The Independent Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County newspaper reports today that there was a threat at Westwood High School in the Richland 2 School District.
Read the article here:
https://www.blythewoodonline.com/2019/09/r2-acknowledges-whs-threat/?fbclid=IwAR0rQGVZHwUP9DxArXZi-DtS_Ff1fsnnFe_Em6L7eZAOgcgEUlfTtl6noTo
The article and the letter from Richland 2's Libby Roof do not name the student.
An undated letter from Westwood's Principal indicates only "yesterday", so who knows when the threat was. WIS-TV reports that a 15-year-old student was charged today (Sept. 10). An article on www.wistv.com indicates the Principal's letter was sent today, so maybe "yesterday" means the incident happened on September 9.
The kid allegedly had two knives in his possession (length not mentioned) and reportedly had threatened to shoot up the school. Maybe his defense of a "joke" will work.
Some of us remember the good, ol' days when we carried pocket knives to school. Country kids even kept rifles in their trucks for hunting at noon and after school. My, how times have changed.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Released today - Why Meadow Died
I started reading Why Meadow Died at 5:00AM, after Amazon delivered it to my Kindle earlier today. Meadow Pollack was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. She died on February 14, 2018.
So far, I've just about finished the Preface, written by Meadow's father, Andrew Pollack, and co-author Max Eden, who is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Everyone should read this book. Every parent should read it. Every member of the Richland School District Two community should read it - the School Board, the Superintendent, the staff, the teachers, the employees, the parents and, yes, the students.
Buy your copy and start reading it. Contact your favorite bookseller or Amazon. Don't "skim" it. Read it. Read every word on every page.
As I read the Preface, I felt it had Richland 2 written all over it. Parents have delegated (abdicated?) responsibility for their children to the District. Well, Parents, you are responsible for your children, not the school district.
I attended the first school board meeting after the Parkland shooting.
You can view my remarks to the school board by going to YouTube.com, then to Richland 2, then to the Feb. 27, 2018, meeting, and then scroll forward to 30:05 on the timer. Note that then-Board Chair Craig Plank indicates that the board will not responding directly to me (the speaker), "but someone from the District office will be reaching out to you at the conclusion of your remarks or at a later date."
In my remarks I requested the District to survey teachers, staff and parents on the topic of arming teachers. I also asked Richland 2 to establish a committee of parents and community members on school safety.
What happened? Was I contacted?
I had to follow up with the Board Chair, and then the response - finally - from the superintendent was that there would not be a survey. And I never heard a word about my suggestion for a parents and community member committee on school safety.
Read this book. Then talk about it.
So far, I've just about finished the Preface, written by Meadow's father, Andrew Pollack, and co-author Max Eden, who is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Everyone should read this book. Every parent should read it. Every member of the Richland School District Two community should read it - the School Board, the Superintendent, the staff, the teachers, the employees, the parents and, yes, the students.
 |
| Hardcover or e-book from Amazon |
As I read the Preface, I felt it had Richland 2 written all over it. Parents have delegated (abdicated?) responsibility for their children to the District. Well, Parents, you are responsible for your children, not the school district.
I attended the first school board meeting after the Parkland shooting.
You can view my remarks to the school board by going to YouTube.com, then to Richland 2, then to the Feb. 27, 2018, meeting, and then scroll forward to 30:05 on the timer. Note that then-Board Chair Craig Plank indicates that the board will not responding directly to me (the speaker), "but someone from the District office will be reaching out to you at the conclusion of your remarks or at a later date."
In my remarks I requested the District to survey teachers, staff and parents on the topic of arming teachers. I also asked Richland 2 to establish a committee of parents and community members on school safety.
What happened? Was I contacted?
I had to follow up with the Board Chair, and then the response - finally - from the superintendent was that there would not be a survey. And I never heard a word about my suggestion for a parents and community member committee on school safety.
Read this book. Then talk about it.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Colo. Student Disciplined over gun photo
Check out this story about a high school student in Colorado who was excited about going shooting with his mother.
