmit rabies to people through bites or the introduction of saliva into open wounds or areas such as the eyes, nose or mouth. Because bats have small teeth, their bites may go unnoticed, which makes it important to identify any person or pet who has had potential contact with a bat. Bat contact/exposure is defined as:

1. Waking up to find a bat in your room, tent or living space;

2. Finding a bat where children, pets or persons with impaired mental capacity (intoxicated or mentally disabled) have been left unattended; and/or

3. A pet or person that has been in direct contact with a bat.

You cannot tell if a bat, or any other animal, has rabies by simply looking at it. Rabies must be confirmed in a laboratory. Timely rabies testing will eliminate the need for unnecessary medical treatment for rabies. When a potential exposure to a bat occurs, the goal should be to safely capture the bat.

Never handle a bat or any wild or stray animal, alive or dead, with your bare hands. If you or someone you know has had contact with a bat, immediately call your health care provider or DHEC at 888-847-09020 (Option 2).

MANNING, S.C. (WIS) ― Police are looking to arrest a third person involved in a Sunday brawl with 70 to 100 people in downtown Manning.

A nearby business owner said thousands of dollars worth of damages was done to his downtown business.

Surveillance footage shows cursing and fighting at around 2 a.m. Sunday as individuals fled into the street ― just outside of Brunch-O-Holiq.

Rakeem James is a suspect seen in video surveillance punching the entrance of Southeastern Technology, and after withdrawing his hand from the glass, left a bloody scene behind.

The owner of Southeastern Technology Joseph Pedalino spoke out about the incident.

Manning party leads to overnight brawl, multiple people arrested

Pedalino showed WIS News 10 where the glass was shattered on both doors leaving thousands of dollars worth of damages behind.

He says he is in the process of receiving a statement and suspects the damages will cost him around $3,000 dollars.

“One of the gentlemen came out here, he was frustrated over the fights, and I guess law enforcement presence, and he decided to punch out my store front windows,” Pedalino said.

Pedalino said the brawl is very unusual for Manning and hopes that the community will learn about what can happen when alcohol is involved.

Pedalino said he has never sustained property damage to his business until this weekend, but other business around him have been inconvenienced.

The owner of Brunch-O-Holiq said their business was in active communication with law enforcement the evening of the brawl and insisted those in attendance left the building early because of rising tension between guests.

She told WIS News 10 they have never had an incident like the one on Sunday, and in light of the situation, she feels remorse for the downtown property damage.

She said Brunch-O-Holiq will no longer be having “open flyer parties” ― meaning anyone in the public can attend.

The business also posted an apology on their Facebook page.

“I would like to once again apologize to everyone that this unfortunate act impacted,” Brunch-O-Holiq wrote on Facebook.

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It's no secret that Stephen King TV series "Mr. Mercedes" has been filming in Charleston, with a few different calls for extras reaching the internet during the past few months.

Now, the season finale episode is traveling an hour and a half outside of the Holy City to a town in Clarendon County with a population of 4,042. "Mr. Mercedes" is headed to Manning.

The finale episode will be filmed on Tuesday and Wednesday in and on the grounds of the town's courthouse.

"We’re a small town, a small county, and having something like this is going to be very exciting for everyone involved," said county administrator David Epperson, who has been in contact with the film crew. "I feel like it will be a big boost to the area from an economic and visibility standpoint."

Epperson and the Chamber of Commerce were notified just last week and have been working to accommodate the crew.

"It’s been kind of a whirlwind the last couple of days trying to get everything ready," said Epperson. "They’ve been very gracious to work with us."

To Epperson's knowledge, this is the first TV show ever filmed in Manning.

"We hope this will be a good stepping stone and that the production company from 'Mr. Mercedes' will maybe come back and film other episodes here or spread the word to other production companies," he said.

The casting and production agency for the show, Tona B. Dahlquist Casting, is calling for 350 to 400 extras each day.

Among the call for extras is a very specific search for a stenographer with an accompanying machine and a courtroom sketch artist.

All extras are paid $64 total or $8 an hour for eight hours total, with time and a half compensated for any additional hours.

Instructions for how to turn in submissions are available via posts on the Tona B. Dahlquist Casting Facebook page at facebook.com/Tona-B-Dahlquist-Casting-354971765249.

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MANNING, S.C. (WIS) - Students at Manning High School will have a second day of e-learning on Friday, February 2, after bats were found in the school’s gymnasium.

The school district has now had two crews come in to inspect the school building over the last 24 hours.

“We hope that it’s cleared up,” said Dr. Keisa Carr, the Director of Communications & Community Relations for the Clarendon County School District.

Bats were first spotted inside the gym on Friday, January 26. The school district couldn’t provide an exact number but said they found more than one in the school’s gymnasium while opening the building for the day.

