After finding that Holmes presents herself as "Commissioner" of the Richland 2 school board, I did a little further close reading. It didn't take long to uncover a startling fact!
Whoever wrote the profile published on the Richland 2 website described Holmes as a "widower". Seriously? I knew there was something "special" about Holmes (aside from her elevated sense of self-importance, I mean), but is she really a "widower"? Or should I write, is he a widower?
Here's the profile from the Richland 2 website, as it appears today and perhaps as much, but not all, might have appeared since 2018. Did Holmes write it? Did one of the highly-paid P.R. staffers write it? Didn't Holmes proofread it? Did Holmes approve it? I've highlighted portions that jumped at me.
"Dr. Teresa Holmes began her first term on the Richland School District Two Board of Trustees in November 2018. She was elected to serve as Vice Chair of the board for the 2020–2021 school year.
"Dr. Holmes has over 30 years of experience in education as a teacher, counselor/director, coordinator, administrator, grant writer, adjunct professor and coach. She currently serves as an assistant administrator and guidance counselor at the Fairfield County School District Career and Technology Center. She earned a bachelor's degree in Special Education from Columbia College and a Master of Education in Secondary Counseling as an honor graduate from South Carolina State University. Dr. Holmes obtained an Education Specialist Degree (Ed.S.) and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D) from North Central University.
"She was appointed to the Richland/Lexington Special Needs and Disabilities by former Governor Mark Sanford for six years and is a Women on the Move, Inc. Award recipient. A proud Spring Valley High School Viking, Dr. Holmes is the parent of two Richland Two graduates and widower of the late Rev. Dr. Jacob A. Holmes Jr. a former minister, educator and principal. She is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Dr. Holmes lives in Blythewood. She has completed Level 3 in the SCSBA Boardmanship Institute.
Why do I question "first" term? The assumption there is that she will have a second term. Factually, she has never even officially and legally started her term-of-office. She could do so easily; all it takes is the legal administration of the oath.
Holmes retired from the Fairfield County School District earlier this month (August 2021). Upon her retirement the profile should have been updated. What was it the prompted her to retire just as the new school year was beginning in Fairfield County?
One of the things I've wondered since March 2019 is how she left work so quickly and showed up at 1:00PM at the Richland County Sheriff's Department to report that I had been harassing her. (The deputy's report of her complaint was so full of lies that she should have been arrested for making false statements to police.) I had sent an email to the full Board at 10:30AM, and by 1:45PM she was at 5623 Two Notch Road, 27 miles south of her workplace. How did she fulfill her employment duties that day?
How did she "obtain" her Ed.S. and Ed.D degrees? It's a strange word to use when describing attaining advanced degrees.
Wasn't it a Board to which then-Gov. Sanford appointed her?
And then there is that word "widower"? Who missed that and never corrected it?
Why is the word "former" used to describe her late-husband's occupations?
