ATTN. Teachers, Parents. Contact Board Members NOW

Richland 2 School District has announced, on short notice, a Special-Called Board Meeting for this Thursday, July 9, 4:30PM. The Board will convene at 4:30PM, adjourn to Executive Session for 30 minutes, and re-convene the open, public (Zoom) meeting at 5:00PM.

At the June 30 meeting it was believed that the next board meeting would be July 21 (no first--Tuesday meeting in July), and a draft agenda for that meeting was discussed and approved.

Today the School District announced a meeting this Thursday. There must be some reason for the rush.

"New Business - No Action Requested" is a re-opening of schools discussion.

AND the Board decided to advance the discussion of rescinding the suspension of Board Policy BEDH - Public Participation at Meetings. This agenda item is marked "New Business - Action Requested".

At the May 12 meeting the Board stripped YOUR privilege of addressing the Board at board meetings. And it eliminated your privilege of submitting items to be considered at future board meetings.

NOW is the time to contact your board members (see contact information here) and tell them to restore your privileges. Ask them to unwind the anti-public decision they made on May 12, 2020. Email or telephone before Thursday afternoon. The Board Members' webpage hasn't been updated yet, following the June 30 election of officers for the 2020-2021 School Year.

All the same board members are in place. The deck was only shuffled a little on June 30, when James Shadd took over as Board Chair.

Shadd is a lawyer and he should understand and respect the First Amendment - the one that says government (this includes school boards) shall not infringe freedom of speech, regardless of advice freom the South Carolina School Boards Association. He should lead the board in placing Board Policy BEDH back in full force and effect.