Saturday, January 30, 2021

School board needs a Parliamentarian!!!

How can I describe last Tuesday's (Jan. 26) school board meeting?

A train wreck! I started to watch the Livestream on January 26 and quickly bailed out. Then I decided today to browse the recorded meeting.

At 1:31:30 (on the timer) Supt. Davis was going on and on about putting Richland 2 students in positions to "be global citizens prepared to lead themselves in a chosen pathway." "This is the mission of the school district. Mission critical." Where were they? NASA?  ... and "global citizens" a couple of more times...  And how Richland 2 has the finest educators in the state, maybe in the nation. Yawn....

Then, at 1:43:50, the Agenda Item for the proposed agenda for the next meeting began.  You'll want to watch that. Trustee Elkins wanted an agenda item to discuss face coverings (masks, shields) for board members. She is quarantining at home and said she won't return to Board meetings until there is a Policy. Board Chair Manning said there is a Board Policy - ABD. He asked if Monica wanted to make a motion to revise it. She did. 

Her Motion failed, 3-4. Elkins, Agostini and McFadden voted in favor. Manning, McKie, Caution-Parker and Holmes voted against it. No surprises there, for sure.

Why was the majority of the board unwilling to approve such a motion and allow discussion at the next meeting of a revision to a Policy?

And right there is where the meeting ran off the rails! I mean, OFF THE RAILS!!!

Monica spoke up and was allowed to continue speaking. She didn't ask to be recognized. She was out-of-order and got away with it. The Motion had been voted on. Discussion was over. A Point-of-Order should have been called. 

Monica said that, when the Board Chair and superintendent want something added to the agenda, it gets added. But, when a Board member wants something added, a vote is required.  And often such motions are voted down because of personal prejudice or like or dislike of a person (board member).

She hit the nail on the board. Often, when Agostini or Elkins wants something, they are voted down 2-5 or 3-4. Who hangs together to control the board? McKie, Holmes, Caution-Parker and Manning. 

Manning over-rode Elkins, interrupted her and tried to silence her, but Elkins was right. (Later in the Board and Superintendent Comments, Holmes tried to school Elkins (and Agostini) about "democracy" and majority rule.

Elkins commented further, and then the superintendent piped in. He too was out-of-order. He often does that, speaking without obtaining the Chair's acknowledgement and approval to speak. 

A Parliamentarian, if fully independent of the board, would correct any Board Member who spoke out in clear violation of Robert's Rules of Order. Same with the superintendent, which is why the Parliamentarian should not be a District employee. An employee in the role of Parliamentarian would be headed for the bread line.

At 1:58:10 Trustee Agostini made a Motion for an HR update. The superintendent immediately jumped in (Out-of-Order again) to ask for a delay. Then Elkins chimed in, also out-of-order.

Mrs. Agostini's motion needed a second, before discussion. It never got a second. And the discussion was argument, not discussion. 

The superintendent discounted Agostini's request, and then he tried to smooth over with "Respectfully" and "humbly". Had I been on the Board, about that time I would have made a motion to fire him. And make him sue for the balance of his contract. The majority on the board (The Squad, as I call them) have given him quite a Golden Parachute, and they would vote against firing him.

Manning asked Agostini if she wanted to make a Motion with more detail, apparently forgetting that she already had made a motion. Then the superintendent wanted to buy more time (delay).

Then Manning incorrectly claimed privilege as Board Chair and decided Agostini's request would not be on the next agenda, and he never asked for a Second, Discussion or a Vote.

Manning asked Agostini to put her request in writing. Agostini said that every time she had done that, her request had been denied. 

Agostini did it correctly. Make a Motion. Then there should be a second, discussion and a vote; even if it fails, it's on the record. If the Chair attempted to cut it off, any other Board member should have objected. Even McKie, Holmes (Vice Chair), Caution-Parker (Board Secretary), or McFadden, the newest member of the board. And then responsibility (blame) can be assigned to those sticking their heads in the sand. 

So Agostini's Motion is still pending, and the Board ought to still be sitting in that room.




Thursday, January 28, 2021

Boys in girls' sports?

What's happening in Richland 2 schools? Are boys competing in girls' sports?

Are "boys" taking home all the trophies in girls' track? soccer? basketball? You name it?

What do you think of the "movement" to allow boys to compete in girls' sports?

