Principal chooses potato over Biden; gets fired

Do we have this kind of oversight and censorship (censure-ship!) in Richland 2?

Former elementary school principal Amy Sacks is suing Perkiomen Valley Public School District in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. A parent complained about racism, apparently in regard to Amy's private posting on Facebook that she would have voted for a potato, rather than for Joe Biden.

Did it take only one complaint by a parent to torpedo that 20-year educator's career?

Are potatoes now a protected category against discrimination?

How do Richland 2 teachers fare, when they express themselves differently than the woke crowd here?

Prediction for Richland 2 Security Services

The District has announced a new Safety and Security Officer, Marq Claxton. In a press release, the District provided Claxton's extensive background with NYPD.

Claxton's LinkedIn profile indicates his experience with NYPD was 1985-2005. He was Chief of Security at Voorhees College (Denmark, S.C.) from July 2019-October 2020. Where was he during the fourteen years between 2005-2019? His LinkedIn profile mentions President of Goodwine LLC (2013-Present). What's that? It seems to have no internet presence that can be found through a Google search.

Here is my 2¢ worth for what is coming for Richland 2. This is based on what I saw happen in Illinois when McHenry County College hired a former California police officer to run its campus security operations. 

When you hire a cop (and I like cops) for a civilian job, you'd better believe that cop ideas are going to be showing up very soon. Did the school board consider that? Do you remember any public board meeting when this new position was discussed? Was it handled in confidential Executive Session and never revealed until today's press release?

I predict that Richland 2 will create its own police department and convert its security (non-police) employees to sworn police officers. They will have official police duties and will be armed. They will have powers of arrest and will exercise them.

Now, I don't have any problem with armed police officers (or even armed security officers or armed teachers) on campus. If the need arises to defend students, teachers, staff, visitors, etc., I want a legally- and responsibly-armed person nearby.

You may remember that in February 2018, right after the shooting in Parkland, Florida, I asked the board to survey parents, teachers, staff and community members on the topic of arming teachers. Two parents later that night were allowed to speak (without being registered before the start of the meeting) and stated their opposition to arming teachers. (Did anyone that night realize that I had not proposed arming teachers? I asked for a survey!)

Why do I see this coming?

The Richland County Sheriff's Department charges Richland 2 BIG BUCKS for the 30-or-so School Resource Officers (SRO). First-year SRO cost was reported at a school board meeting as being about $150,000 for the officer "and equipment". That's "renting" the equipment, not buying it.

Frankly, an SRO is a waste of Richland 2's money. Yes, if an SRO is needed, it'll be good for him to be there, IF he is in the vicinity of the need. Most of the time, an incident could be handled on campus while a deputy was responding to a call-for-service; i.e., dialing the sheriff's department and requesting a deputy.

For a lot less money than is currently being spent, Richland 2 could provide its own trained, qualified and armed security staff.

McHenry County College bought two Ford Interceptors. These were "desperately needed" to patrol its small campus and small parking lots for the relatively-small (7,000? and mostly part-time) campus crowd. Two police-equipped Ford Interceptors??? Seriously?

Is Ford licking its chops and getting ready to respond to an RFP for two (or more) police vehicles? 

You may also remember that I spoke in favor of the two men on the security staff being armed, but I thought the responsibility and authority should be granted by the school board and not by the superintendent. What did the board decide, in its infinite wisdom? The board rescinded a long-standing approval of firearms possession on campus by the two security department staffers. A 20-year agreement, made by a previous superintendent, was overturned. Both men were former police officers.

That's what happens when you have an anti-gun majority on a school board. All they hear is "gun", and anything after that is bad, bad, bad.

My guess is that at least six board members today are anti-gun. Will Claxton swing enough weight to keep Richland 2 safe?

Here is Richland 2's press release:

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Richland Two is welcoming a new safety and security officer. The superintendent recently recommended and the Richland Two Board of Trustees approved the hiring of Marquez “Marq” Claxton as the district’s Safety and Security Officer. Claxton’s duties and responsibilities include assisting in the planning, direction, and oversight of district safety/security programs; planning and conducting investigations to support a wide variety of both criminal and administrative proceedings; and providing safety and emergency response training as needed. 

Claxton, a native New Yorker, has resided in South Carolina for over a decade. He retired from the New York Police Department (NYPD) in 2005 where he was a first responder to the September 11 World Trade Center attack. During Claxton’s NYPD career, he had a wide range of assignments, including undercover operations in the Narcotics Division, working as a Domestic Violence/Child Abuse Coordinator, an Identity Theft Coordinator and as an investigator in Precinct Detective Squad, routinely investigating crimes ranging from burglaries to homicides. Since coming to the Palmetto State, Claxton has worked at Voorhees College in Denmark, as Director of Safety & Security. He is a Director for the Black Law Enforcement Alliance and is a national television media contributor on policing and law enforcement issues, frequently appearing on cable news networks, MSNBC and CNN.

Claxton will report to Richland Two’s Chief Operations Officer. He is married and has three children.

