R2 Board Elects 2 ineligible Officers!

Tonight the Richland 2 school board elected two officers who are not eligible to hold office! Teresa Holmes was elected as Chair in a 5-2 vote, and Amelia McKie was elected as Secretary in a 4-3 vote. James Manning was elected Vice-Chair in a 5-2 vote.

Voting was by secret ballot because there was more than one nominee for each office.

During the public participation segment of the meeting I addressed board andthe  urged them to allow only fully-qualified persons to be nominated. They all knew I was referring to McKie and Holmes. Fully-qualified meant they had to have taken the oath of office legally! I asked the board to deny an illegible nominee.

Since February 2019 I have complained that McKie and Holmes are not legitimate members of the board. Tonight I reminded the board that two of the people have never taken the oath of office legally.

And so, what happened when the agenda reached the time for election of officers. The superintendent runs the election, and he called for nominations for Chair.

Mr. Manning led the pack in jumping right in with his nomination of Teresa Holmes for Chair. Right out of the box! 

The superintendent should have raised the issue of legitimacy. Another board member should have called a Point-of-Order.

Manning KNOWS that Holmes is not a legitimate board member. Holmes has never taken the oath of office legally. Yet Manning quickly spoke up to noiminate her. The Squad lined right up with Manning, and the vote was 5-2.

For Vice-Chair, Manning was nominated, and the vote again was 5-2.

For Secretary, Amelia McKie was nominated. The Squad lined up again, and she won with a 4-3 vote. McKie is not only not a legal board member, she is not eligible to be a board officer. And she also is not eligible to the the District's nominee to the South Carolina School Boards Association for Regional Director. But there she is.

Last year I contacted the Richland County Sheriff's Department and SLED about McKie and Holmes. SLED investigators interviewed me at the S.C. Attorney General's office. For a while it really looked like the A.G. was going to file charges. And then he didn't. 

However, now it's a new story. This Board cannot function with two illegitimate officers. The taxpayers must demand that only duly-qualified board members should serve as Officers. And ALL board members should fully qualified, which McKie and Holmes are not.

The Chair and the superintendent set the direction of the District, because they control the agenda. 

Get ready, folks. The District 2 ship is setting sail for even more dangerous waters.

CRT - Two Hours of Public Comments

No, not in Richland 2, of course. The Richland 2 board is willing to listen only to (up to) 10 members of the public at a board meeting, and for not more than 30 minutes.

So, where was there a two-hour public lambasting of the board? Douglas County, Colorado - just southeast of Denver and not far from where I lived.

Check out this article in the June 22nd edition of The Daily Signal, a publication of the Heritage Foundation. The title?

Is Your School Hiding Its Critical Race Theory Teaching? Here Are 5 Things to Ask About

I recently submitted a FOIA request to Richland 2 for documentation of teaching of Critical Race Theory. The reply was that there was no "documentation" responsive to my request. So I knew I hadn't ask the right question(s).

Read this article, which was originally published in The Denver Gazette.

Publication Participation

Why does Richland 2 require those wishing to speak during Public Participation to sign up not later than 15 minutes before the re-convening of the Regular meeting?

Is this just a case of "Because we said so"?

Tuesday's meeting starts at 4:30PM, and the board will quickly enter Executive Session (for food, beverages, and some confidential business). Watch when they come out of Executive Session. Some of them will be carrying extra meals to take home, if past meetings are any indication of what will happen this Tuesday.

There are two Public Participation segments during Regular Board Meetings. One 15-minute segment is held early in the meeting, and the second is held late in the meeting, AFTER the board has conducted its business and voted on agenda items.

HOWEVER, you must sign up to speak before 5:45PM. And you don't get a choice about speaking at the first or second segment.

Speakers get three minutes to sound off, so only five will speak at the first segment. If you are Number 6 to sign up, and each of the others takes his full three minutes, then you get to cool your heels until nearly the end of the meeting. If you wanted to comment on an item the board will consider and vote on, Tough Luck!

