Cook banned from Beaufort County Schools

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

Hilton Head Island resident David Cook was served with a trespass notice for the Beaufort County School District (BCSD) at 3:35 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 11, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO).

Cook has been a vocal critic of the Beaufort County School District for its handling of the 97 contested books that are currently being reviewed for their content.

More recently, he has been accused of harassing and threatening two Hilton Head Island Middle School teachers who spoke out against him at the most recent school board meeting.

“I am so excited for this year,” said Mardy Burleson, an engineering and multimedia design teacher at Hilton Head Island Middle School said. “I’m going into it with a huge sense of relief. I guess if there was one word to describe Friday when I heard the news it is overwhelmed. I was just overwhelmed with gratitude.”

Burleson said that she received an “outpouring of support” from members of the community, many she had never met before. She continued by saying she is very grateful to Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner, and the Beaufort County Board of Education, but especially to the district.

“They did everything they could to keep me and my family safe,” said Burleson.

Kathleen Harper, the other educator to speak out against Cook, felt much the same.

“I’m grateful to the district leadership, the school board and Sheriff Tanner for taking this action,” Harper said. “It sends a clear message of support to the educators who will welcome kids next week. I am very much looking forward to the 23-24 school year.”

The service of a trespass notice came 10 days after the two educators spoke at the Beaufort County Board of Education meeting about their experiences with Cook since January 2023, in hopes that the BOE would intervene.

According to the two educators, Cook allegedly began to harass them following individual incidents in classrooms they were teaching in that he disagreed with.

Burleson said that she asked students to fill out an option survey so that she could get to know the students a little better.

On the survey was a question asking about the students’ preferred pronouns and Cook disagreed with the question and the survey as a whole.

According to Harper, who is a literacy coach at HHI Middle School, she was accused of “grooming” and “sexual assault” by both Cook and his daughter, Isabella, in school board meetings, to her principal at HHI Middle School and online.

“We’ve been heard,” Burleson said after she heard about Cook receiving the trespass notice. “Finally, we’ve been heard.”

The notice allows him to drop off and pick up his children from school, but he is required to contact David Grissom, the BCSD director of protective services, if he wishes to be on school district property at any other time.

It covers all Beaufort County Schools, but he can attend any events outside of Beaufort County as they do not fall under BCSO jurisdiction.

Cook will be required to abide by the trespass notice until it is rescinded upon the request of the school district, the statement read.

The notice does not prevent him from attending school board meetings, which is one of the forums where he has been vocal about his issues with the two teachers and way that the Beaufort County Board of Education has handled the removal and review of the contested books.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office attempted to deliver the notice several times since Friday, August 4, but Cook was not available to receive the notice.

“It is my understanding that he may have been out of town,” said Maj. Angela Viens, public information officer with BCSO said in a statement.

The trespass notice was requested and signed by the school district, and they have been made aware that it was served to Cook on Friday.

“The district is unable to comment on a law enforcement matter such as this that may involve an individual’s personal information,” BCSD spokesperson Candace Bruder said on Friday.

When reached for comment on Friday, in a direct message, Cook responded to The Island News initially by saying, “No Comment.”

But in posts made by Cook on the initial posting of this article on The Island News’ Facebook page, he said that none of what is being said about him is true and this portrayal of him is defamation.

“I never threatened or harassed either of them. There is no proof of either,” Cook said in a post. “I have never received any statement from either teacher telling me I’m harassing them and to stop contacting them.”

Cook continued to say that he is a supporter of “our schools” and has been for just over a decade, and claims that he has embarrassed the BCSD so they are attempting to bury “the truth” until they can spin it.

“That’s why I reported the truth. If I didn’t support our schools, I would have lied and made it bigger than it is,” Cook continued.

The Island News has sent a FOIA request to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office to receive a copy of the notice that was delivered to Cook on Friday, but as of Tuesday, August 15, we have not received a response.

Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She joined The Island News in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.