No, actually it doesn't. The public session began at 4:30PM, and the board quickly moved into executive session. The public session re-convened at 5:00PM.
Is there any reason that District Two cannot be accurate and correct about this?
When the meeting resumed at 5:00PM, there was a significant audio problem, and the first seven minutes were unintelligible. There was an audio loop that caused words to be repeated after 1-2 seconds, and this continued to 5:07PM.
The District should provide a call-in number to a staff member, for reports of technical difficulties.
A major item on the agenda tonight was a report by the District's Ombudsman, Kelli Johnson. She had prepared a PowerPoint presentation, and she read it to the board. She. Read. It. The presentation was/is attached to the Agenda, and you can read it yourself. Why would the superintendent not coach her to speak to the board while showing them her presentation?
As she went through her pages, I kept thinking, "This is not the role of an ombudsman." If you have been in a large business, you may know the function of an ombudsman. It's not a 4-1-1 operator. Obviously, the superintendent defined Kelli's job, and she'll do it exactly the way he says. And she won't make any waves.
That could be why she merely read her presentation tonight and was not prepared to answer the most basic questions from the board.
How does Wikipedia define Ombudsman? "An ombudsman, ombudsperson, ombud, or public advocate is an official who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of mal-administration or a violation of rights."
This is definitely not what the District's ombudsman does. It's a feel-good position, designed to do nothing more than listen to people so they'll calm down.
Can you imagine if I contacted Kelli and attempted to discuss the ethical problems on the Board and sought resolution? Kelli would probably lose her job, if she even allowed me in her office, so I won't call her.
She should have shown up tonight with some hard numbers and a couple of pie charts. Instead, she was empty-handed, and a board member had to ask for detailed information. Dr. Elkins-Johnson's request was put forward. I wonder when we'll find out whether the superintendent responded. Will the resopnse be provided to the public at a board meeting? Will the public ever hear the naswer to Dr. Elkins' request?
Then the superintendent gave a COVID-19 update. At the beginning he said that nothing much had changed. And 15 minutes later ... well, he did say, in answer to one board member's question, that he does not know of even one COVID-19 diagnosis of an employee or student.
So, out of 28,000 students and 3,000+ employees, not even one.
And yet, Richland Two is shut down. How many members of the public attended tonight's meeting? The LIVE counter at the upper left of the screen held steady at "2". So, one other member of the public and I were there. Are there any community members, or even employees, who care?
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