He posted about in on Snapchat, and some snowflake complained through the school hotline, resulting in a visit by police and school discipline while the school "investigated".
None of us wants violence or "gun violence", but this type of nonsense is insane. All because of an anonymous report.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/51212/high-school-bans-student-after-he-goes-shooting-james-barrett?utm_medium=email&utm_content=083019-news&utm_campaign=position1
He posted about in on Snapchat, and some snowflake complained through the school hotline, resulting in a visit by police and school discipline while the school "investigated".
None of us wants violence or "gun violence", but this type of nonsense is insane. All because of an anonymous report.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/51212/high-school-bans-student-after-he-goes-shooting-james-barrett?utm_medium=email&utm_content=083019-news&utm_campaign=position1
Gun Education in Schools
Can the word "gun" be mentioned in the Richland 2 School District?
If you would like an idea of the insanity spreading through the United States, read this article, Campus Scary, that was published in the May 2019 issue of America's 1st Freedom, one of the publications of the NRA. Now, before you pre-judge the content, read the article.
Read the examples of threats and discipline on campuses in the U.S. Does this scare you? It should.
I recall in about February 2018, after the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, Fla.), I addressed the Richland 2 School Board and requested a survey of parents, teachers, staff and community members on the topic of arming teachers.
Note the phrasing of my request. It was for a survey.
At that same meeting two parents rose to their feet and also addressed the school board (and were allowed to do so without having signed up before 6:30PM to speak). They said they did not want guns in the schools.
Hello? Did I say I wanted guns in the schools? No, I requested a survey.
Did it happen? Absolutely not.
But there are guns in Richland 2 Schools now, and I don't mean just the guns carried by the SROs. At the August 13th School Board meeting, there was a man wearing a cap and a shirt with a Richland 2 Emergency Services logo. When I looked closely, there was a telltale bulge on his belt under his shirt and later, when he was walking away from me, the shirt rode up in the back and revealed the butt of his semi-automatic pistol in an inside-the-belt holster.
All I learned about him was that he was an Assistant Manager. I presumed of the Emergency Services Department of the District. So, why is he armed but not in a uniform that identifies him clearly as Richland 2 Security?
What are your thoughts about guns, gun safety, safe-firearms-handing classes, and education about firearms? Should there be classes in Firearms Safety in our schools? Can gun-related topics be discussed in Richland 2 schools?
If you would like an idea of the insanity spreading through the United States, read this article, Campus Scary, that was published in the May 2019 issue of America's 1st Freedom, one of the publications of the NRA. Now, before you pre-judge the content, read the article.
Read the examples of threats and discipline on campuses in the U.S. Does this scare you? It should.
I recall in about February 2018, after the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, Fla.), I addressed the Richland 2 School Board and requested a survey of parents, teachers, staff and community members on the topic of arming teachers.
Note the phrasing of my request. It was for a survey.
At that same meeting two parents rose to their feet and also addressed the school board (and were allowed to do so without having signed up before 6:30PM to speak). They said they did not want guns in the schools.
Hello? Did I say I wanted guns in the schools? No, I requested a survey.
Did it happen? Absolutely not.
But there are guns in Richland 2 Schools now, and I don't mean just the guns carried by the SROs. At the August 13th School Board meeting, there was a man wearing a cap and a shirt with a Richland 2 Emergency Services logo. When I looked closely, there was a telltale bulge on his belt under his shirt and later, when he was walking away from me, the shirt rode up in the back and revealed the butt of his semi-automatic pistol in an inside-the-belt holster.
All I learned about him was that he was an Assistant Manager. I presumed of the Emergency Services Department of the District. So, why is he armed but not in a uniform that identifies him clearly as Richland 2 Security?
What are your thoughts about guns, gun safety, safe-firearms-handing classes, and education about firearms? Should there be classes in Firearms Safety in our schools? Can gun-related topics be discussed in Richland 2 schools?
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Meadow Pollack - remember this name?
Meadow Pollack was one of the students killed at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School.
