McKie cuts off discussion

Amelia McKie moved quickly to cut off discussion, shortly after the Richland 2 school board convened its May 24, 2022 Regular Board Meeting.

Vice Chair Manning opened the meeting and explained Teresa Holmes' absence. Holmes had informed him of having been exposed to COVID-19 by a family member. Holmes would be attending by telephone. Manning said Holmes would attend by telephone to keep everyone at the meeting safe. Nice try, James.

Trustee Scott had indicated to him that she would attend the executive session by telephone and will attend the meeting in-person when it re-convenes at 6:30PM.

Manning said Trustee McFadden was present but that she would attend the executive session by telephone. If I were to guess, I'd said she would not even want to be in the same room as Teresa Holmes. Perhaps she will attend the executive session in person, since Holmes was not present.

Manning asked for a Motion to go into executive session, but Trustee Scott asked to be recognized. After she was, she spoke to clarify why she would be attending the executive session by telephone. She stated that she would be attending the executive session by telephone because "someone" violated board policy on April 28th by recording in the executive session.

Then McKie made a motion to go into executive session. It was seconded by Caution-Parker, which seems to me to be about her only role on the board.

During discussion before the vote to go into executive session, Trustee Agostini read the final paragraph of Board Policy BEC, which prohibits recording during executive session. She also stated that it appeared to her that the recorder was already on ___ (partially not understandable).

While Mrs. Agostini was speaking, you can see Cheryl Caution-Parker not paying attention to her.

You can also see that Amelia McKie is busy shuffling items on her desk and apparently not paying attention to Mrs. Agostini.

Manning asked if there was further discussion and McKie hopped in with a Call for the Question to vote. Fancy words for shutting off further discussion. 

McKie's call for the Question (to Vote) was unnecessary, because that is exactly what Manning would have done, had there been no further discussion.

When there is a Call for the Question (i.e., let's vote), Robert's Rules of Order §16:6-7 applies. This one appeared to catch Manning by surprise.

What should have happened next? Manning should have asked if there was any objection to closing debate (or discussion). Had someone objected to closing discussion, he would have had to ask for a second to McKie's call for the vote. Then McKie's motion (call for the vote) would have required a vote; only after that vote, could the board have voted on going into executive sesssion.

Instead, after a pause Manning called for a vote on the motion to enter executive session.

Why did McKie rush to shut off discussion about the recording that had occurred during the April 28th executive session? Was she worried that more might be said about the violation of Board Policy BEC? Might the recording party have been mentioned by name? Is there more for the public to learn about that?