Election of Officers - June 30

One of the most important meetings of the Richland 2 School Board will be held on Tuesday, June 30.

At that meeting the final action of the Board will be to elect the Officers for the 2020-2021 School Year. The officers to be elected are Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary.

Each is an important and responsible role. An officer of the school board must be a member of the Board. The unstated requirement is that an officer must be a legal member of the school board.

Since November 13, 2018 the Richland 2 School Board has done business with two women sitting as if they are board members. The fact is that neither is a legal member of the board.

Both Amelia McKie and Teresa Holmes took the oath of office on November 13, 2018, before they were eligible to do so. They became eligible to take the oath upon filing their Statements of Economic Interests with the South Carolina Ethics Commission on December 4, 2018. Neither has legally taken the oath of office on or since December 4, 2018.

In spite of this irregularity, District 2 has allowed them to serve and has paid them monthly remuneration for doing so. The District 2 has also paid expenses for functions as if they were board members. By doing so, the District has expended public funds not in accordance with policies and laws.

Holmes served, improperly, as Vice Chair during the 2019-2020 school year; that term of office ends June 30, 2020.

Neither McKie nor Holmes is eligible to serve as an officer of the school board for the 2020-2021 school year.

Shadd should be ineligible to serve as an officer because of his numerous tax liens and unpaid tax indebtedness.

That leaves four possible Trustees for the three officer positions: Manning, Agostini, Elkins-Johnson, and Caution-Parker.

Watch carefully to see how the board acts on June 30.