Are boys girls?

Read this article about the Loudoun County, Va. school district, which recently stomped on a teacher who won't call a boy a girl. Read it here. Elementary school teacher Byron Cross spoke out at a school board meeting on May 25. And on May 27, Ka-bam!!! "You're outa here!" What kind of idiots are on that school board. Woke-ism at its worst!!!

Is there any chance that this nonsense is gaining traction in the Richland 2 School District?

Should a teacher be required to address a gender-confused male, who wants to be a female, as "she"?

And what about the poor student who is sitting next to a boy, and the boy wants to be called "Mary"? Should that student be penalized, disciplined, graded down or sent to the principal's office?

Who on the Richland 2 School Board thinks this way? Anyone?

Comments below, please.

Anti-CRT Fight in Virginia

Do you support Critical Race Theory (CRT)? Do you know what it really is?

Do you oppose CRT? Are you worried that your children will be targeted in the classroom and graded down, if their teachers and administrators learn that you oppose CRT? Are teachers worried about job security, if they don't support CRT?

With students returning to the classroom, how will you know to what extent they may be improperly influenced toward CRT?

Read this article and learn what's going on in Virginia.

Show up at school board meetings and ask for specific information about CRT. And ask about all the other programs akin to CRT. You know, those "diversity" and "inclusion" programs. The ones that tell teachers what to think and what to say. The programs that want a face in front of the students that looks like the faces of the students. Meaning, black.

Ask about the superintendent's "100 Premier men of color" program, on which he is not evaluated because it's not even in his job description. Ask why it is a District program, if the District (school board) did not approve it. Ask how much money (public dollars) is being spent on it, and why! How did it creep into Richland 2 School District?

School Board Officer election - just around the corner

Get ready for the 2022 school board race right here in Richland County. Two trustees will be up for re-election: Manning and Caution-Parker. And you can count on trustees-elect McKie and Holmes to run again. 

The big problem? McKie and Holmes aren't even legitimate members of the Richland 2 school board.

Holmes said a while back that she wants to be board chair. It would be nice if she became a legitimate board member first. Will The Squad elect Holmes as Board Chair on June 29?

Perhaps one day soon the S.C. Supreme Court will address the usurping of public office by McKie and Holmes, who have never taken the oath of office legally. 

Contact school board members now, and ask them to be responsible in their election of Board Officers on June 29. 

Decide for yourself which trustees (or trustees-elect) have gone "woke" and elect responsible, conservative replacements in November 2022. 

Learn the dangers of Critical Race Theory and to what extent it is being implemented in Richland 2. Are the elements of it present, but it's just not being called by its name?

Watch out for the smoke-and-mirrors routine. All you have to do is attend (or watch) a couple of school board meetings. If a question is to be answered or an explanation give, you can be certain that if 15 words will suffice, a dissertation of 3-5 minutes will magically appear.

Last Tuesday's board meeting was over 3 hours. Inexcusable!!!

Support Shannon Braun

Fixer-Upper co-hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines are catching a lot of heat from the liberal media for their $1,000 donation to anti-Critical Race Theory school board candidate Shannon Braun in her race for the Grapevine Colleyville (Tex.) ISD. (www.GCISD.net)  Shannon just happens to be Chris' sister.

Shannon understands the dangers of Critical Race Theory. Do you?

For more on the Fixer-Upper story, click here.

Take a look at her dynamic website. www.shannonforgcisd.com  There is donation information there, if you want to kick in a few dollars to help Shannon get elected.

Braun's election will be decided in a June 5 run-off. It takes $$$ to win. Help her win. Every $5-10-25 helps.

May 25th Board Meeting - Three-plus hours!!!

I was shocked to see the length of the May 25th school board meeting. Another marathon!!!

The board should hire an expert to teach them how to conduct efficient board meetings. I didn't watch any of it live. Had I been a board member, I'm sure I would have walked out a long time before the end of the meeting.

