Why isn't Richland 2 Filling Two Vacant Seats?

The Richland 2 School Board is supposed to have seven members. It has five (5).

There is a protocol for filling vacant seats. Richland One filled one after resignation of a board member who was moving out of state. It held a special election.

To become a legitimate board member, one must first be elected. Upon being elected, the candidate becomes "qualified" and becomes a trustee-elect.

The next step is for the trustee-elect to become eligible for the office by filing a Statement of Economic Interests form with the South Carolina Ethics Commission.

ARTICLE 11

Disclosure of Economic Interests

SECTION 8-13-1110. Persons required to file statement of economic interests.

(A) No public official, regardless of compensation, and no public member or public employee as designated in subsection (B) may take the oath of office or enter upon his official responsibilities unless he has filed a statement of economic interests in accordance with the provisions of this chapter with the appropriate supervisory office. If a public official, public member, or public employee referred to in this section has no economic interests to disclose, he shall nevertheless file a statement of inactivity to that effect with the appropriate supervisory office. All disclosure statements are matters of public record open to inspection upon request.

For those certain people who have difficulty reading the "fine print", let me simplify this Section.

(A) No public official, regardless of compensation, and no public member or public employee as designated in subsection (B) may take the oath of office or enter upon his official responsibilities unless he has filed a statement of economic interests in accordance with the provisions of this chapter with the appropriate supervisory office. If a public official, public member, or public employee referred to in this section has no economic interests to disclose, he shall nevertheless file a statement of inactivity to that effect with the appropriate supervisory office. All disclosure statements are matters of public record open to inspection upon request.

Fact: Amelia McKie and Teresa Holmes filed their Statements of Economic Interests forms with the S.C. Ethics Commission on December 4, 2018.

According to Richland 2 School District, McKie and Holmes have not taken the oath of office on or since December 4, 2018.

Therefore, they are not legitimate members of the school board and should not be allowed to participate in board matters, votes, compensation or perks.

They will become legitimate board members as soon as they take the oath - legally. The oath they both took on November 13, 2018 was in violation of S.C. Code of Laws Section 8-13-1110(A).

If they were in court and sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, how would they answer these two questions:

"Did you take the oath of office on November 13, 2018, before you filed your Statement of Economic Interests form?"

"Have you taken the oath of office since you filed your Statement of Economic Interests form on December 4, 2018?"

There are three possible answers: 1. Yes; 2. No; 3. I decline to answer on the grounds that my answer might incriminate me.

The Richland County Elections Commission has been asked whether it retains jurisdiction over an elected position if the candidate never takes the oath of office. Isn't the position still open? Shouldn't an election be held to fill the two open positions on the Richland 2 School Board?

Why Teachers Quit?

A recent article in Newsweek describes a high school in Dallas where somebody got all hot and bothered about a writing assignment given to one class. 

A teacher at W. T. White High School in the Dallas ISD (4505 Ridgeside Drive, Dallas, TX 75244) gave a two-part assignment to the class about a "hero for the modern age". Students could pick one from several men and then were told to write a half-page biography and then to write a full page essay on which one "demonstrates best your concept of a hero". (Newsweek)

The list included César Chávez, George Floyd, Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm X, Kyle Rittenhouse, and Joseph Rosenbaum.

A relative of one student got her panties all twisted over Rittenhouse's name being included and that no women were included on the list. Whom did she want on the list? Patty Hearst?

The school ran for cover, of course, instead of sticking up for the teacher.

Why should the teacher not be criticized? He (or she) was requiring the students to think. To t-h-i-n-k. What a novel concept. First of all, they'd probably just head for Google for their half-page biography. But the next part of the assignment, choosing one from the list to represent their own concept of a hero and then writing a full page about him should require some thinking. 

I wonder whether W. T. White High School offers a debate class or a debate team. 

Teachers today, worried about keeping their jobs and not getting on the wrong side of a principal or superintendent (and then having a face a school board that is stacked against them because it sides with a superintendent in disciplinary or expulsion actions), learn quickly that they'd better not think "outside the box."

Be careful not to challenge the kiddies; they might offend someone. And, for sure, someone - somewhere in that class (or at home or related or maybe not even related) - will stand up and scream. And then the teacher will find out he is up the creek, without a paddle.

W. T. White H.S. Principal: Elena Bates. Email: ELBates@dallasisd.org

Dallas ISD Superintendent: Michael Hinojosa

Submit comments to Dallas ISD at www.dallasisd.org/comments