This is McKie - being brief

During the Board & Superintendent Comments of the June 30, 2020, board meeting Trustee-elect Amelia McKie said (at 1:38:00), "Have a good evening. I won't belabor my comments.  It's been a long meeting, but thank you for (unintelligible)"

She had been quite wordy at different times during the meeting, and I thought to myself, "Good."

And then she continued to do exactly what she said she would not do.

"Umm, Dr. Davis, thank you for, umm, your efforts about the Shealy and the task force. You are the superintendent. The buck stops there. Although it's a huge team of people for working together, thank y'all for that. And I just wanted to make clear something.

"We are as board members, we are to set policy. Our job in the system is to set policy. And we have one task. We hire and we fire the superintendent. We are not even here to micro-manage him. We don't micro-manage principals. We don't micro-manage teachers. We don't micro-manage employees. That's not our lane.

"Our job is to set policy. It's tough sometimes. But for the myriad of people who call us and contact us,  who work with the superintendent, who work with teachers, who work with the principals, who work with parents, umm, to make the system work, and to help us do our job effectively, which is to set policy. I appreciate that. Y'all stay safe.

"Umm, the numbers, the COVID numbers are just, you know, umm, unconstable [sic] at this moment and with that, our own superintendent who is sittin' here, trying his best to give us 135% as he always gives us, and we appreciate that. But I hope that everybody will go home and stay safe. Keep your loved ones safe at the end of the day.

"This is about educating our kids. That's the end-user for the product we sell. That people are dying every day. People are dying, literally, every day. People are sick.

"We have atrocities that are going on in our country that are, uhh, just a double, triple, quadruple planning, so for the big picture and things that are hugely important, I hope that people will continue to be team players, to be compassionate, umm, and to be supportive of the end-user of the product that we are delivering, which is a quality education to our babies and opportunity that supports them.

"Have a wonderful evening. And thank all of y'all for what you do, and particularly Dr. (unintelligible). And congratulations, Mr. Shadd, and congratulations, Dr. Holmes, congratulations, Dr. Cheryl Caution-Parker. I know you'll do a fine job as board officers. Bless y'all, and have a good evening."

She concluded at (1:40:17)

I recommend you go to the video-recording and listen to that drivel for yourself. Now, that's McKie - being brief. Two minutes of nothing.

And unfocused, rambling, disconnected. How do the maturing students in Richland 2 like being called "babies"? Even the middle-school students? Even the elementary school students. "Babies"? Are you kidding me?

Now, as for the duties of the Board of Trustees. Apparently, McKie has not read Board Policy BBA - Board Powers and Duties. McKie has been on the board since November 2014 and was board chair (improperly) for the school year 2018-19 (Only legitimate board members are eligible to be board officers; she has not been a legitimate board member since November 2018).

What does BBA say? I'll just list the categories. Read the Policy for yourselves. The categories of powers and duties are:
Legislative/Policymaking
Executive
Quasi-Judicial
Operational Action
Appraisal and Approval
Educational Planning and Evaluation
Provision of Financial Resources
Staffing
Reviewing Action
Visits to Schools
Public Relations

Far more than just hiring and firing the superintendent.

To read the Board Policies, go to www.Richland2.org
Click on EXPLORE
Click on School Board
Click on BOARD POLICIES
Click on Section B - SCHOOL BOARD GOVERNANCE AND OPERATIONS

Board Policy BBA is the fourth one down. Maybe someone will let McKie know where to look.

What is a "KAREN"?

How do we achieve healing between blacks and whites when this happens?

When Pastor Chris Leevy Johnson referred to a white Richland 2 School Member as a "KAREN" [sic] in a Facebook post on June 30, was that a racist comment? I say it was.

We all know what happens when a white person calls a black person the "n-word". In fact, the white person who even pronounces the word represented by the "n-word" will quickly find him a target. To do so these days results in anger, outrage and, in Columbia, S.C. and other places, quite likely a criminal charge of committing a hate crime.

But what about when a black person calls a white woman a "KAREN"?

Are there protests? Demonstrations? Riots? Looting? Arsons? Acts of intimidation? Assaults? Batteries? Murders? Rampaging on the streets? Broken windows? Graffiti?

What consequences should the person who utters such a word face? Should Johnson be investigated? Charged? Jailed? Prosecuted? Convicted? Imprisoned? Shunned by fellow blacks?

I don't know him. I don't want to know him.

Anyone who thinks racism isn't alive and well around here is nuts.

Isn't a pastor to be thought of as one who promotes peace and healing between races?

Pastor uses racist term toward school board member

Remember the bumper stickers that read "I'm Mad, Too, Eddie"?

Yesterday I was glancing over Facebook posts and came across these two.

I have seldom seen such a racist remark by a local minister. And for a City of Columbia councilwoman (and lawyer and beneficiary of perhaps $40,000 of Richland 2 sub-contracted legal fees) to repeat it just compounds the insult.

On June 30 at 10:50PM (after the Richland 2 school board meeting) local attorney and City of Columbia councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine posted a message on Facebook. It read, “Congratulations James Shadd. Please read Pastor Chris’ post below.”

The post “below” (also on June 30) was from Chris Leevy Johnson who claimed to be with James Shadd on June 30 at 6:37PM. Johnson wrote:

“Congratulations to my classmate since kindergarten at Greenview Elementary James Shadd for being elected Chairman of the Richland County School District Two School Board tonight! He ran unopposed but the vote was unfortunately 6-1! Please watch the video and let us remember KAREN [sic] did not vote for our brother (or to extend the contract of the Superintendent which was another 6-1 vote) this coming November.”

Johnson is a pastor at Richland Northeast Baptist Church and works at Leevy Funeral Home in Columbia.

That exchange demands a public apology from James Shadd to his fellow school board trustee.

It also demands public apologies from Tameika Isaac Devine and Chris Leevy Johnson.