Schools Supt. says, "Back to school for K-5"

South Carolina State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman spoke up this week in support of all the parents who wrote to the Richland 2 School Board last week and asked for in-school education for their young and special-needs children. Check it out in The State here.

I wonder ... is the Richland 2 School Board listening? Is the Richland 2 superintendent listening? Did he get a written message from Supt. Spearman? Let's hear what the School Board has to say, when it meets next on September 22.

At the September 8th Regular Board Meeting the superintendent, at the end of the presentation on Special Education, rambled on and on and on in a prepared, written statement. Didn't anyone get tired of listening to him read his long statement? They know he knows his business. Why didn't they require him to speak without reading his "paper"? Will his description of parents as "calm, confident, positive, courageous" begin showing up on walls through the District? The Richland 2 superintendent will never have to worry about being convicted of being short-winded during a board meeting.

One parent's Letter to the Board set off trustee-elect Teresa Holmes. She didn't like the parent's use of "mostly survivable" and launched into a long commentary that programs should be "survivable for as many of the masses as possible." She said she didn't know how she would feel if it was her child or her child's teacher who didn't survive (because of a decision by the school board to send certain children back to school). Well, of course she knows.

But what, really, is the difference because "mostly survivable" and "survivable for as many of the masses as possible"? 

I was reminded of comments by others who say, "If we can save one child...."

It's a given that schools should be as safe as possible. 

Public Participation - Welcome (or not?)

During the days (nights) of virtual school board meetings, the public cannot directly address the board.

It could, but the District won't allow it. Instead, the public must submit written comments, which are then read by Mrs. Libby Roof to the board during meetings. The sender's email is shown as it is being read, so the audience doesn't get a chance to watch the reactions of the board members.

Would it be better to show the board and watch whether they are paying attention?

When you look around on the District's website for the procedure for submitting such an email, here is what you find when you click on PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, under School Board in the menu.

The part you don't see in the screen-print is this:

"Public Participation for Virtual Board Meetings

"The form Public Participation for Virtual Board Meetings is no longer accepting responses.
Try contacting the owner of the form if you think this is a mistake."

How in the world do you ever figure out who the "owner" of the form is?

Hint: Watch for the announcement of the School Board meeting on the District's homepage by the Friday before a Meeting, and hope there is information posted there about how to submit your written comments before 1:00PM on the day of the Board meeting.

The 1619 Project - is it here?

Is The 1619 Project being taught anywhere in the Richland 2 school district? (Wikipedia is used in the link, in order to avoid the paywall of The New York Times.)

Parents (and Teachers), if you hear of this, will you please circulate what you learn?

One of the best ways is to send an email to the School Board before 1:00PM on the day of a school board meeting. Then your communication will be read to the entire board and, importantly, to the viewing public. 

If you watched the recording of the last school board meeting, you'll know that certain school board had their noses out-of-joint about parent communications. They would prefer you to telephone the superintendent one-on-one, where your communication will be pigeon-holed and never see the light of day. You'll think you are the only one complaining.

It might look to one of them like a "coordinated effort". Well, that's what it is, and that's what gets attention. 

Those one-off phone calls and email messages don't inform anyone else of issues and concerns. Take them to the Board. It's the Board that directs the District, through its oversight of the superintendent.

Right now there is a Board that clearly lines up with and seldom questions anything said or done by the superintendent. Take, for example, his personal desire to hire "100 Premiier Men of Color" onto the staff of Richland 2. This is NOT a Board project. This is not a School District project. This is a personal program of the superintendent and one that, by his own admission, he is not accountable to the board for.

Read that paragraph again. It's a pet project of the superintendent that the Board has not approved or condoned. How much time is he spending on it? How is he shaping or re-shaping the District without Board oversight???

Hillsdale College - free online courses

Do you know about the free online courses offered by Hillsdale College. 

First of all, it's a real college in Hillsdale, Michigan. Check it out at www.hillsdale.edu

From the homepage, see the Online Courses. Set up your free online account, choose a course, and get started.

If you have taken Hillsdale courses but have not accessed your account since January 2020, you'll need to create a new account. Use the same email address, and your history will be migrated to your new account.