Trustee-elect Teresa Holmes skipped the meeting, with James Manning explaining that she had a personal matter. I guess I don't really care what personal matter came up, unless it was her own death. School board meeting dates are announced a year in advance, and it's her obligation to attend every one of them. Manning should have explained to the board and the public what the nature of the "personal matter" was.

Why in the world the board tolerates a 2 min. 45 sec. introduction of the inspirational-moment speaker by trustee-elect Amelia McKie, I have no idea. Her introduction could have been limited to 20-30 seconds. The speaker was the Principal of Bridge Creek Elementary, and she took 4 minutes, including a video in which it was very difficult to understand any of the students or staff because of loud background music and their wearing of masks.

Several people signed up for Public Participation. One topic was transparency about a program at CFI - I know that stands for something, but I couldn't easily find it in the Schools run-down.

Did anything important happen at the meeting? Were there any important decisions?

How Dangerous is The Left's Censorship?

Read this article about an interview with attorney Alan Dershowitz on attempts by The Left to silence opposing thoughts and speech.

Click here or here:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/dangerous-new-wave-of-censorship-culminating-in-the-us-dershowitz_3831339.html?utm_source=News&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-05-26-1&mktids=a7c426572c53457edec386b386955c79&est=n7qB%2Fi%2BIOruqSAv8mR1Xp2kJZhCOnCjGaw0pBvsdvN4DimmS8NIGs9Zr9AnFpA%3D%3D

How dangerous is it when you cannot speak out without fearing losing of job or being doxxed?

I was recently threatened with a harassment complaint by a Bloomington, Ind. school board member, just because I wrote to complain about her vote and the board's decision to disarm SROs. Sure, I don't live in that district, but I have every legal right to address the board and comment on its decision that is dangerous to the safety, health and lives of students, staff and parents.

I recall a hearing before the election commission in McHenry County, Illinois, when a hearing was held on a voting regulation (fraud) complaint. The candidate's attorney asked the hearing officials to award legal fees; in other words, to pay his fees. The complainant's attorney spoke about the chilling effect that such an award would have on the filing of future complaints. The candidate's attorney was just grand-standing, but the hearing panel could have ruled favorably. It didn't. 

Email to School Board trustee = harassment?

Jacinda Townsend Gides, a school board member in Indiana, appears to be so afraid of guns that she voted to disarm School Resource Officers in the school district where she is on the board.

I emailed Jacinda Gides about her position opposing SROs, based on her fear of guns. Today, May 23, 2021, she replied: "Heh. When you're going to try to harass me with something I said, at the very least, get the quote right."

Notice her instant leap to "harassment".

I wrote back, stating that addressing a public official about official business is not harassment. 

She replied: "I am an attorney, actually. And you misquoted the Herald [sic] Times, which misquoted me. But your google is as good as mine. You can find the original H/T article and read that mangled quote for yourself. I'm asking you not to contact me, so if you contact me further, that is, in fact, harassment."

The newspaper is actually the Hoosier Times. There are two articles there on the vote by the Monroe County Community School Corporation (www.MCCSC.edu). 

There must be a national training for school board members that advises them to threaten citizens with harassment, when a citizen objects to official positions. It was about two years ago that I was similarly threatened right here in Richland 2 School District by a school board member (or, actually, by a woman usurping public office and pretending to be a school board member). 

The case here was that the trustee-elect (who has never, in 2½ years, taken the oath of office legally) was the recipient of emails addressed to all board members as a group. Yet she flexed her muscles and threatened me with harassment. Of course, it came to nothing. She threatened legal action more than once. She must have conferred with a good attorney, who told her she didn't have a case.

School Board disarms SROs

No, not the Richland 2 School Board (yet).

The Epoch Times reports that the Monroe County (Ind.) Community School Corporation (Bloomington area) has voted to disarm School Resource Officers (SRO).

Trustee Jacinda Townsend Gides lied in a meeting, when she said, “There has been no instance where an SRO prevented a school shooting with the discharge of a weapon.” See the article for the explanation of her lie.

