Oct. 8, 2024 Board Meeting - Part 3

This is a continuation of comments about the October 8, 2024 board meeting.

Item 8.3 Budget Update starts at 27:56 on the YouTube recording.

Item 8.4 Internal Auditor's Update starts at [53:44].

Item 8.5 2023-2024 Middle School Achievement Report starts at [1:01:05]. "It was a rough year." "You have to touch Math to learn it."

"Reading on a screen is different from reading on a page."

You'll want to look at the charts presented to the Board. On my scorecard, "Achievement" should be the Number 1 Priority of the District. THAT is where the focus should be. 

Item 8.6 on the Agenda was "Discussion: Enrollment and Staffing at Pontiac Elementary." The discussion begins at [1:29:15] on the YouTube recording of the meeting. 

Wil Anderson discussed a chart of enrollment numbers for five years, starting with 2020/2021. The summary of growth to 2024/2025 is:

PK        69-  76

K          84-147 (+75%)

1st        97-134

2nd     107-141

3rd       90-142 (+58%)

4th     102-129

5th       95-117

Totals                     644-885

Building Capacity 700-786

One interesting slide is the Projection (Spring 2024) of number of students versus the Actual number of students at Pontiac Elementary. A new subdivision (Ashcroft) provided 59 new students.

Franklin Foster continued the presentation.

If you are interested in Pontiac Elementary, watch this presentation. 

At the point I stopped watching; there was still 40 minutes left in the meeting.

Oct. 8, 2024 Board Meeting - Part 2

For comments on the beginning of the board meeting, please see Part 1.

At [23:40] on the YouTube version of the October 8, 2024 board meeting, the board addresses Item 8.1 (Policy Revision Proposal) Policy BID - Board Member Compensation and Expenses.

The Superintendent said that the Policy BID "has been updated" to reflect changes discussed at a Special-Called Board Meeting. I suspect what she meant to say was what they were going to look at would be the proposed change to the Policy.

Be sure to go to Board Policy BE and learn how "Board Meetings" are defined. When you read BE closely, it gives examples of Meetings but does not define them. 

Is the Board trying to get trustees paid for planning meetings? committee meetings? These are not defined as Meetings. 

The trustees are being paid well for Meetings. Six trustees each earn $384 per board meeting and the chair receives $480 per board meeting. Most months have two meetings; some have more. Plus expenses. Last night's meeting cost the District $2,784.00. Did the taxpayers get their money's worth?

Item 8.2 on the Agenda was Board Self Evaluation Summary. Trustee and Vice Chair Porter presented a summary of key findings. You can hear this at [25:09] on the YouTube recording. 

Areas for Improvement

"The Board could be more mission-focused and effective in carrying out its duties." Well, duh!

"There are concerns about trust among members and the overall climate could be improved."

Recommendations

"Define the roles of the Board and the Superintendent more clearly."

"Address trust issues and create a more positive and inclusive environment to improve the overall climate."

Action Steps

Board development and coaching.

Amazing! No questions or comments from any of the board members. Were they listening? Did they understand what Niki read? Do they agree? Disagree? Care?

To be continued.

Oct. 8, 2024 Board Meeting - Part 1

The Board meeting started at 5:30PM and went into Executive Session.

When the trustees returned from Executive Session, Chair Monica Elkins-Scott asked for a Motion to end Executive Session. Trustee McFadden made a Motion that the Executive Session was concluded at 6:01. Trustee Nash seconded the Motion.

When the Chair re-stated the Motion before the vote, she added "and resume public session". That was not part of the (verbal) Motion. When the Motion was displayed on the screen before the vote, it showed that Niki Porter had made the Motion and it included the Chair's added words, which were not part of the verbal motion. 

No one commented on the error of who made the Motion or on the addition of words to the verbal motion.

The Chair then gave a lengthy introduction (2:36 minutes), including many mispronounced words, to the woman who would give the Inspirational Moment. I've always wondered, "Why not just briefly introduce the presenter? Why give a lengthy advertisement for the person's business?" 

An Inspiration Moment is supposed to be, in my opinion, a "moment"; that's a minute or two. Maybe three, at the most.

Last night's speaker, wearing a t-shirt promoting her organization, took 4:02 minutes to promote her organization and an upcoming event. Was there anything inspirational about those four minutes?

The Chair should have disclosed her personal interest as a volunteer in the speaker's organization.

I suppose it would have been rude to interrupt the speaker by calling a "Point of Order" and object to the advertising and promotion of the speaker's organization. Should one of the trustees been rude?

Last night it took 1:39 minutes to display the vote on the Consent Agenda. That's after the vote was called. The District seems unable to use electronic voting to speed up voting. 

It should be simple. Call for the vote. The trustees press a button on their tablets: Yes or No. The vote displays. Should take about 15 seconds. The Board should tell the Superintendent: "Fix this."

The Board then voted on Item 5.1 (Consent Agenda).