I've just enrolled in "A Proper Understanding of K-12 Education: Theory & Practice".

Post your comment below about any courses you have taken from Hillsdale. How many have you taken? Did you complete them? 

Everybody is doin' it. Will Richland 2 join in?

Clemson will allow its football players to paste BLM stickers on their helmets. Clemson will display social justice messages on its football field for home games. (Kind of redundant, isn't it? But The State said it first.)

And USC-Aiken is all over one of its baseball coaches for speaking out against social-justice messages. Coach Kenny Thomas took aim at Clemson's football helmet sticker plan and ended up in the crosshairs of USC-Aiken officials. Thomas is quoted in The State as having said, "It is 100% shameful, I promise you will never see anything like this on my field. I support the Blue and not ashamed to say it."

As an example of hypocrisy, USC-Aiken's Chancellor, Sandra J. Jordan, spoke out against Coach Thomas, who had posted his opinion on Facebook. She said, according to The State:

“His expression was a personal opinion and does not reflect the values of this university, Pacer athletics, or our community, I am writing today to speak out against intolerance and opinions that stand in sharp contrast with our stated values of civility, tolerance and mutual respect.”

In speaking about civility, tolerance and mutual respect, didn't she just violate all three? And what about Coach Thomas' First Amendment right???

Has Chancellor Jordan read the U.S. Constitution lately? Ever?

But back to Richland 2. Will we see BLM stickers on high school football teams' uniforms? On the fields? On the fences around the fields? In the school?

I certainly hope NOT!!!

District Email Address for Holmes & Elkins. Same tune, second verse.

Several months ago I wrote about the importance for the Richland 2 School District to set up District email addresses for Monica Elkins and Teresa Holmes.

First of all, why should there be any hesitation or reluctance by the District to do so? As soon as an elected person becomes a legal board member, that should be right at the top of the list after he or she takes the oath of office.

It should be a District Policy. A Board Policy. 

OK, so that explains why Holmes doesn't have one and uses a personal Gmail address. But that isn't the reason that Holmes doesn't have a District email address (@richland2.org) for Holmes. 

All school business should be conducted on the District's email server, so that there is a permanent and accessible record forever by the District.

One of these days Holmes and Elkins won't be board members. When that day comes, how will the District be able to meet the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act? On the day they leave office, they could close their Gmail accounts and wipe out all official business email communications.

What would keep Holmes or Elkins from making an incomplete search of their email records when responding to a FOIA request?

What would keep them from deleting an incoming or outgoing message that they'd prefer did not exist?

Or let's say that a member of the public or a government agency or a business submits a FOIA request.

What control does Richland 2 have over the Gmail accounts of Holmes and Elkins? NONE.

This is basic Public Body 101. 

Holmes and Elkins should not be able to say, "But I like my Gmail address. I don't want a richland2.org email address." Well, it doesn't matter. The District should set it up for them and tell them that they WILL use it for all official email correspondence. 

What reason or excuse does the District have for not following this common-sense requirement?

Voting Absentee?

Will you be voting by Absentee Ballot in the November 3, 2020 General Election?

Have you requested your Absentee Ballot Application yet? Do you know that you can submit an online request for the application?

Go to www.scvotes.org  Click on "Get My Absentee Application".   Follow the instructions. 

The Richland County Elections Commission will mail the application to you. Once you receive it, follow the instructions on it, and then mail it back to the RC Elections Commission.

The next step is to wait a few days, and then you can check online to learn if your application was delivered to the Commission.

Go to www.scvotes.com  This time, click on "Check Your Absentee Ballot".

Just above the Submit button, check the box for the Statewide General Election, and then click Submit.

The entries at the bottom will inform you of the status of your Request, your Application and your Ballot.

Once you receive and mark your Ballot, you'll be able to mail it back or take it to an Absentee/Satellite Location at North Springs Park Community Center - 1320 Clemson Road, Columbia, SC 29229 - October 7, 2020 - November 2, 2020 (8:30 am - 5:00 pm). If there is a line, you don't have to wait in line to turn in your Absentee Ballot.