We, the concerned parents, taxpayers, and residents of Darlington County, demand an immediate freeze on all non essential local county funding, state allocations, and federal discretionary grants to the Darlington County School District (DCSD) until district leadership permits independent environmental soil testing and commits to full site remediation at Black Creek Elementary School.

 Why This Is Urgent & Necessary:

Internal Emails Show Data Manipulation & Downplayed Risks:

Internal emails obtained via the "$2.4 million" FOIA request reveal officials attempting to obscure testing details from the public.

 On May 21, 2026, SCDES Deputy Director Henry Porter requested: Removing Data: "Can the sample numbers be removed? It would be a little less busy without them."

Softening Language: "In the 4th bullet in the Key Takeaways let's change 'potential long-term risk' to 'potential exposure'."

These communications indicate a deliberate effort to alter public fact sheets, minimize risk perception, and withhold detailed sample numbers from parents. Refusal of Independent Testing by Yale University:

Yale University—one of the premier research institutions in the world, housing leading experts in environmental health, toxicology, and epidemiology—offered to perform comprehensive, independent soil testing at Black Creek Elementary School at zero cost to taxpayers. DCSD officially rejected this offer, insisting that the playgrounds are safe and opting to rely solely on internal agency assessments that downplay the danger even after there were emails released stating areas in the playground are contaminated beyond removal limits. Yale is trying to find a solution to the problem and this would have been a small part of a large area they are testing in the area.  BCES wasn't a "target" for them.

Exceeded Screening Standards:

SCDES soil sampling confirmed toxic PFAS ("forever chemicals") on school grounds at levels exceeding EPA Residential Regional Screening Levels (RSLs). Telling families to rely on simple hand-washing or shoe cleaning is an unacceptable response to environmental contamination in play areas.

Our Demands:

We call on Darlington County Council, the South Carolina Department of Education, and federal education authorities to hold all non-essential funding and grants to the Darlington County School District until the following conditions are met: 

Holding non essential funding will not change the day to day operations of the school.  It will not change teacher pay, lunch programs etc.  it will only affect higher up administrative "play" budgets

Unrestricted Site Access for Researchers:

Grant immediate access to Yale University researchers and any credible independent environmental testing teams to conduct full surface and subsurface soil, water, and air sampling at Black Creek Elementary School. 

Comprehensive Remediation:

Implement physical barrier installation or full soil replacement across affected grounds, rather than relying on informal advisory suggestions. 

Unredacted Transparency:

Publish all raw laboratory data, complete sample numbers, and risk modeling assumptions on a public dashboard accessible to all parents and taxpayers.