Why doesn't the board hold a 30-minute segment and give the public an opportunity to speak up before they take care of business?

What if a "Loudoun County" Night occurred and 200 people showed up to bark at the board about Critical Race Theory (or Richland 2's version, Culturally Relevant Theory (or Pedagogy))?

Would the board listen? Not likely. Instead, RCSD deputies would get a work-out, because they will be instructed to remove many members of the public.

Even though the State of South Carolina has removed COVIC-19 restrictions, the Richland 2 board continues to restrict attendance at board meetings to 30 members of the public. It is past time to open the public meetings to larger attendance.

June 29th Board Meeting - special hours

The June 29th school board meeting will convene at 4:30PM*, according to the notes with the published Agenda. This is an hour earlier than normal. See the Agenda for items to be discussed out of public hearing. A longer-than-usual Executive Session is planned. 

At 6:00PM the Regular Meeting will re-convene. 

However, an email to media indicated that the board meeting will start at 5:30PM, with the budget hearing and Regular Meeting at 6:00PM, after the Executive Session.

* NOTE: Check on the District's website for any correction to the starting time.

EDIT at 6:28PM 

An amended announcement was mailed out by Richland 2 that the correct starting time of the board meeting is 4:30PM.

At 10:39AM the District sent out it first announcement to media, with the starting time as 5:30PM.

At 10:51AM I emailed the District to ask the correct starting time; 4:30PM or 5:30PM. 

At 11:10AM the District issued a correction of the starting time to 4:30PM.

Still waiting for the District to say "Thanks".

CRT: Joy Reid vs. Chris Rufo

For a discussion of the interview between Joy Reid (MSNBC mouthpiece) and Christopher Rufo, Manhattan Institute senior fellow, see this FoxNews article: https://www.foxnews.com/media/christopher-rufo-msnbc-joy-reid-critical-race-theory

Do you know these terms?

"intersectionality, critical whiteness studies, ethnic studies, and critical pedagogy"

Pay close attention, when you hear any of these words in Richland 2 School District. 

Robin DiAngelo is mentioned in the article. I tried to read her book but quickly gave up. I have a strong stomach, but it's not strong enough to digest her drivel.

In all (well, some) fairness to Joy Reid, I would not know her from Godzilla's mother, if both were standing in front of me.

Thank you, Loudoun County (Va.) Parents

Thanks for Loudoun County, Va. parents and the school board there, Loudoun County has been much in the news about the parents' fights with the board over Critical Race Theory.

Do you think CRT is right here in Richland 2? Do you know the extent of "diversity training" (mind-bending) in Richland 2 School District? Think you should find out more - now?

Here's an article for your reading enjoyment.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-loudoun-county-became-the-apex-of-the-fight-against-critical-race-theory?itm_source=parsely-api&utm_source=cnemail&utm_medium=email

And here are some highlights from that article:

police arrested at least two parents who refused to leave a public school board meeting. 

nearly year-long pushback against the district for allegedly pushing critical race theory on children

progressive ideology in the classroom. 

Between 2018 and 2020, LCPS spent $422,500 in taxpayer funds on diversity training programs hosted by The Equity Collaborative, a California-based consulting firm. 

How much has Richland 2 spent?

promoting social justice in the classroom

Learning for Justice — the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center’s teaching arm — to craft the district’s new curriculum. The proposed lesson plans recommended restructuring history and social studies classes to emphasize slavery as fundamental to American society for students from kindergarten to fifth grade. 

You've heard of The 1619 Project; right?

Dr. Seuss’s children’s book contained “racial undertones” that are not suitable for “culturally responsive” learning. 

the district’s progressive school board. The board did not publicly announce many of the changes

speech code that would have prohibited teachers from criticizing the school board’s racial equity plan. District employees were instructed to be committed to “action-oriented equity practices” in all forms of personal and public speech. 

district also hired an equity lead

teachers were required to undergo an equity presentation 

teacher bullying a student for saying he takes a colorblind approach to observing people. 

