FOIA Violation repeated tonight

The same FOIA violation that occurred last night occurred at tonight's Special Called Board Meeting.

Trustee Nash moved that the Board go into Executive Session for the purpose of "an interview of a superintendent search finalist."

That's a good Motion, but it didn't agree with the written purpose that was stated in the Agenda for tonight's meeting, which was "Item 3.2 Personnel Matter Related to Superintendent Candidates".

The same problem will occur tomorrow night, when the board meets to interview the third finalist. The agenda for the June 22, 2023 Special Called Board Meeting has already been published, and it contains the same Item 3.2. And it's too late to amend the Agenda, because it has to be published 24 hours before the start of the meeting.

The Board now faces a dilemma. If a Board member makes a motion that follows the wording in the agenda, a FOIA violation will occur because the agenda wording is wrong. It's not specific, and it's not what the Board will be doing.

If a Board trustee makes a motion that is more correctly worded (and is different from the agenda), a violation occurs.

Doesn't the Board want to comply with South Carolina FOIA law? It's really not that hard.

Board to select Supt. on June 23

The Richland 2 school board is scheduled to select its new superintendent in a Special-Called Board Meeting on Friday, June 23. The meeting starts at 1:00PM in the boardroom at R2i2. The announcement of the Meeting on the District's website reads, "Special Called Board Meeting: Board Debriefs and Makes Decision Re: Superintendent Selection"

The board will, no doubt, quickly go into executive session, where they will discuss the three finalists.

Executive Session rules are that the board cannot make decisions in private, and it cannot even come to a consensus or agreement who will get the offer.

Watch the agenda for June 23, which must be published by 1:00PM on Thursday. It should show the board returning to Open Session and the next item should be the selection of the superintendent by vote in public session and a motion to offer the position to the person selected.

Is that how they will do it? Will the terms of the offer be disclosed? Will they disclose the selected finalist's name and the terms of the offer?

If they make the selection in private (in the Executive Session), should I have S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson on speed-dial?

Trustee Monica Scott has been in charge of the Superintendent Search Committee. Let's see what happens on Friday.