"Gides also said she supported disarming officers because seeing the officers with guns in the school 'causes quite a bit of fear in me.'” I wonder if she has ever considered therapy. Do oncoming cars worry her? Many are operated by impaired or drunk drivers.

There's your typical view from the Left, and I hope that Monroe County students, parents and staff don't pay a high price for her stupidity.

Schools are known as Gun-Free Zones (GFZ), often considered easy pickings for criminals. A SRO is the first line of defense. One of the reasons that so few schools are sites of mass shootings is that SROs are armed.

This image appears are her Facebook page. Maybe voters will take to heart at election time. They are stuck with her until 2024.

June 29th - board officer election

Now is the time to start lobbying board members to elect the right people to officer positions on the School Board. The board will elect three officers for the 2021-2022 school year on June 29th.

Who should be elected?

Chair? #1 choice is Lindsay Agostini for Chair. She has strong business sense and good leadership skills. I think you can count on shorter meetings and closer following of Robert's Rules of Order. The introductions for Inspiration Moment speakers will be shorter and the Inspiration Moment will return to a "Moment", instead of a long-winded speech.

#2 Vice Chair? Monica Scott (formerly, Elkins)

#3 Secretary? James Manning.

Lindsay and Monica carefully read the board packets before meetings. This is obvious from the questions they ask and the points they raise.

McFadden was elected last November and is learning the ropes. It's too soon for an Officer position.

Caution-Parker is a "fixture" on the board, just keeping a seat warm. 

No one should be elected an officer who is not a legitimate member of the board. This rules out McKie and Holmes. Neither has ever taken the oath of office legally. Plus McKie still owes $51,000+ to the S.C. Ethics Commission.

McKie should be replaced as the District's representative to the South Carolina School Boards Association, for the same reasons.

Handcuff a 10-year-old?

Should a 10-year-old female student be handcuffed?

The worms are coming out of the woodwork. A student at Springdale Elementary School (Lexington 2 School District) went out of control this week, resulting in her being handcuffed briefly until she settled down.

I don't need to know any more about it. If the girl was hurting other students and emotionally out-of-control, sometimes handcuffs are needed. She calmed down and they were removed. Right?

What the girl ought to be afraid of is what's going to happen when Momma gets her home. That ain't gonna happen, though. Pass the microphone. And open up that new bank account.

Stand back, everyone. Let Attorney Bamberg through. And Attorney Bakari Sellers (if he's back from North Carolina). 

Now the mom is holding press conferences, and local folks in One Common Cause, Black Lives Matter South Carolina, EmpowerSC, the Racial Justice Network, and the South Carolina Black Activist Coalition are all jumping on the gravy train and planning a rally. They must all be connected on social media or speed-dial so that, when one finds a new crusade, they can all hop on.

Look at this idiotic statement from this article in The State: 

“Handcuffing children is never OK,” One Common Cause CEO Jerome Bowers said in the release. “Using the police to discipline students especially children with special needs is inappropriate and unacceptable.”

This rivals the "Hands Up. Don't shoot" nonsense that started in 2014.

How can Bowers say it's "never" okay? The police weren't used to "discipline" the kid; they were needed to control the kid, who supposedly was having a "temper tantrum".

What would Bowers have the school do? Just turn the kid loose on students and staff until she exhausts herself? Put her in the gym and lock the doors until she can't run and scream anymore? Send in a K-9 unit? Tase her? 

I've got it. The next time a black child is running loose like that kid was, just call Jerome Bowers. I'm sure he'll get things calmed down immediately.

Why Doesn't McKie Pay Her Ethics Fines???

                                                               Courtesy - TheNerve.org

I was reminded again of Amelia McKie's outstanding ethics fines this week, when I read the article on TheNerve.org about ethics fines of two S.C. State Representatives. You can read that article here.

In 2018 the South Carolina Ethics Commission fined McKie. The total owed, when she did not make a payment by 12/31/2018, was increased. Substantially. 