Parents who pushed back against critical race theory in Loudon County were met with intense pushback from the “anti-racist” community, including teachers. 

A black mother called the board racist for daring to teach her children that they were oppressed. 

The board voted to silence parents condemning them by suddenly ending the public comment portion of the meeting, which was scheduled to go on for hours. 

TED Talks - Luvvie Ajayi Jones

There are two short TED Talks by dynamic Luvvie Ajayi Jones. Without saying more, I'll just recommend them and urge you to listen to them. 

"Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable"

https://www.ted.com/talks/luvvie_ajayi_jones_get_comfortable_with_being_uncomfortable

"How to be a Professional Troublemaker"

https://www.ted.com/talks/luvvie_ajayi_jones_how_to_be_a_professional_troublemaker

Every parent and every student should hear these two talks. Read her books, too. And check out her website at www.luvvie.org 

R2 Public Should Speak

One of the most important school board meetings of the year will be held Tuesday, June 29, 2021. A massive number of the public should attend - to speak and to observe.

On June 29 the officers for School Year 2021-2022 will be elected. Only one office is really important - The Board Chair position. The Chair and the Superintendent are the ones who set the agendas for twice montly board meetings, workshops, etc.

The Secretary is also important, because the office protects the official signatures on documents. You may remember that a Secretary resigned in 2019, rather than attesting to the naming of Amelia McKie in school bond documents as Board Chair and McKie's signature on bond documents. 

The Vice-Chair acts only in the Chair's absence. The Vice-Chair should be completely familiar with the requirements of the Chair for running board meetings, which hasn't always been the case in the past. 

This year the public should demand that the seven-member board elect leadership (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary) that is more conservative than in the past. Important issues to be addressed are the continuing direction toward Critical Race Theory and the presence on the board of two trustees-elect who have never taken the oath of office legally. The board should get training in Robert's Rules of Order.

The Board, at some point, is going to have to review ALL decisions made since November 13, 2018 and remove the votes of McKie and Holmes. This will change some of the decisions - those that were swayed by the votes of McKie and Holmes. 

The longer the Board waits to do this, the farther back they will have to go to correct the votes.

In some cases disciplinary actions will change. If a 4-3 (Passing) vote contained the Yea votes of McKie and/or Holmes, that vote will change to 3-3 (Failing) or 2-3 (Failing). Maybe a kid who was expelled or transferred really shouldn't have been. Maybe McKie shouldn't have been nominated to the South Carolina School Boards Association.

It's the board that elects its officers, not the public. But the public can be persuasive on how the board votes. Contact board members now and ask them to elect leadership that will change the direction of the board and of the District, by its supervision of the superintendent.

"Dog-whistle Politics"?

Be sure to read this article about the Loudoun County, Va. school board and its "esteemed" leader, who appears not to give two hoots for the public.

That board is getting a lot of heat from parents over Critical Race Theory (CRT). The mindset of the board seems to be "We know what's best for your kids' education, and you don't."

Meetings are chaotic, as 259 signed up for the public-speaking period.

Just imagine if 259 parents showed up at a Richland 2 school board meeting. Imagine if just 159 showed up. Or even just 59. Where are you folks?

First of all, the scared-to-death Richland 2 board still insists on 30-max at a board meeting, social distancing, pre-arranged seating and only 30 minutes for public comment. Then they ramble on for over two more hours to act like they are taking care of business.

Learn about CRT and show up. This indoctrination of young minds must be stopped.

Is Critical Race Theory legal?

Here's an interesting article by Dr. Carol Swain. If you don't know her name, be sure to sure read her bio.

Titled "Is Critical Race Theory legal?" Dr. Swain discusses it. You should know what CRT is and how it might be disguised in Richland 2.

In a recent presentation to the Superintendents' Association, one Richland 2 elementary school principal referred to "CRT". She was referring to Culturally Relevant Teaching. CRP referred to Culturally Relevant Pedagogies. 

Or, as popularly known today, Critical Race Theory. A horse by any other color is still a horse.