“We did have South Carolina Pest Control out and they were there throughout the evening with no sightings of bats,” Dr. Carr said.

Since that initial sighting Friday, school officials closed the gym for all activities. Pest Control came out Wednesday night for a first inspection with a follow-up inspection Thursday.

The school district said no bats were found during either inspection.

“We’ve been in touch we DHEC, of course, and Wildlife Management to ensure that we’re taking the right steps to alleviate any future occurrences of bats in our building,” Dr. Carr said.

While students will stay online on Friday, teachers have the option to work from their classrooms. Director of DHEC’s Rabies Prevention Program Terri McCollister explains since most teachers are staying in a non-infected area, teaching online students from school is still safe for them.

“If administration is following the guidelines to ensure the safety of their staff; stop people from going into the gymnasium and them having access to that, then yea, I would suspect they’re safe in their classroom,” McCollister said, “Our reports are that the bats were only in the gymnasium.”

WIS asked the district why it took until Wednesday to decide to move students to e-learning. Dr. Carr said once the bats were found, the gym was closed off and they wanted to develop an action plan before going to e-learning.

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In April, Gov. Henry McMaster asked the State Inspector General to review alleged 'financial irregularities' within the district.

MANNING, S.C. — The State Inspector General's investigation into the Clarendon County School District found several state code violations but no fraud or misuse of funds.

The State Inspector General's six-month investigation revealed issues with over-compensated board members, chronic student absenteeism, enrollment problems and a lack of internal controls over athletic payments. The report also cleared the district of a complaint regarding the purchasing of gift cards using Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds.

The report found Superintendent Shawn Johnson is the 19th highest-paid superintendent in South Carolina despite the district having the 41st largest student enrollment, according to the 135-day Average Daily Membership.

Despite the disparity, the Inspector General found Johnson’s contract and salary is reasonable.

The Inspector General's report identified that certain board members were compensated for meetings they didn't attend. All but two of the members have reimbursed the district.

Ron Wingard and Alex Craven still owe the district money. Wingard owes the district $1,650 for four missed meetings, while Craven owes the district $600 for two meetings.

Inspector General Brian Lamkin identified deficiencies in the district's internal controls concerning the expenditure of athletic supplements, totaling $742,500, which posed a risk of fraud.

Additionally, $33,500 was not used for its intended purpose. The district made an underpayment of $2,312.50 to two recipients and an overpayment of $6,110.50 to six recipients.

To address these issues, the report recommends a collection plan for outstanding board member debt, auditing coaching certifications, and implementing a board-approved truancy prevention and intervention plan policy, among other recommendations.

The Clarendon County School District has already started implementing the report's recommendations, including closing inactive bank accounts, according to Superintendent Shawn Johnson.

“Overall, this investigation started because of alleged financial irregularities. The report clearly says that’s just not true,” said Johnson. “I hope we can get back to the business of educating children and informing the public of what really happens in school finances.”

Freshman Clarendon County Representative Fawn Pedalino sparked the investigation by providing information to Governor Henry McMaster, alleging potential financial irregularities within the district.

“Even though the report says no fraud or misappropriation of funds, it definitely clearly says in black and white that they violated several laws and they have to pay that money back or fix the issues that they were doing. And I think that, you know, it was exactly what we thought it would be,” said Pedalino.

Pedalino is now calling for the entire board and the superintendent to resign. Democratic Senator Kevin Johnson, who also represents Clarendon County, disagrees with her.

“She owes this district and this community an apology, and I’m not calling for anyone's resignation, but if anyone should resign, it should be her,” said Johnson. “The point is no fraud, no financial irregularities, no misuse of funds. That’s the main thing. That conclusion could have been met without bothering the governor.”

Members of the school board were appointed by state lawmakers that represent Clarendon County, when Clarendon County school districts consolidated into one. Every board member is up for reelection in 2024.

“So, I think if they're reelected, that means that the people spoke and they wanted to keep them in that position. And I would hope that the goal would be just to be leaders that want to do the honest and ethical thing and, you know, be qualified leaders for the staff that work at the school,” Pedalino said.

Gov. McMaster’s spokesperson provided this statement to News 19:

“The governor appreciates the willingness of the Clarendon County School District and its board of trustees to implement the recommendations of the State Inspector General's report. Reducing the district's chronic absenteeism rate will improve students' educational outcomes. If students are not at school, then learning cannot occur."

The investigation into the Clarendon County School District is the third public school district to be reviewed by the State Inspector General's office since June 2022. The other two districts reviewed were Richland School District Two and Lexington-Richland Five. There are no other active school district investigations by the Inspector General's office at this time.