Do you agree? Disagree?

If you disagree, what are you doing about it?

Monday, January 25, 2021

Uncle Tom - see it now

As soon as I saw this headline, "'Uncle Tom' Blacklisted by Hollywood", in The Daily Signal this morning, I went to Amazon Prime Video and began watching it.

Do you know these names: Booker T. Washington? Larry Elder? Thomas Sowell? Herman Cain? Walter Williams? Col. Allen West?

If you are an Amazon Prime member, it's free; if you are not, it's worth the rental price ($3.99). Gather your family around, turn off the cell phones, and watch this 1¾-hour documentary. Tell your kids to take notes. Take notes yourself.

Better yet? Buy it for $9.99 and refer to it often.

Can you afford this?

Parents, read this article.

Now is the time for a serious conversation with your children about whether you, and they, can afford the announced policies of the Biden Administration.

What are your kids learning in Richland 2 schools? Do you know? Find out.

It's too late not to vote for Joe Biden. But you, and other parents around the country, can still affect decisions being made in Washington, D.C. by constant contact with your elected representatives in Washington. This means mail, email, phone calls and personal visits - telling them what you want, what you expect, and then holding them accountable.

It starts with the $1,400 top-up to the last coronavirus stimulus award. Now there is talk about even more money to families. But there is no talk about how all the "free stuff" is going to be paid for.

A strong economy is supposed to result in higher employment, and more people working should mean more taxes being paid in. That's more taxes being paid in by the working people, not sitting back and soaking "the rich" with higher taxes.

Right now your kids, and their kids, and their kids, and their kids will be the ones paying for all the "free stuff" being passed out. 

It ain't "free". 

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Richland 2 history book?

Do you know what history book is used in Richland 2 schools? Have you, as a parent, read the books that your children are required to read?

Is there any chance that Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States is the history text in Richland 2?

Dennis Prager refers to Zinn as "an icon of the American Left". In Prager's book Still the Best Hope, he writes that Zinn's book "became the single most widely read history text in American schools." When you check out Zinn's beliefs, you will want to question whether Richland 2 should be using this text, if it is. 

Familiarize yourself with The 1619 Project and with the Report issued in January 2021 by The President's Advisory 1776 Commission. This Report was published days before the end of President Trump's term, and one of Joe Biden's first Executive Orders was to "disappear" the Commission.

If you want to read the Commission's Report, click here.

Thursday, January 21, 2021

President's 1776 Commission

Do you know what The 1776 Report of The President's Advisory 1776 Commission is? It was published this month (January 2021) just before the end of President Trump's term. 

President Joe Biden trashed the Report and rescinded the Commission on his first day in office on January 20, 2021. I think we can all be sure that he did not read it. His Executive Order was on his desk and waiting for his signature on his first day at the desk. 

Does anyone else think his action is hasty, since he obviously didn't read it first. Who has his ear?

The 1776 Report can be read here.

Why would Biden do that? A clue can be found in the second paragraph of the Introduction.

"The declared purpose of the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission is to “enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776 and to strive to form a more perfect Union.” This requires a restoration of American education, which can only be grounded on a history of those principles that is “accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling.”

The Democrats and progressive education are re-writing history, as evidenced by absurd publications like The 1619 Project. 

Yes, watch ... carefully

The Richland 2 School District announces on its website that its superintendent is on a watch list of "progressive" superintendents in the country. The list is included in K-12 Dive, described as a "publication covering educational news".

Look at www.k12dive.com and decide for yourself what type of publication you believe it is. Is it middle-of-the-road, fairly balanced? Or is it tilted in favor of one category of demographics?

What does "progressive" mean to you? When you hear that word, do you think "modern?" "up-to-date"?

Or do you think liberal or far-left thinking "progressive"?

Isn't that where Supt. Davis is?

He is vigorously promoting diversity and inclusion. Gloria Boutte's Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is here. Davis' pet project "100 Premier Men of Color" gets a lot of time and attention, but it is not even a Board-approved project, since he told the board that he is not accountable for it on his performance evaluation. Why is it even getting a mention?

The majority of the board and many teachers have to ecstatic with Joe Biden's ascension to the office of POTUS. The Federal government will be leaning further to The Left now. Note: "The Left" is to the left of liberal, as Dennis Prager explains in Still the Best Hope - Why the World Needs America Values to Triumph. Published in 2012, it is even more relevant today.