At this point the Chair skipped over Item 5.2 (Approval of the Minutes) and Item 5.3 (Releases and Transfers) and proceeded to Public Participation. Because these Items are listed separately on the Agenda, they should have been voted on.

Is it really necessary to read all the rules for speakers at every meeting?

There was one speaker, Kanisha McCray, a speech therapist. She made a plea for more money, smaller caseloads, and other conditions for improved employment at Richland 2. Was that an appropriate use of Public Participation?

To be continued.

How safe is DEI in Richland 2?

What is the future of DEI in Richland 2?

You know, Diversity - Equity - Inclusion?

With the current board, it is very safe.

With the likely result of the November 5 election of three trustees, unfortunately DEI is probably assured in Richland 2 for two more years.

Richland Two's slogan, "PURPOSE DRIVEN, FUTURE READY" is a joke. Just look at the test scores.

Be at tomorrow's school board meeting. Item 8.5 on the Agenda is "2023-2024 Middle School Achievement Report". 

You can preview the presentation that will be made to the board at the October 8th board meeting. Go to the District's website at www.Richland2.org   Hover over SCHOOL BOARD, then click on Agenda. Under Meetings, click on "Tuesday, October 8, 2024 Regular Board Meeting". Click on "View the Agenda". Scroll down to 8.5, then click on "2023-2024 Middle School Achievement Report". Then click on the Presentation. 

ELA? That's English Language Arts. Google it or go to the S.C. Department of Education website. ELA includes reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Hopefully, someone will ask tomorrow night what caused the surge in 2023 that is shown on the first slide.

The numbers shown on the second slide (the percent not meeting standards) is inexcusable!

By the time I got to Slides 7-8, I was wondering who prepared those PowerPoint pages and failed to preview them! Is it a case of too much work to be done in too little time by too few people?

Does poverty cause low scores? Chronic absenteeism certainly contributes to them.

Maybe the DEI office should be shut down and that money funneled in academics.

R2 Candidate Forum

Did you attend the school board candidates' forum on Tuesday night, October 1?

If you didn't, you can watch it at https://www.richland2.org/school-board  Then scroll down.

Or go to www.Richland2.org; hover over SCHOOL BOARD and click on "Watch Board Meetings Live". It won't be "live", of course. But that's where archived recording is.

The District has not posted the forum to YouTube (yet).

Eight of the ten candidates showed up. James Mobley and incumbent Lashonda McFadden did not.

After watching the self-introductions, it wasn't hard to pick my top three.

Decide before you go to vote. The future of Richland 2 is very important.

Do you want more DEI?

Or do you want less DEI?

"Implicit Bias" training in Richland 2?

You may be interested in this article about the $3,000 spent by a North Carolina school board for "implicit bias" training.

Is any of this nonsense going on in Richland 2?

Either on the school board or anywhere else in the school district?

Check out this article, titled "EXCLUSIVE: North Carolina School District Spends $3K for ‘Implicit Bias’ Training".

What in the world is "culturally responsive teaching"? Sure sounds racist to me!

By the way, if you haven't seen "Am I Racist?" yet, you'll want to speed things up a little. The last day for showings at local Regal Cinema theaters (Sandhills is close) is Wednesday, October 2. 

Gun at Spring Valley H.S.? NO

"Does everyone know one Spring Valley High School student, who had a gun on him, was arrested TODAY during school hours? The 2 other students who accompanied him, with the intent to shoot up the school after entering through a back door (to get around metal detectors), got away on foot. This is according to the threats made prior to the incident.

"I think parents and the public should be aware of this, but it is nowhere in the news and the school never went on lockdown!! I have 2 children at this school, I’m appalled and highly concerned."

This was posted on NextDoor at approximately 3:50PM.

The same poster made a second post that supported the first.

Nothing about this is posted on WIS-TV yet.

There is a reason for the metal detectors at schools. NO student (or teacher or staff) should admit anyone from the outside through side or back doors. Period!!!

[Edited 9/25/2024}

Following is a letter that Jeff Temoney, Principal at SVHS, sent to parents:

Dear Spring Valley High School Parents and Guardians,

I hope this email finds you well. I'm writing to address a situation that occurred yesterday and to clarify some misinformation that is circulating in our community on social media.

Yesterday afternoon, we had an incident involving two of our students. The students were off campus during school hours and allegedly took items from a nearby store without paying. Richland County Sheriff’s deputies pursued the students back to an area near our campus and additional law enforcement responded to the situation.

I want to emphasize that at no point was there a weapon involved in this incident. I understand there may be rumors suggesting otherwise, but I can assure you with absolute certainty that there was no gun on our campus yesterday or at any time during this event.

The safety and well-being of our students and staff are always our top priority. We take all security matters seriously and respond swiftly to any potential threats. If a weapon had been on campus, you would have heard that information from me. Confirming important information and not spreading rumors helps keep our campus safe. As always, we're committed to maintaining open communication with our school community.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to my office. We appreciate your understanding and continued support in making Spring Valley High School a safe and positive learning environment for all our students.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Jeff Temoney

Principal, Spring Valley High School