If you still not paying attention to Critical Race Theory, may I strongly encourage you to "up your game" and learn about it. Black or white, you won't like it.

Feud at Lex-Rich 5. Board Member Wrong

Are you watching the feud at Lexington-Richland 5 over the recent, abrupt resignation of the Superintendent?

Read yesterday's article by Bristow Marchant in The State newspaper that carries the headline "You were warned".

You should spot right away where Board Member Ken Loveless is wrong. His nose is out-of-joint because the (now-previous) superintendent didn't respond to a text message from him.

Loveless appears to be demanding considerable information from the superintendent in his communications, and that's where he is wrong.

The superintendent doesn't obey or report to any particular board member. The superintendent got her marching orders from the Board - the whole board. After a Motion, Second and Vote. A superintendent doesn't have seven bosses. A superintendent has one boss - the full board. Just because Loveless is Vice-Chairman of the board, that doesn't give him any special clout. He is one board member of seven. 

Reporter Marchant includes comments from several board members that clarify to whom the superintendent reports. 

How does this translate to Richland 2? 

More topics should be discussed in public. More board votes should be taken. Then the public would have a clear view of The Squad right here in Richland County.

For example, why hasn't the board addressed publicly the issue of two trustees-elect being allowed to serve on the board since November 13, 2018, even though they have never taken the oath of office legally? Both Amelia McKie and Teresa Holmes took an oath of office on November 3, 2018, a full three weeks before they became eligible to take the oath.

Thus, they are not legitimate board members. The law is that they first file their Statements of Economic Interests (not filed until December 4, 2018), and then take the oath and then assume their official responsibilities.

Why hasn't the attorney for the school district explained the law to them? 

Should the South Carolina Supreme Court have the opportunity to decide whether McKie and Holmes are usurping public office? 

Should McKie and Holmes be required to return all monies and cost of benefits paid by Richland 2? Why does the superintendent authorize payments to them and why does the majority of the board approve those payments? 

Should all board votes since November 13, 2018 be reviewed and the votes of McKie and Holmes removed? How many decisions will change?

Since November 13, 2018 McKie and Holmes have not been eligible to hold office as a board officer, and McKie is not entitled to be a regional director of the South Carolina School Boards Association. 

Special-Called Meeting - sound issues!

When I attempted to listen to the recorded version of the June 17, 2021 Special-Called Board Meeting, there was no sound!

For the first 23 minutes the screen shot was displayed that the board was still in executive session. The opening remarks of the public meeting at 5:30PM were not recorded.

The public meeting starts AT 5:30PM, and that's when the recording, including sound, should begin. Recently, important remarks were made during that portion of the open meeting, preceding the executive session. The public is entitled to hear (and see) everything!

At 23:19 of last night's meeting the open meeting began recording. without any sound. I skipped forward at short intervals, and there was no sound - ever. I wondered whether it could have been my computer, so I re-booted. More than once. 

This morning I checked again. The splash page for the executive session is still there. Video recording begins with the board members at their seats, waiting for the beginning of the meeting. Supt. Davis takes his seat at 23:26. There is no sound. Chairman Manning appears to be speaking, and then there is a hand vote on something - probably the opening of the meeting. Trustee Agostini votes No on something by raising her hand.

It's hard to read lips when they are still wearing their masks.

Shortly after that there is another hand vote. Still no sound.

I was told previously that staff monitors the audio and video. Where was the staff last night? Why didn't the meeting stop until the sound issue was resolved. The public is entitled to hear what is said, when meetings are livestreamed!

This morning, sound begins at 30:03. Then at 31:12 Chairman Manning pauses the meeting while a livestream sound issue is worked on. 

During Dr. Miley's budget presentation Teresa Holmes interrupted (34:09) with a comment to re-state what Dr. Miley had just said. She must have wanted a sound bite for a future campaign, because her comment was otherwise totally worthless. Dr. Miley had just made the statement. Holmes did not need to re-state it. Most of the other trustees had their board packets, notebooks, pads for notes, etc. on their desks. Holmes did not. All she had on her desk were her phone, water bottle, water cup and elbows. She must have a phenomenal memory for detail on complicated issues like budgets.