Will Conservative views and values be taught in Richland 2 schools? 

Are teachers required to educate and teach students to consider a wide range of options and opinions, in order to choose intelligently the one right for them? 

For me, this "watch list" means watch carefully. Examine what is happening in this school district. If you don't like what is happening, get involved. Attend board meetings in person. Sure, it's inconvenient. You'll have to sit at the far end of the peanut gallery, where board members won't see the whites of your eyes. But be there. And insist that more than 30 be allowed to attend.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Emergency Board Meeting: 1/13/2021

The Richland 2 school board held an emergency (Special Called) board meeting on January 13, 2021.

How do you define emergency?

Here's what Google has to say:  "An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation, although in some situations, mitigation may not be possible and agencies may only be able to offer palliative care for the aftermath."

I'll agree with that. Will you?

The purpose of the special-called meeting wasn't even to make a decision. It was to give the board an forum to provide input to the superintendent.

Couldn't that have been done in an e-mail? Or the night before, at the Regular Board Meeting?

There were several notable moments during the meeting. For some strange reason, it has not been posted on YouTube or in the usual place on the school board webpage. You can watch it at www.livestream.com/richland2

Considerable time was wasted talking about how teachers were supposed to get vaccinated. Should they be allowed to go during the day? What if they have a negative side-effect? Should they get more paid time off?

Absolutely no one mentioned having all the teachers meet in the cafeteria after school and arranging a medical professional to come and vaccinate them at the school! 

Teresa Holmes pulled out the race card pretty early in the meeting by announcing that there are increased reactions/side-effect among minorities. Of course, no statistics. Just slipped the race card out of the deck and laid it out for all.

There are 3,655 full-time employees. Why is it the responsibility of the District to see that they get vaccinated (if they choose to)? Why not let them act like employees of every other business and get busy (after work) and make their own arrangements?

At least one trustee admitted to being scared. I was reminded of AOC's belief that she was going to be killed on January 6. If you are scared, call your therapist.

Suggestions for the Board:

Hire a consultant or coach to teach you how to make brief, succinct comments and then to stop talking. A couple of the board members don't know how to stop, once they get on a roll. This meeting had good examples of that.

TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES. Several board members could be observed looking off-screen, probably at their phones for text messages or emails. One Board member's phone could be heard dinging. Incoming text?

At 1:14:25 trustee-elect Teresa Holmes admitted receiving several texts during the meeting. If she is getting communications during a public board meeting, those communications should be shared with all the members and the public.

Board Policy BEDL specifically prohibits this in the very first line of the policy. "Board members will not communicate electronically during meetings with members of the public, other board members, or school district staff regarding official school board business ... as such communications are subject to public disclosure under the state open meetings laws." The Board Policy applies to personal and district owned devices, and it includes tweets, texts, phone calls, web posts and other electronic communication.

Who is responsible for filing a complaint against a board member for violating a board policy? What are the consequences?

At 1:16-10 trustee-elect Holmes said, with great authority, "The Board does not have the authority to make this particular decision", referring to re-opening schools. She is wrong! Of course, the Board has that authority. It chooses not to exercise it and, rather, to pass the buck to the superintendent. 

Was trustee-elect McKie having some type of medical emergency during the meeting? Watch the recording at 1:05:15. She was very uncomfortable, jiggling in her chair, distracted. Watch her eye movements. Then she either turned off her camera or left the meeting for half a minute. When she returned, she was inattentive and had jittery fingers.

If she is ill, perhaps she should resign from the board. Oh, wait; she can't "resign" because she is not even on the board legitimately. She needs to take the oath of office (legally) to become a legitimate board member.

Oath of Office - Important? (or not)

In this interesting article published by Yahoo!news seven years ago on January 20, 2013, the reporter highlights the importance on the oath of office being administered correctly.

It's important. At least, when the Supreme Court Chief Justice is involved.

Not so important way down the line at Richland 2 School District. But shouldn't it be?

In March 2019, when it was pointed out to the School Board that Amelia McKie and Teresa Holmes were ineligible to take the oath of office on November 13, 2018, the Board should have quickly scheduled a legal administration of the oath.

But, to this day, Inauguration Day 2021, Richland 2 has not done so. Why not?

