Short-Notice Special Called Board Meeting

Last month the board decided it could do without the first Regular board meeting of the month. They fiddled around with wording, got it wrong, and passed it, anyway.

Now, all of a sudden, they can't stand not seeing each other and have called a Special Meeting for Thursday, June 17, at 5:30PM.

They'll run into Executive Session for some legal advice about a "claim" and then re-convene in open session. The Agenda is supposed to state the location of the Special-Called Meeting, but it does not. Will it be at R2i2?

Even though everyone is seated so far apart, they will probably persist with the silly mask requirement. You'll notice just how far apart the board members sit from one another, and they are further guarded by the plastic partitions. And they still wear their own masks, which often make it hard to understand what they are saying. 

On the agenda for the budget work session is the 2021-2022 budget. Be sure to look at it. It is attached to the agenda.

Unlike The Summit HOA's budget and financial statements, Richland 2 follows good accounting principles and reveals the percentage change in the numbers. That, of course, is where the real story is in any budget.

Some account items show an increase from the 2020-2021 Budget to the 2021-2022 Projected Budget. Some account items show a decrease.

General Revenue is projected to increase 4.32% over the current year.

Expenditures are projected to increase 4.32% over the current year. Funny how it works out that way.

If that's all you look at, and most of the school board members are not financial wizards, you'd think, "Fine. No problem."

BUT LOOK AT THE LAST ITEM IN EXPENDITURES!

"Other Expenditures" are projected to rise from $2,284,324 to $5,584,324! This is an increase of $3,300,000. This is an increase of 144.46%.

Ho-hum, Just an increase on 144.46%. Just lump all those increases into one item, and maybe nobody will ask any questions.

What are Other Expenditures? "Other Expenditures includes items not broken out in the above categories. Some examples are organization membership, other insurance costs (including costs associated with workers' compensation), and transfers to other funds". $3,300,000 worth???

No real business would ever let the worker-bees schlep a 144.46% past the decision-makers. They'd break it down and account for the $3,300,000 increase. But wait; this is just a school board. It's just play money. The problem is the board has no "skin in the game". They just show up, nod their heads, and go home. 

Also, notice where the Board Chair and the Superintendent are handling this. In a Special-Called Session. Where the public does NOT get to ask questions.

At least the board will not get a chance to take action on the budget. At the public meeting where action will be taken, the public will get time in front of the board to grill them on the numbers. Will that be on June 29, when the board also elects its officers for the next School Year?

Keisha King for school board

I wish Keisha King would move to Richland County and run for the Richland 2 school board! King is a Duval County, Fla. parent. Duval County includes Jacksonville.

She recently addressed the Florida Board of Education and gave them an earful about Critical Race Theory (CRT). You can read about her here.

What did she have to say?

CRT is racist.

CRT will destroy America.

CRT is deeper and more dangerous than racial insensitivity or teaching Jim Crow history.

And she said more. Read the transcript of her remarks in the article.

Board Officer Election - June 29

New officers of the school board for the 2021-2022 School Year will be elected on June 29, 2021. 

The following email has been sent to the five legal board members, the two trustees-elect (and illegitimate board members), others, and media.

Weigh in now by calling board members and letting them know what you think about who should be officers for the coming year.

With the right officers in place as the leadership team, meetings should be much shorter. There is little reason for meetings to run 2½-3 hours. If the superintendent is properly directed to tell his staff to limit reports to essenttials, a school board meeting should be completed in 90 minutes. Cutting down the introduction time of the inspirational speaker and the time for the speaker himself should hold that to five minutes, including the Pledge of Allegiance.

Cutting off rambling remarks of board members that add nothing of value is the chair's job. A strong chair will do this. There is no need for each board member to thank a staffer for a report. The chair can do that.

Here's what was sent today:

Members of the Board,

On June 29 the five legal members of the board will elect board officers for the 2021-2022 school year. To get the length of board meetings under control, I urge you to elect new leadership. 

As of April 19, 2021 Amelia McKie still owed $51,800 to the S.C. Ethics Commission. She had not paid one penny toward her debt since the Decision and Order by the Ethics Commission on July 3, 2018. That's almost three years! The Ethics Commission filed a Judgment on July 10, 2019 against her in the Richland County Common Pleas Court. 

