CHARGES DISMISSED and lawsuit against local officials and newspaper editor. 
Jan 23, 2007 - Jane Blackwell, 59, principal of Ware Shoals High School, was arrested for allegedly covering up for the school's cheerleading coach who was arrested last week. She was charged with obstruction of justice. (Photo from Greenwood County Sheriff's Office.)
Jill Moore, the cheerleading coach at Ware Shoals High School, was arrested for "moral offenses" involving some of her cheerleaders. "According to FOX Carolina sources, Moore was dating a National Guard recruiter and was recruiting cheerleaders to party. In at least one incident, a 16-year-old student had sex and drank alcohol with another National Guardsman." [See June 26, 2008 for resolution of case.]
From WIS10: The principal is accused of calling a meeting of the cheerleading squad and telling students not to discuss the case with anyone after investigators told her they planned to talk to each cheerleader.
Blackwell has been suspended.
SCANDAL? Jan 24 - The Index Journal calls it the "Scandal of the Town" and it might turn out to be. A parent openly worries,
Myers said she is worried Blackwell and Moore’s strong ties to the Greenwood District 51 school board could result in the “good ol’ boy network” prevailing over justice in the case. Moore’s father, Marcus Bishop, pastor of Mount Gallagher Baptist Church in Ware Shoals, is also a board trustee. Myers also said “it’s common town knowledge” that Blackwell and District 51 superintendent Fay Sprouse “are first cousins.” Blackwell and Sprouse’s fathers are brothers, she said.From FoxCarolina: "School board members say it's perfectly within the guidelines to have relatives who work for the district. They also said they can vote on matters even if it involves a relative."
Update: Jan 26 - A South Carolina National Guardsman who recruited at a high school and a former cheerleading coach each are accused of having sex with students. Because all the students involved were 16 or older, none of the adults will be charged because the teens were old enough to consent.
SOB STORY JOURNALISM : Feb 4 - Sob story journalism at its best as local paper looks at fallout from the case and clearly enjoying the agony from both sides. The only facts are that Moore’s father resigned his post as a Greenwood District 51 trustee after the charges. Notes found during a search of Blackwell's office show that, in December 2006, Blackwell was keeping tabs on Moore’s “departures from campus with a cheerleader.”
WANTS PUBLIC HEARING Feb 20 - Blackwell wants a public hearing before the school board.
Mar 13 - Can find no further information.
REASSIGNED Apr 24 - Jane Blackwell, will be no longer be principal and will be reassigned following her arrest on obstruction of justice charges, Greenwood County school trustees decided early Tuesday.
COMMUNITY REACTION Apr 25 - Newspaper reported on community reaction. This tidbit:
Blackwell will continue getting paid as she has been since this all began. The district said her cousin, Superintendent Fay Sprouse, will decide what her new duties will be.GAG ORDER May 11 - The judge issued a gag order so that law enforcement, attorneys and defendants involved with the case can no longer talk with or give information to the media. The ruling comes after video of Jill Moore being interviewed by investigators from the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office was leaked to FOX Carolina. The gag order was requested by the prosecution.
CHARGES DISMISSED & LAWSUIT May 24, 2008 - The warrant against Blackwell was dismissed March 3 by Judge Wyatt T. Saunders because the state failed to comply with rule three of the criminal practice which dictates the state has 90 days to indict once a warrant is issued. Blackwell is now suing Greenwood County Sheriff Dan Wideman, Greenwood County Chief Deputy Mike Frederick, Ware Shoals High School athletic director Vic Lollis, Ware Shoals Police Chief Mickey Boland and The Index-Journal executive editor Richard Whiting for actual and punitive damages.
Blackwell was suspended with pay by the District 51 school board. She was later reinstated, taking a post in the district’s technology department. She has since retired.
LAWSUIT by STUDENTS June 28 - Two former Ware Shoals High School students have sued the school district and its board over the actions of former cheerleading coach Jill Moore.
The Index Journal of Greenwood reported Thursday the suits were filed on behalf of a former cheerleader and a former football player. The students were not named.
The suits accuse the school district and board of negligence in the hiring, supervision and retention of Moore, as well as other mismanagement.
LAWSUIT DETAILS June 26 - Ware Shoals grads suing school district over Jill Moore’s employment (Index Journal)
Each lawsuit levies four causes of action against the district and its board, including gross negligence, gross negligence in the hiring, supervision and retention of Moore, violation of the Public School Safety Act and breach of fiduciary duty.
Moore reportedly entered pre-trial intervention earlier this year, a process which, if completed, would expunge her record of any charges.Moore’s father, Marcus Bishop, was on the District 51 board at the time of her arrest and later resigned his position.