Her father, Andrew Pollack, is serious about change. Not just talking about it or writing about it. He is doing something to effect change.
His book, Why Meadow Died - The People and Policies That Created the Parkland Shooter and Endanger America's Students, will be published on September 10, 2019.
You can pre-order it today and it will be delivered directly to your Kindle, computer or smartphone on September 10.
YOU can get active in Richland 2. Don't sit back and wait for "somebody" else to fix the problems.
Facebook IS good ...
... for something.
I spotted this on Facebook this morning.
"A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right and evil doesn't become good just because it's accepted by a majority."
Attributed to Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
I spotted this on Facebook this morning.
"A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right and evil doesn't become good just because it's accepted by a majority."
Attributed to Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
Monday, August 26, 2019
State law ignored?
South Carolina books are full of laws. It's hard to know all of them.
Remember back on November 13, 2018, when the newly-elected trustees for the Richland 2 School Board were sworn in? The ceremony was held before the Regular board meeting resumed at 6:30PM.
On November 6, 2018 one trustee was elected and three were re-elected. Casting aside for a moment my complaints over the past six month that the one who was elected and one who was re-elected were not eligible to take the oath of office, when should the elected trustees have taken office?
South Carolina Code of Laws Section 59-19-315 reads:
"Commencement of trustee's term of office.
"The term of office of every elected trustee of a school district must commence one week following the certification of his election."
Keyword: must
According to the Richland County Board of Elections office this morning, the November 6, 2018 election was certified on November 9, 2018.
One week after the election was November 13, 2018. A board meeting was held.
One week after the certification of the election was November 16, 2018.
The earliest that Teresa Holmes could have been seated, assuming for the moment that she had taken the oath of office legally (which she didn't), was November 16, 2018. When she sat at the board on November 13, she was still a trustee-elect. She was not entitled to sit at the board, attend an Executive Session, hear confidential District matters and student affairs, or vote on Board business. But she did.
As to Trustees Manning, Caution-Parker and McKie (the last also ineligible under State law to take the oath of office on November 13), had their 2014-2018 terms of office expired?
It seems to me that there is a State law about when a term of office for an elected person ends.
If it ends on election day or the day before election day, then there was no quorum at the November 13, 2018, and all business conducted that night must be struck from the records.
Manning, Caution-Parker and McKie could not begin their 2018-2022 terms until November 16, 2018. When did their 2014-2018 terms legally end?
Remember back on November 13, 2018, when the newly-elected trustees for the Richland 2 School Board were sworn in? The ceremony was held before the Regular board meeting resumed at 6:30PM.
On November 6, 2018 one trustee was elected and three were re-elected. Casting aside for a moment my complaints over the past six month that the one who was elected and one who was re-elected were not eligible to take the oath of office, when should the elected trustees have taken office?
South Carolina Code of Laws Section 59-19-315 reads:
"Commencement of trustee's term of office.
"The term of office of every elected trustee of a school district must commence one week following the certification of his election."
Keyword: must
According to the Richland County Board of Elections office this morning, the November 6, 2018 election was certified on November 9, 2018.
One week after the election was November 13, 2018. A board meeting was held.
One week after the certification of the election was November 16, 2018.
The earliest that Teresa Holmes could have been seated, assuming for the moment that she had taken the oath of office legally (which she didn't), was November 16, 2018. When she sat at the board on November 13, she was still a trustee-elect. She was not entitled to sit at the board, attend an Executive Session, hear confidential District matters and student affairs, or vote on Board business. But she did.
As to Trustees Manning, Caution-Parker and McKie (the last also ineligible under State law to take the oath of office on November 13), had their 2014-2018 terms of office expired?
It seems to me that there is a State law about when a term of office for an elected person ends.
If it ends on election day or the day before election day, then there was no quorum at the November 13, 2018, and all business conducted that night must be struck from the records.
Manning, Caution-Parker and McKie could not begin their 2018-2022 terms until November 16, 2018. When did their 2014-2018 terms legally end?
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