On July 10, 2019 the S.C. Ethics Commission filed a judgment for $51,750 against her in the Richland County Common Pleas Court. Look up Case No. 2019CP4003809 here. When you look at the public court record, you quickly see that there has been ABOLUTELY NO COURT ACTION in almost two years.

Is there any explanation at all why the Ethics Commission isn't pushing for collection? Or why Common Pleas Court Judge is allowing this case to languish on the docket without action? Why doesn't the judge summon the Director of the DOR and demand an answer?

McKie continues to be allowed to sit illegitimately on the Richland 2 School Board. She has never legally taken the oath of office. (Neither has Teresa Holmes.)

Gov. Henry McMaster should start chopping off heads at the S.C. Department of Revenue, which is the State's agent for collecting money owed to the State.

The S.C. Ethics Commission Debtors' List carries almost $3,000,000 in debts. Some of it is really high and really old. 

Why not collect it? If debtors have to face garnishment of wages, forfeiture of banking accounts and sale of assets (home, cars, boats, motor homes, vacation homes, etc.), why not? Get busy and collect from these deadbeats.

Start seeing guns

Expect to start seeing more guns after August 16, 2021. That is the effective date for the new South Carolina law that permits holders of a S.C. Concealed Carry Permits (CWP) to carry handguns openly.

My guess is that most CWP holders will not carry their guns in the open; i.e., visible and not covered by a jacket, shirt or sweater. 

But some will, and no nefarious reason should be assigned to their doing so. The law allows it.

Some people will worry. "OMG, he has a gun!" 

Now is a good time to understand the new law and to begin explaining to your kids what the law is and why they need not be concerned, if they see a man (or a woman) carrying a gun. The bill that became law is H.3094. 

Some armed citizens will merely be removing their jackets to enter a hot car, or leaving a car and then donning a jacket or other garment to cover their guns. You may see their guns. Others will be shopping or out for a walk or buying gas. Just ignore the gun.

Or say Hello to the person. Thank him or her for being armed. You are safer because of that person.

Should the sight of a gun concern you to the point that you feel the need to call the sheriff's department, report exactly what you see. Do not exaggerate, or every cop in the county will show up.

On September 18, 2010 five armed men went to lunch at Culver's in Madison, Wisconsin. Upon seeing these men enjoying their burgers, but armed, a woman called the Madison P.D. The dispatcher, knowing that open-carry was allowed in Wisconsin, asked if the men were causing trouble. The woman told the dispatcher that they were not, but she was "worried". 

Eight cops showed up, hassled the men who were legally carrying and arrested two for obstructing justice and all five for disorderly conduct. That was in spite of an Opinion Letter by the Wisconsin Attorney General that the sight of a gun should not be considered disorderly conduct, absent any other problems.

Charges were eventually dropped and the Madison PD settled for $10,000.

One cop could have shown up, observed the guys having lunch, introduced himself, indicated why he responded, confirmed no crime was being committed or was about to be committed, and departed. Instead, the cops flexed their muscles. And were wrong.

Maybe this is why SLED wanted a 90-day delay for educating South Carolina cops. Still, it could be handled in one roll call. No need to wait 90 days. But laws are the result of compromises; so it's 90 days.

May 11th Board Meeting - Holmes Embarrasses Herself

When will the board wise up and ditch their masks during board meetings? They are social-distanced and further protected by the plastic side shields. When they mumble through their masks, they are often hard to understand.

The May 11th Board meeting got off to a slow start with another long-winded introduction of the inspirational speaker and then a very long Inspiration Moment. McKie must be hitting all the Toastmasters' meetings to practice her introductions, which need to be much shorter. Who cares if the speaker's daughter is a "track star extraordinaire"? The speaker (assistant principal at Ridge View HS) should have been told that he had two-three minutes for an inspiration message. And McKie should be told that she has 30 seconds for the introduction!

Once the business of the board began, it was time for the Board to approve the Consent Agenda. Trustee Agostini requested that Item 7.4 be removed from the Consent Agenda and made the appropriate Motion. Trustee Scott seconded. 