Respect the U.S. Flag

During the public participation segment this evening, I read the following statement to the board.

Members of the Board and Supt. Davis,

My name is Gus Philpott.

In many places in the United States professional, college and high school sports players are “taking a knee” when the National Anthem is played.

In order to prevent such gross disrespect of the United States Flag in the Richland 2 School District, I request the Board to formulate a policy that clarifies respect for the U.S. Flag.

This policy should provide that at any school event no player will take a knee or in any other way show any sign of disrespect, including not taking the field before the National Anthem is played. I heard a rumor recently that a Blythewood High School football team stayed off the field until the National Anthem was played. I attempted to learn whether there was any truth to the rumor, but Supt. Davis has not replied to my October 26^th email yet. The Board and Coach Mizzell received a copy of my email to the superintendent.

As a concerned member of the community I offer to participate in the drafting of a policy that addresses this subject.

Thank you.

\

When the public participation was introduced tonight, the Acting Chair stated that no names were to be mentioned. That isn't actually how the Board Policy reads, but I was careful not to mention any names. I didn't dare risk getting gaveled into submission.

Robert's Rules Training - desperately needed

Tonight's Regular Meeting of the Richland 2 school board started on time. Manning's chair was empty. Four legal trustees were present. That is not a quorum.  No business could be conducted.

Present were Holmes (Acting Chair), Caution-Parker (Secretary), Agostini, Elkins, McFadden, and McKie. That's six people, but there were only four legitimate trustees present and two trustees-elect.

Just after the meeting was called to order by Holmes, an incoming call's ringing could be heard over a microphone. It sounded like someone said, "Someone's calling in."

As the meeting progressed, motions were made, seconded and voted on. Votes were 6-1 and 7-0. How could the vote be a total of seven? Manning's chair was empty.

What was missing was any explanation to the other board members and to the public that James Manning had apparently called in to attend by telephone (if that's what the ringing phone meant).

I guess I'm going to have to spend $18 on my own copy of Robert's Rules of Order and stop relying on the library's copy. I'm pretty sure telephonic attendance and protocol are covered in Robert's Rules.

What should have happened is the Chair should have announced that Manning would not be attending in person and would attend by telephone, which is permitted under Board policy. In many public bodies the board votes to permit such telephonic attendance. They don't just sweep it under the table.

I can appreciate that the Acting Chair might not know the rules. Then it's the job of the superintendent to coach her, so that protocol is followed.

U.S. Flag - half-staff

Do you know why the U.S. Flag is flown at half-staff today?

And what the correct procedure is for returning it to full-staff? 

White Privilege training - San Diego

Leaked documents have revealed a White Privilege training in the San Diego Unified School District.

"What's that?" you say. 

Check it out by clicking here.

Is it here already (under another name) or is it coming to a school district near you soon?

As soon as I read "white fragility" in that article, I remembered checking out Robin DiAngelo's book from the Richland Library. What a waste of money that library purchase was. I don't think I read 10 pages before I returned it.

When I looked up articles about Gloria Boutee's Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, I almost fell out of my chair laughing. What I read in the top article about her work, was 

"Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP)" *

Culturally Relevant Pedagog

y (CRP)

Well, they got that right.

If I were a teacher and the district tried to jam that nonsense down my throat, they'd be looking for a new teacher the next day.

* Source: https://www.ijme-journal.org/index.php/ijme/article/view/343/512

Handwriting - becoming a lost art?

How is your penmanship?

Legible? I mean, to others... 

Are students learning cursive? Still? Again? I recall a middle-school teacher in Illinois who told me that my stepson didn't need to learn handwriting, because he could use a keyboard. 

She also told me he didn't need to know how to spell, beause he could use SpellChecker. And he didn't need to know arithmetic, because he could use a calculator.

I told her that, if we were playing baseball, she had just struck out!!!

Handwriting - legible handwriting - is an important life skill. Do you have it? Are you seeing that your children acquire it?

I still treasure my Cross pen and pencil set. I've had it for more than 30 years. And I still know exactly where I lost a Cross pen. In a library parking lot in Kansas City after a workshop I had presented. When I missed it, I knew where I had dropped it but, by the time I got back, it was gone.

I just purchased a new ballpoint pen, because I liked the design. Not cheap.

And I just purchased a new fountain pen and bottle of blue ink. There is something about writing with a fountain pen. When is the last time you wrote with a fountain pen? Ever?

In a recent Fireside Chat Dennis Prager mentioned his love for fountain pens. I sent this story to him.

When I was a life insurance salesman back in the late 1960s, I used a fountain pen. A new client complimented my use of a "real" pen and asked if he could use it to sign the application. I usually didn't loan my pen (you know why) but, in this case, I did. I uncapped it, put the cap on the end of the barrel and handed it to him. He signed the application and handed the pen back to me. I didn't notice that he had put the cap back on the pen. So I moved the cap to the other end and put the pen in my shirt pocket. You guessed it! I had to buy a new shirt!