Shadd finds his voice

At last night's Richland 2 School Board meeting Trustee James Shadd finally found his voice!

For the first time in 13 months of my attending board meetings, he could be heard throughout the room.

This remarkable event occurred near the end of the meeting, during the Board and Superintendent Comments. Shadd leaned forward, spoke directly into his microphone, raised his voice to full volume, and looked directly at me. He even acknowledged that he was speaking up.

I guess he felt he needed to don his lawyer hat and bearing to continue to defend the superintendent, as he had during Item 13.1 earlier in the meeting.

Now that you know how to speak up, James, will you please continue to do so at future meetings? It was much better than sitting in the audience, watching you move your lips and listening to you mumble through your hands into the microphone, and trying to guess what you were saying.

By now you have to know that the microphones in front of board members do not amplify voices well in the meeting room. Ask the sound man; he knows this. For them to do so, one needs to place the microphone near his lips and speak directly into it. When the head is turned away from the microphone and the speaking voice is soft or low, the microphone does not amplify a voice in the room.

Like I've been saying for 13 months...

It's too bad that you didn't just limit your comments to the Motion that was on the floor. The Motion, you may remember, was whether to change the date of the second meeting in March, not justify what a good guy you think the superintendent's is.