First, the Board and the District are unwilling to admit that South Carolina Code of Laws 8-13-1110(A) was, in fact, violated on November 13, 2018.

What's that old saying? "Pride goeth before a fall."

The law is clear, simple and short. First you file the Statement of Economic Interests Report and then you take the oath of office. After you take the oath of office, you enter upon official responsibilities.

McKie and Holmes have been usurping public office since November 13, 2018.

Secondly, the School District has been disbursing public monies improperly and illegally to and for them since November 13, 2018. A school board trustee gets paid $800/month plus expenses.

To become legitimate Trustees, all McKie and Holmes need to do is take the oath of office now. They filed the SEIs on December 4, 2018 and, on that date, first became eligible to take the oath of office and begin serving.

The District should recover the monies paid out to and for McKie and Holmes, probably somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 now. Each.

Thirdly, the School Board must realize that it is going to have to review all the board decisions (votes) since November 13, 2018 and correctly state the decisions, if the result is different after the votes of McKie and Holmes are removed. Some students will not have been expelled or suspended. Other votes will change when 4-3 decisions become 2-3 (failing) decisions.

It's only a matter of time until the Board realizes and admits that, instead of operating with seven trustees, it has actually been operating with five trustees. And, when one of those five wasn't present, then the Board could not even meet, because no quorum (five) was present!

Where has legal counsel for the school district been all this time???

Monday, January 18, 2021

Jan. 13 special board meeting

Have you been searching for the recorded Board meeting of January 13, 2021? Wondering what the discussion was all about last Wednesday night?

Here is where you will find it: https://livestream.com/richland2/events/9483840  NOTE: There is no sound for the first four minutes. The recording starts after 4:00 minutes  You can skip the silence by clicking at 4:00.

Tune in now to see/hear who said what about the re-opening of schools. 

When the Board Chair and the superintendent scheduled the meeting and planned the agenda, they set it up so that there would be a discussion (only) and no vote or decision by the board. Two things happen when they do it that way.

1. The Board can say it didn't decide, if the forward direction of the District blows up.

2. All responsibility falls on the superintendent. And then he'll say, "But the board said..."

A logical question to the District is, "Why isn't it posted on YouTube or on the District's website under Board Meetings?" Maybe everybody had checked out and had their minds on the the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday (today).

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Should Ethics debt keep person out of office?

Many bills proposed by lawmakers aren't worth the paper on which they are written. However, check out H.3520 (sponsored by S.C. Rep. Bruce Bryant (R - Lake Wylie)) and S. 188 (sponsored by S.C. Sen. Greg Hembree (R - Myrtle Beach)). 

According to the Post and Courier these bills "would bar people from running for office if they have outstanding ethics fines, which seems like a reasonable way to either get all those ethics deadbeats to pay their fines or else get them out of office."

Contact your State Representative and State Senator this week. Ask them to co-sponsor these bills. Ask them to support them. ASK them if they will support these bills. Pin them down. Ask them for a commitment on these bills. (Did you ever try to nail Jello to a wall? It might feel like that.)

Each time I have contacted Rep. Ivory Thigpen and Sen. Mia McLeod about Amelia McKie's outstanding $51,750 ethics fines, neither Thigpen nor McLeod has responded to me. 

I'm pretty sure I can tell you why they haven't responded./

Thanks to the reader who alerted me to the article in the Post and Courier. You know who you are. I don't mention your name because I don't want you to be doxed and canceled.

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Disgusting Display or Dubious Promotion

Richland 2 School District published a disgusting display of promotion and aggrandisement of Amelia McKie on January 4, 2021. A two-page announcement was made of McKie's election by the South Carolina School Boards Association as Region 8 Director. That followed her controversial appointment by the Richland 2 School Board.

The District failed to mention that McKie has made zero payments toward her $51,750 fine levied by the S.C. Ethics Commission and enforced by a judgment filed on July 10, 2019 in the Richland County Common Pleas Court.

The District also failed to mention that McKie's legitimacy to serve as a School Board has been questioned since March 2019. McKie violated South Carolina Code of Laws Section 8-13-1110(A) on November 13, 2018 by taking the oath of office before she filed her Statement of Economic Interests. She got "caught" by The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County.

