4/30/19 School Board Meeting - Part 2

During the public participation segment of tonight's Richland 2 School Board meeting several women spoke about the cell tower that is to be built on the grounds of Kelly Mill Middle School.

What the Board could have explained is whether the tower is already a "done deal". Instead, they hide behind a policy of not commenting on anything a speaker has to say.

This leaves the speaker(s) without any answers.

Watch the video of tonight's meeting when it shows up on YouTube in a few days. You want to skip past the lengthy period of time devotes to student recognition.

When my turn to speak came, I beat down on the Board and the Superintendent for kowtowing to the teacher mob and closing schools tomorrow, May 1. I said that the right course of action by the Superintendent would have been to direct principals to deny requests for May 1st personal leave after a certain number (say, five) was reached.

The job, the responsibility, the obligation of Richland School District Two is to educate the students. It is not to kowtow to teachers. It is not to let the teacher-mob run the schools. It is to prevent the teachers (or anyone else) from interfering with education of the students.

When I shifted gears just after the one-minute mark (with two minutes remaining to me) to the illegally of McKie being on the board, she shut me down. When I asked for my remaining time, she told me to put it in writing.

So what I learned is that there is some unwritten rule that she can pull out of purse at-will and shut down a speaker.

Tomorrow I will demand an explanation from Supt. Davis and a reference to any written policy that allowed McKie to cut me off, when I began to speak on a different topic. The Board Policy on public participation makes no mention of such a limit.

I immediately considered this an infringement on free speech. Maybe a good call tomorrow will be to the ACLU. Or maybe I'll win the lottery and will be able to afford to sic my own attorney on Richland 2.

So, beware of the Board, if you choose to suit up and bravely protest anything at Richland 2. Stick to one topic, and plan ahead to say what you want in 2 minutes and 59 seconds.