Substitute teacher at Horry County elementary school arrested. Here’s the details

A substitute teacher at Horry County Schools was arrested this week after aggressively handling two elementary school students, according to a police report.

Diane Councilman, 73, was charged Tuesday with cruelty to children after the students accused her of assaulting them. She was substituting as a fourth grade teacher at Waccamaw Elementary School, according to HCS spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier.

Bourcier wrote in a statement that the substitute teacher was an employee of Kelly Services, and school administration contacted law enforcement and immediately reported the incident. She did not respond to a question about how long Councilman had served as a substitute in the district.

Councilman has been removed from all future assignments, pending the results of the police investigation and criminal charge, according to Danielle Nixon, a Kelly Services spokeswoman.

“We are concerned about any reports of inappropriate behavior and take these matters very seriously,” Nixon wrote in a statement. “The safety and welfare of the students we serve are our top priorities. ... We are cooperating with the police and district as they investigate this matter.”

Councilman did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.

Councilman yanked the arm of one student to try to stop them from putting on a jacket because it was covering the student’s face, the Horry County Police report states.

When another student told Councilman she couldn’t do that, she responded that she could touch whoever she wanted, according to the report. That student later had scissors in her hand cutting paper, and Councilman yanked the scissors out of the student’s hand, allegedly scratching the student’s arm in the process, a witness told police.

Another person told police that the student’s arm did not look to be scratched, the report shows.

Four HCS employees were arrested last year after allegedly harming students.