Because McKie has not been a legal member of the School Board since November 13, 2018, she was ineligible to serve as Board Chair. Her claim of the title of Board Chair and signature on bond documents resulted in the resignation of the Board Secretary in April 2019. The Secretary was unwilling to risk personal liability by attesting to potentially false claims in the documents.

Because McKie is not a legal member of the Richland 2 School Board, she cannot be a Region 8 Director for the SCSBA. Apparently, that is just a minor inconvenience to the SCSBA.

The Richland 2 School Board has been requested numerous times to hold a public discusssion at a board meeting of the questions surrounding McKie's serving on the board. The Board has refused to do this.

Late in 2020 SLED and the FBI were requested to investigate Richland 2 School District for disbursing public monies to the two women (McKie and Teresa Holmes) who are not legally on the board. McKie and Holmes are usurping public office. One of the penalties is to pay back all of the money they have improperly received.

Richland 2 states (proudly) that McKie is a graduate of FastTrac, 

What is FastTrac? According to the City of Columbia's webpage, "FastTrac is a course designed to support the entrepreneur seeking to take their existing business to a higher level. This program assists entrepreneurs in analyzing their current business condition to identify the best opportunities for growth. Budgeting, sales strategies, management team roles, operational systems and business plan implementation are key areas of emphasis. The course also facilitates networking between entrepreneurs and experienced professionals."

Perhaps McKie could put some of that training to real use and pay off her debt to the S.C. Ethics Commission. You think?

Should McKie and Holmes be removed from the school board?

Should Teresa Holmes and Amelia McKie be removed from the Richland 2 school board?

Why do the Board Chair, James Manning, and the other trustees treat her as one of their own, even appointing her to a position on the South Carolina School Boards Association?

Holmes and McKie have never taken the oath of office legally; therefore, they are not legitimate members of the school board.

Should the recent action by the S.C. State's Attorney's Office against County Councilwoman Dahli Myers worry them? Are they next, now that the Myers' matter is almost out of the way?

Steps are underway to learn how to file an injunction against the Richland School District Two to prevent the District from continuing to use public monies for compensation payments to McKie (and to Holmes), dues payments to the S.C. School Boards Association, and other expenses associated with duties of a trustee. 

Last year SLED and the FBI were asked to investigate Richland Two's payments of public funds to persons not entitled to receive them. Will agents swoop in this year and arrest the parties involved?

A local attorney asked me in December what it would take to put my complaints to rest.

It's simple. The first thing is McKie and Holmes must raise their right hands and take the oath of office legally. Only then will they become legitimate members of the Board.

The next step will be to square up on the moneis they have received from Richland Two for monthly compensation and benefits.

What about that oath that they took on November 13, 2018? It is invalid, because they had not filed their Statements of Economic Interests with the S.C. Ethics Commission.

S.C. Code of Laws Section 8-13-1110(A) reads, in part: 

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.


To simplify the law for those on the board who struggle with long sentences.

"No public official ... may take the oath of office or enter upon his official responsibilities unless he has filed a statement of economic interests ..."

McKie and Holmes took the oath on November 13, 2018.

McKie and Holmes filed their Statements of Economic Interests on December 4, 2018.

Is November 13, 2018 before December 4, 2018? (Ask a second-grader in one of Richland 2's elementary schools.)

Because they are not legitimate board members, the District should not be paying them or paying for any benefits for them!!!

Monday, January 4, 2021

Why no court action???

On July 10, 2019, the South Carolina Ethics Commission filed a $51,750 Judgment in Richland County Common Pleas Court against Amelia McKie. This Judgment followed an Ethics Commission Decision & Order of July 2018, which had gone unpaid for an entire year.

According to court records for Case No. 2019CP4003809, absolutely nothing is happening with this case.

Why do the judge in the Common Pleas Court and the Chief Judge allow cases to just sit with no action? Why isn't the Ethics Commission's attorney in court every 60-90 days, asking the court to take action, such as ordering the S.C. Department of Revenue to take effective collection action?

Last time I checked with the Ethics Commission, McKie had not paid one penny toward this judgment. 

Is she broke? Facing bankruptcy? Yet still sitting at the Board of Trustees of the Richland 2 School Board?

Notice that I don't write "on" the Board, because she, like Teresa Holmes, is not a legal board member. McKie and Holmes have never taken the oath of office legally.