COLUMBIA, SC — Richland 1 officials have removed a substitute teacher from the district’s roster after a Watkins-Nance Elementary School student was hit by a car and killed last month.

District officials determined the substitute teacher had not followed the school’s dismissal procedures or followed detailed instructions left by the regular classroom teacher, district spokeswoman Karen York said Tuesday.

The substitute’s removal also has been reported to the S.C. Department of Education.

The student, 7-year-old Joshua Brown, was in the first grade. He died at 2:55 p.m. Oct. 10 after he was struck by a pickup truck in the 2500 block of Barhamville Road. The pickup’s driver was not charged in the accident.

The school’s dismissal procedure requires that first-graders who ride buses or day care vans be taken to the cafeteria, where they wait for their rides under the supervision of multiple adults, York said.

Joshua was not taken to the cafeteria to wait for his day care van, York said. The cafeteria is in the back of the school.

Students who walk home or are picked up in cars are allowed to walk out the school’s front door.

When asked whether Joshua was the only student in his class whose dismissal instructions had not been followed by the substitute, York said the district’s investigation focused on Joshua.

“I can’t speak to that,” she said.

Police reported that witnesses said Joshua was standing with a group of children on the corner of Barhamville Road and Jagers Place in front of the school.

The substitute teacher, whose name was not released, had been on the district’s roster for four years, York said. The minimum qualifications for substitute teachers is to be 21 years old and have at least a high school diploma or GED, she said.

After the accident, Watkins-Nance’s administration reviewed its dismissal procedures for its nearly 400 students, York said. No flaws were found that would have prevented the accident.

“Procedures are only effective when they’re followed,” she said, “and in this case they weren’t.”

Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307.