During the vote, trustee-elect Holmes said she was going to abstain, because she "really didn't understand the Motion."

How could Holmes sit on the Board for 2½ years and fail to learn enough about parliamentary procedure not to understand what pulling an item from the Consent Agenda means?

It's simple. The item is removed from the combined vote on the items in the Consent Agenda. The item removed is then discussed separately and voted on. Further, no explanation is needed to abstain from voting. You just don't vote. Period.

When the remainder of the Consent Agenda was voted on, it passed 5-0-2. That's five in favor; none against; two abstaining.

Then Item 7.4 was addressed. Trustee Agostini moved to postpone Item 7.4 to the May 25th board meeting. Trustee Scott seconded.

Discussion was opened, and trustee-elect McKie asked why. Mrs. Agostini explained that the proposal in Item 7.4 had just been delivered to the board yesterday (Monday) morning and she hadn't had time to evaluate it. She wanted the vote postponed to the May 25th meeting. No other questions arose, the Chair Manning called for the vote.

Holmes, attending by phone, voted No. 

Agostini, Caution-Parker and McFadden voted Yes; i.e., to move the item to May 25.

McKie, Holmes, Manning and Scott voted No. In other words, jump now. Don't wait. Which of them really read and understood the proposal in Item 7.4, which never reached public view?

When the vote was tallied, it was 3-4; the motion to postpone Item 7.4 to May 25th failed. 

What was the rush? Why didn't trustees get adequate time to evaluate Item 7.4? One has to wonder why that vote was buried in the Consent Agenda, instead of coming up as New Business.

Then McKie moved to approve Item 7.4, and Caution-Parker seconded. When discussion opened, Trustee Scott led off with her questions. That's plural. Ten (10) of them!

Listen to Trustee Scott's questions and the staff answers (starting at 33:38 in the recording) about a purchase of a forklift and a Volvo (XC-40?) electric car  for the Innovative Course. State funds are going to be sucked up for some (most?) of the costs.

The staffer referred often to Special Ed students. It was a big smoke-and-mirrors act.

Hear about candy production and sales to staff and, later, outside the building. There must be a culinary arts program.

I checked out at 41 minutes into the 2 hr. 13 min. meeting. I didn't stick around for the vote. 

JUUL class-action lawsuit - Round 2

Tomorrow night the Richland 2 School Board will vote whether to join in on a class-action lawsuit regarding the JUUL product.

Remember when this first came up. It died a proper death at a school board vote. As I recall, only six board members were present, and the vote was 3-3. The Chair had to be reminded that a tie-vote meant that the Motion failed.

This item never should have gotten up to bat again. But the Chair and the Supt. put their heads together and put in on the agenda. 

Unfortunately, this is a rotten example of school board tactics. When something failed to get approval, that was supposed to be the end of it.

And it is, unless the superintendent wants it. Board member McFadden switched horses. Previously, she had sided with the two board members who also voted No. 

Did The Squad work on her, as this JUUL issue came around a second time? 

Who gets rich in a class-action lawsuit? The lawyers. Not the plaintiffs. 

Is this just a resume-enhancing step, to jump on the JUUL train? Whether or not there is ever an economic benefit to Richland 2? 

Will someone be able to say, "Well, I was there, when we sued them." 

Richland 2 has virtually no adverse exposure. Out of 28,000 students, they have been almost no cases of discipline for JUUL or cigarettes.

And, even if there have been a few disciplinary cases, it's a minor infraction. And it's a personal issue.

I'd say there are much bigger issues to give time to.

Call the members of the school board and tell them to vote NO.

Voters on C.R.T. - Thumbs Down

Are you educating yourself on Critical Race Theory (C.R.T.) and The 1619 Project?

Read this excellent article from The Heritage Foundation, titled "Voters in Dallas Suburb Lead Revolt Against Critical Race Theory Curriculum".

When you read words, such as sensitivity training, diversity, inclusion training, equity, anti-racism, your internal radar system should blow a fuse. How often to you read and hear these words in Richland 2 Board Meetings, where the trustees are supposed to be directing the superintendent?