A potential increase in the SRO contract with the sheriff's department has been budgeted, but Dr.Miley did not mention the amount of the current contract or the increase. Residents should be especially interested in the cost of having SROs in Richland 2 schools. How much does it cost to have a cop in a school? Any guesses? Personally, I feel only the law-enforcement aspect aspect is the only worthwhile benefit; i.e., having a cop on hand to handle cop stuff. Having them present as Officer Feel-Good is a terrible waste of money. SROs are not instructional staff. They should be friendly, but they aren't your "friends." 

A lower-step teacher with a B.A. can earn up to $41,000/year. Dr. Miley talked about being competitive. Is Richland 2 a leader in the competitive world of education or trying to catch up? It's easy to spend other peoples' money - the taxpayers'. Should the hiring goal be to find the best you can afford, or to raise taxes so that you can afford those who want more pay?

Dr. Scott (f/m/a Elkins) asked a line-item question. Note again. Holmes had NO materials in front of her. Did she have the proposed budget committed to memory? Where was Trustee Caution-Parker? Did anyone hear her comment or ask questions? Without a roll call taken at the beginning of the meeting, who knows if she was there? 

Dr. Miley spent some time talking about "needs and wants" of the District and then referred to surpluses. Remember how recently the District just couldn't wait to spend half its surplus and paid out bonuses to teachers and staff? Yippee, Free Money. And now it's gone, and they are hunting around for money for the "needs and wants". Why didn't the District hang onto that money then?

This is one of the problems with having so many feel-good trustees on the school board and too few trustees with solid foundations in business and finance!!!

If there were a transcript of that special-called meeting and then someone went through it with a big red marker, what would be left? Knock out all the drivel and blabber, and cut to the chase. It's M-O-N-E-Y. Other Peoples' Money. OPM. The School Board, just like Congress and State Legislature, doesn't feel any pain when spending your money and asking for more. Does it?

At the end of the meeting, Caution-Parker seconded the motion to adjourn. Wonderful!

Just the right kind of school member - - NOT

Justice High School (Fairfax, Va.) graduates got an earful at graduation, when the lone Muslim school board member unloaded on them about racism, white supremacy and jihad.

Read the story here: https://www.foxnews.com/us/school-board-member-graduating-class-entering-world-overwhelmed-racism-extreme-individualism

Didn't the kids learn anything in 12 years of school? Why would they just sit there and let Abrar Omeish continue to rant?

Maybe a look at Justice High School explains it. Check out its homepage:

If you can't read the wording on that one girl's shirt, it says "WOKE PACK".

Care to let Abrar Omeish know how you feel about her remarks at that school's commencement?

Abrar Omeish, Phone: 571-423-1089; E-mail: Abrar.Omeish@fcps.edu

Rech-Lex 5 Supt and 1 board member resign

Why would the Richland-Lexington 5 School District AND a board member resign at last night's board meeting?

Here's the story in The State newspaper.

Supt. Christina Melton issued a polite and "politically-correct" statement afterwards. 

You can bet there is more to the story.

Will she eventually tell the whole story?

Will the board member go public with the true reason for his resignation? The article in The State mentioned the board member in its headline but included nothing in the story. Hello?

WISTV.COM and WACH.TV also failed to identify the board member.

The Post and Courier was braver and more complete. It identified Ed White as the board member, and it indicated that newly-elected (November 2020) board members may have been at least partially responsible for the superintendent's resignation.

Richland 2 voters should be reminded that The Squad holds the majority of R2 board seats, although two members of The Squad aren't legitimate board members. All that Amelia McKie and Teresa Holmes have to do to become legitimate board members is take the oath of office legally. When they took the oath on November 13, 2018, they were not yet eligible to take it because neither had filed her Statement of Economic Interests Report with the South Carolina Ethics Commission.

