She said "What?"

Don't miss the attachment in the agenda for Tuesday's board meeting, on April 26.

Remember those "Executive Coaching & Parliamentary Procedure" sessions that the board attended?

Liz Guthridge was the facilitator who was hired to try to tamp down the chaos that is the Richland 2 School Board.

You can read the attachment under Item 9 on the Agenda. You can view it by plodding through the website to the agenda, or just click right here: Update

The two workshops were "nice". They were soft. Liz must have known the problems, but she didn't get in anyone's face. They needed to be hardcore. Some heads needed to be knocked. I'm reminded of the story about the farmer who hit his mule over the head with a 2x4. When asked why, he said he had to get the mule's attention. 

Pay special attention to Page 4, on which Liz Guthridge shared an honest opinion:

(Click to enlarge)

Read that again. She writes candidly that the board (meaning, I believe, the majority - The Core Four) may not have the will to get out of high conflict and work together. With that, she hits the nail squarely on its head. 

Remember the night when Trustee Scott kept calling a Point-of-Order? Finally, Teresa turned to her and declared, "I AM the Point-of-Order at the time." She got away with it. She shouldn't have. Three Trustees should have stood and walked out.

I say, "Wait until November 10. When the shoe is on the other foot and those now in the majority find that they are no longer in the majority, they'll suffer their karmic due."

Just who do they think they are???

Just who do (some) board members think they are?

Read today's FoxNews article about a school board meeting in Sarasota County, Florida, and compare it with what you know about the Richland 2 board.

A woman "was kicked out of a board meeting for what she was 'about to say'". 

Was there a training somewhere that school members attended? Did they all learn somewhere that the People, the Public, are just there to provide the money and they'd better sit down and shut up?

Board chairwoman Jane Goodwin sounds just like our very own Teresa Holmes. Read the article here.

At how many Richland 2 board meetings have you heard Teresa Holmes say, "You can't mention names." Meeting after meeting she gets away with it. Do you know that she is WRONG?

Richland Two's Board Policy BEDH says that "The board will not permit in public session any expression of personal complaints about individual school personnel or any other person connected with the school system.

If a member of the public strays into forbidden territory and mentions a name, Teresa says, "We (the royal We) don't say that." A Parliamentarian would correct her, but then the Parliamentarian would get fired. Names ARE permitted. Complaints are not. Teresa struggles with the distinction from meeting to meeting.

"(Incumbent board member) Ziegler, who is running for re-election this year, said, 'out of touch, power hungry, oftentimes very progressive, liberals' have 'overtaken school boards,' and 'grotesque' instances like these will undoubtedly impact the upcoming elections on a national scale."

Sound familiar?

We had our "grotesque" instance on January 25th, right here in Richland County. Gary Ginn and I are in "Richland 2 Jail" until July 1st.

By the way, it seems that at least one administrator has been directed not to reply to me. He is an honest, smart, ethical person. I know he would reply, if he could do so without fear of retaliation and/or retribution.

Va. Asst. Principal Sues School Board

Could it happen here?

A former assistant principal in an elementary school in Virginia is suing the school board there. 

Are you familiar with the book, Courageous Conversations about Race, by Glenn E. Singleton? The rest of the book title is A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools and Beyond. Any chance that that book has found its way to Richland County?

Wow! There is a strong clue to what the reader will find within its covers. The dreaded CRT!

Emily Mais was employed at the Agnor-Hurt Elementary School in Charlottesville, Va., which is in the Albemarle County School District. That's approximately 100 miles SSW of Loudoun County, Va., where parents have been on the warpath about Critical Race Theory for months.

Read the FoxNews article here. The headline is Former Virginia administrator sues school board, alleging racial harassment.

So much for engaging in a courageous conversations. 

As you have heard at numerous Richland 2 school board meetings, "You have the right to your opinion."

What I heard when the board chair says that is, "You have the right to your opinion, even when it's wrong." Does anyone else hear it that way?

Apparently, Mais made the unforgivable mistake of using the term "colored people", rather than "people of color". The news article reports that Mais' attorney said that Mais apologized for a "slip of the tongue," but "Another teacher who was in that training began berating her in front of others".

What is wrong with people today? All the talk of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and some people are still so thin-skinned that they'll complain if a butterfly goes by in the wrong direction. And I'm not referring to Ms. Mais.

Good luck to Emily Mais. May she collect the big bucks from Albemarle County School District, and may they have to pay it from their own pockets and not out of insurance!