Richland 2 talks and talks and talks about being a premier school district, when it is moving farther and farther toward the liberal end of the seesaw.

How many of the Richland 2 trustees support Critical Race Theory? To what extent do the Administration and Staff support it?

Every time a staff presentation is made to the Board or a Board member blabs on and on about diversity, hundreds of parents should be standing up in board meetings and shouting "NO". 

But right there is the problem. Parents are not showing up for board meetings. Even now seating controls the number and holds it to about 30. You know, "social distancing". 

Keep in mind, too, that there continue to be two illegitimate women on the Board. Amelia McKie and Teresa Holmes still have never taken the oath of office legally! Two and one-half years have passed since they were elected. The issue of the oath of office was first raised in January 2019. 

One of these days they are going to get the "opportunity" to explain to the Justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court why they believe they are not usurping public office. And then the District is going to have to go all the way back to November 13, 2018 and correct every vote by the Board, removing the votes cast by McKie and Holmes. 

The District should recover all monies paid to them as their compensation ($800/month, now for 2½ years) and for their expenses (National and State School Boards Associations memberships, travel, room & board at meetings, etc.) 

Their case will blow up with only two questions:

1. On what date did you take the oath of office? November 13, 2018

2. On what date did you first become eligible to take the oath of office? December 4, 2018

So you took the oath before you were eligible to do so; right? Yes

They will be retroactively removed from the board.

Are there board members who can read and understand S.C. Code of Laws Section 8-13-1110(A)? When they don't continually object to the presence and participation of two illegitimate board members, do they become complicit and culpable in the problem? 

Special Board Meeting - May 7, 4:00PM

The Richland 2 School Board has called a Special Meeting for tomorrow, Friday, May 6, at 4:00PM at R2i2.

The board will immediately go into hiding (err, Executive Session) to discuss "security personnel or devices regarding school buses".

How much money will they decide to spend with virtually no discussion or consideration?

This is, no doubt, a knee-jerk reaction to this morning's incident during which a Fort Jackson trainee left the Fort with a rifle and boarded a school bus.

Sheriff Lott had this to say, in part, “You can just imagine they were scared to death, along with that bus driver,” That is the kind of statement that increases anxiety and worry where there may have been little or none. Maybe the kids looked at it as a little adventure, since they were together on the bus with the soldier for just a short time.

Peoples' imaginations tend to run wild and imagine worst-case scenarios. The students and driver were off the bus within blocks. They weren't kidnapped for hours or days!

Here is exactly why anti-gunner S.C. State Sen. Mia McLeod should be dumped at the next election. It's too bad she was just re-elected, because the state senate will have to put up with her until the Fall of 2024. The following appeared in The State newspaper today:

"State Sen. Mia McLeod, D-Richland, said on Twitter she was grateful no one was hurt, but also made a political point following the hijacking which took place the same day the state Senate is scheduled to debate open carry of firearms.

“THIS MORNING IN MY DISTRICT: Fort Jackson trainee arrested after hijacking a school bus full of children, and yet the Senate GOP, is forcing us to debate and (probably) pass yet another expansive gun bill,” McLeod tweeted." 

“THIS MORNING IN MY DISTRICT: Fort Jackson trainee arrested after hijacking a school bus full of children, and yet the Senate GOP, is forcing us to debate and (probably) pass yet another expansive gun bill,” McLeod tweeted." 

The po', li'l Democrats are being "forced" to debate open carry? They'll be whining soon about being oppressed by the white GOP majority in the S.C. Senate. Please pass the barf bag.

McLeod may score a few points with her Democrat buddies and the nervous Nellies in MOMs Demand Action. The soldier's leaving the Fort with a rifle has absolutely, ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with open carry or, in her opinion, "expansive gun" legislation. That typical liberal whining in inexcusable.

What is Critical Race Theory?

Have you been looking for an easy-to-understand explanation of Critical Race Theory?

Try on this, from PragerU.com