Is her unpaid debt a problem for you? Are you willing to bring it up at a school board meeting and ask her to pay off her debt or step down?

Only legitimate board members can serve as officers of the board. The legitimate board members are Agostini, Scott (f/k/a Elkins), Manning, McFadden, and Caution-Parker.

McKie is not a legitimate member of the Board, because she has never taken the oath of office legally after she filed her Statement of Economic Interest (SEI) on December 4, 2018. The School District is improperly paying her salary and expenses. The FBI and SLED have been asked to investigate illegal disbursement of public monies by the District. 

McKie cannot serve (again) as an officer of the board. McKie should be replaced as the SCSBA representative, as she is not a legitimate board member. 

Teresa Holmes is also not a legitimate board member. She too has never taken the oath of office legally after filing her SEI on December 4, 2018. She is not eligible for a board officer position, although she first pitched her interest in being Board Chair months ago. Richland 2 is also improperly paying her salary and board expenses.

No doubt there is intense lobbying going on right now. 

Please do not continue to look the other way because of friendships.

Sincerely,

Gus Philpott

www.Richland2.info

cc:

Kathryn Mahoney, Attorney for Richland 2

Helen McFadden, Attorney, Robert's Rules of Order expert

Molly Spearman, S.C. Supt. of Education

Scott Price, Exec. Dir., SCSBA

Robert's Rules of Order

Just received my newest favorite reading material.

Every member of the Richland 2 school board should have a copy. And not just to use as a paper-weight.

Look up valuable procedural information, such as when six board members vote and it's a tie, what does that mean? Does the motion pass or fail?

And when a member is out-of-order with a question or comment, how do you cut them off?

And when there is not a legal quorum present, can the board hold a meeting? Or if a member leaves the meeting, resulting in loss of a quorum, must the meeting stop?

Board Policy refers to Robert's Rules of Order. Do any of the board members know what that reference is? 

Will it come to this?

When more and more parents start questioning Richland 2 about Critical Race Theory (CRT), will it come to this?

A mother of a kindergarten student in Rhode Island worries that she might be sued by a school committee. Huh? by a school "committee"? She is asking a lot of questions about CRT, and the school district told her to use FOIA for her questions.

According to this article, the principal told her they don't refer to "kids as boys and girls." Well, what do they call them? Is this stupid, or is this stupid?

How much simpler it would have been if they had just answered the questions. Of course, they did not want to answer her questions. She was pinning them down on something on which they did not want to be pinned down.

Three cheers to mom Nicole Solas. (FoxNews ducked on naming her town, the school, the school district or the principal. Chickens!)

CRT? Seriously?

So you think you know all about Critical Race Theory (CRT)?

Check out this video by a black man and his daughter!

Video of the Year?  First Prize!!!

Many states are acting now to ban CRT.

Start asking questions now about which Richland 2 school board members support CRT. And which administrators support CRT.

When you have answers, post them in the Comments below.

And here's another blast at CRT. 

A Colorado mom and radio show host takes off on CRT and tells a school board that "...the training (is) a “nightmare” that needs to “end now.” She's talking about the "training" (read: indoctrination) being foisted on the district by a "diversity consulting firm".

Richland 2 has used a training by USC profession Gloria Boutte. You should learn more about that. It promotes use of "cohorts" (a $100 word for something else). Perhaps a Richland 2 teacher could enlighten me on exactly what a "cohort" is or does. 

Email me at gusphilpott@gmail.com  I guarantee confidentiality. Your name and connection to Richland 2 will NOT be mentioned. Ever.

Are boys girls?

Read this article about the Loudoun County, Va. school district, which recently stomped on a teacher who won't call a boy a girl. Read it here. Elementary school teacher Byron Cross spoke out at a school board meeting on May 25. And on May 27, Ka-bam!!! "You're outa here!" What kind of idiots are on that school board. Woke-ism at its worst!!!

Is there any chance that this nonsense is gaining traction in the Richland 2 School District?

Should a teacher be required to address a gender-confused male, who wants to be a female, as "she"?

And what about the poor student who is sitting next to a boy, and the boy wants to be called "Mary"? Should that student be penalized, disciplined, graded down or sent to the principal's office?

Who on the Richland 2 School Board thinks this way? Anyone?

Comments below, please.