South Carolina law clearly states that you are to file your SEI before you can take the oath and assume the responsibilities of the elected office. 

Next time you see McKie and Holmes, ask them why they refuse to take the oath of office legally.

Short-Notice Special Called Board Meeting

Last month the board decided it could do without the first Regular board meeting of the month. They fiddled around with wording, got it wrong, and passed it, anyway.

Now, all of a sudden, they can't stand not seeing each other and have called a Special Meeting for Thursday, June 17, at 5:30PM.

They'll run into Executive Session for some legal advice about a "claim" and then re-convene in open session. The Agenda is supposed to state the location of the Special-Called Meeting, but it does not. Will it be at R2i2?

Even though everyone is seated so far apart, they will probably persist with the silly mask requirement. You'll notice just how far apart the board members sit from one another, and they are further guarded by the plastic partitions. And they still wear their own masks, which often make it hard to understand what they are saying. 

On the agenda for the budget work session is the 2021-2022 budget. Be sure to look at it. It is attached to the agenda.

Unlike The Summit HOA's budget and financial statements, Richland 2 follows good accounting principles and reveals the percentage change in the numbers. That, of course, is where the real story is in any budget.

Some account items show an increase from the 2020-2021 Budget to the 2021-2022 Projected Budget. Some account items show a decrease.

General Revenue is projected to increase 4.32% over the current year.

Expenditures are projected to increase 4.32% over the current year. Funny how it works out that way.

If that's all you look at, and most of the school board members are not financial wizards, you'd think, "Fine. No problem."

BUT LOOK AT THE LAST ITEM IN EXPENDITURES!

"Other Expenditures" are projected to rise from $2,284,324 to $5,584,324! This is an increase of $3,300,000. This is an increase of 144.46%.

Ho-hum, Just an increase on 144.46%. Just lump all those increases into one item, and maybe nobody will ask any questions.

What are Other Expenditures? "Other Expenditures includes items not broken out in the above categories. Some examples are organization membership, other insurance costs (including costs associated with workers' compensation), and transfers to other funds". $3,300,000 worth???

No real business would ever let the worker-bees schlep a 144.46% past the decision-makers. They'd break it down and account for the $3,300,000 increase. But wait; this is just a school board. It's just play money. The problem is the board has no "skin in the game". They just show up, nod their heads, and go home. 

Also, notice where the Board Chair and the Superintendent are handling this. In a Special-Called Session. Where the public does NOT get to ask questions.

At least the board will not get a chance to take action on the budget. At the public meeting where action will be taken, the public will get time in front of the board to grill them on the numbers. Will that be on June 29, when the board also elects its officers for the next School Year?

Keisha King for school board

I wish Keisha King would move to Richland County and run for the Richland 2 school board! King is a Duval County, Fla. parent. Duval County includes Jacksonville.

She recently addressed the Florida Board of Education and gave them an earful about Critical Race Theory (CRT). You can read about her here.

What did she have to say?

CRT is racist.

CRT will destroy America.

CRT is deeper and more dangerous than racial insensitivity or teaching Jim Crow history.

And she said more. Read the transcript of her remarks in the article.

Board Officer Election - June 29

New officers of the school board for the 2021-2022 School Year will be elected on June 29, 2021. 

The following email has been sent to the five legal board members, the two trustees-elect (and illegitimate board members), others, and media.

Weigh in now by calling board members and letting them know what you think about who should be officers for the coming year.

With the right officers in place as the leadership team, meetings should be much shorter. There is little reason for meetings to run 2½-3 hours. If the superintendent is properly directed to tell his staff to limit reports to essenttials, a school board meeting should be completed in 90 minutes. Cutting down the introduction time of the inspirational speaker and the time for the speaker himself should hold that to five minutes, including the Pledge of Allegiance.

Cutting off rambling remarks of board members that add nothing of value is the chair's job. A strong chair will do this. There is no need for each board member to thank a staffer for a report. The chair can do that.

