Board Policy BEDH - 3/31/20 Action. 5/12/20 Action

In its Regular Meeting on March 31, 2020 your Richland 2 School Board suspended Board Policy BEDH - Public Participation at Meetings. Its action was to suspend this policy temporarily until April 30, 2020.

You'd think by now that suspension of BEDH would have been notated somewhere on the District's website, so that the public would be duly and legally informed of this action. A good place to notate that would be right in the Policy itself.

You might want to read Board Policy BEDH. It describes the conditions of speaking publicly at Board meetings and also described how you, the public, can initiate items for a future Board agenda. Go to the District's website; read it. When you do, it will look like that policy is in effect today. It is not.

Those privileges vanished, temporarily, on March 31, 2020. But only until April 30, 2020.

Then, on May 12, 2020, with BEDH out from under its temporary suspension, the Board acted on BEDH again. This time the Board suspended BEDH.

Not temporarily, as Amelia McKie said at the meeting.
Not until the end of summer, as Monica Elkins-Johnson wanted.
Not until the end of the state of emergency, ambiguous as that is.
Not until the end of the pandemic.

The Board SUSPENDED Policy BEDH. Period. As in, a done deal. As in, permanently.

This is your School Board - working hard on your behalf - muzzling you, the public.

If you disagree, contact the Board by phone and in writing. And post your objection here. Write to The State newspaper; call your TV stations; write to The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County.

Sending it to the board (only) means that your request will disappear into the Black Hole.