Here's what was sent today:

Members of the Board,

On June 29 the five legal members of the board will elect board officers for the 2021-2022 school year. To get the length of board meetings under control, I urge you to elect new leadership. 

As of April 19, 2021 Amelia McKie still owed $51,800 to the S.C. Ethics Commission. She had not paid one penny toward her debt since the Decision and Order by the Ethics Commission on July 3, 2018. That's almost three years! The Ethics Commission filed a Judgment on July 10, 2019 against her in the Richland County Common Pleas Court. 

Is her unpaid debt a problem for you? Are you willing to bring it up at a school board meeting and ask her to pay off her debt or step down?

Only legitimate board members can serve as officers of the board. The legitimate board members are Agostini, Scott (f/k/a Elkins), Manning, McFadden, and Caution-Parker.

McKie is not a legitimate member of the Board, because she has never taken the oath of office legally after she filed her Statement of Economic Interest (SEI) on December 4, 2018. The School District is improperly paying her salary and expenses. The FBI and SLED have been asked to investigate illegal disbursement of public monies by the District. 

McKie cannot serve (again) as an officer of the board. McKie should be replaced as the SCSBA representative, as she is not a legitimate board member. 

Teresa Holmes is also not a legitimate board member. She too has never taken the oath of office legally after filing her SEI on December 4, 2018. She is not eligible for a board officer position, although she first pitched her interest in being Board Chair months ago. Richland 2 is also improperly paying her salary and board expenses.

No doubt there is intense lobbying going on right now. 

Please do not continue to look the other way because of friendships.

Sincerely,

Gus Philpott

www.Richland2.info

cc:

Kathryn Mahoney, Attorney for Richland 2

Helen McFadden, Attorney, Robert's Rules of Order expert

Molly Spearman, S.C. Supt. of Education

Scott Price, Exec. Dir., SCSBA

Robert's Rules of Order

Just received my newest favorite reading material.

Every member of the Richland 2 school board should have a copy. And not just to use as a paper-weight.

Look up valuable procedural information, such as when six board members vote and it's a tie, what does that mean? Does the motion pass or fail?

And when a member is out-of-order with a question or comment, how do you cut them off?

And when there is not a legal quorum present, can the board hold a meeting? Or if a member leaves the meeting, resulting in loss of a quorum, must the meeting stop?

Board Policy refers to Robert's Rules of Order. Do any of the board members know what that reference is? 

Will it come to this?

When more and more parents start questioning Richland 2 about Critical Race Theory (CRT), will it come to this?

A mother of a kindergarten student in Rhode Island worries that she might be sued by a school committee. Huh? by a school "committee"? She is asking a lot of questions about CRT, and the school district told her to use FOIA for her questions.

According to this article, the principal told her they don't refer to "kids as boys and girls." Well, what do they call them? Is this stupid, or is this stupid?

How much simpler it would have been if they had just answered the questions. Of course, they did not want to answer her questions. She was pinning them down on something on which they did not want to be pinned down.

Three cheers to mom Nicole Solas. (FoxNews ducked on naming her town, the school, the school district or the principal. Chickens!)

CRT? Seriously?

So you think you know all about Critical Race Theory (CRT)?

Check out this video by a black man and his daughter!

Video of the Year?  First Prize!!!

Many states are acting now to ban CRT.

Start asking questions now about which Richland 2 school board members support CRT. And which administrators support CRT.

When you have answers, post them in the Comments below.

And here's another blast at CRT. 

A Colorado mom and radio show host takes off on CRT and tells a school board that "...the training (is) a “nightmare” that needs to “end now.” She's talking about the "training" (read: indoctrination) being foisted on the district by a "diversity consulting firm".

Richland 2 has used a training by USC profession Gloria Boutte. You should learn more about that. It promotes use of "cohorts" (a $100 word for something else). Perhaps a Richland 2 teacher could enlighten me on exactly what a "cohort" is or does. 

Email me at gusphilpott@gmail.com  I guarantee confidentiality. Your name and connection to Richland 2 will NOT be mentioned. Ever.