R2 Board Elects 2 ineligible Officers!

Tonight the Richland 2 school board elected two officers who are not eligible to hold office! Teresa Holmes was elected as Chair in a 5-2 vote, and Amelia McKie was elected as Secretary in a 4-3 vote. James Manning was elected Vice-Chair in a 5-2 vote.

Voting was by secret ballot because there was more than one nominee for each office.

During the public participation segment of the meeting I addressed board andthe  urged them to allow only fully-qualified persons to be nominated. They all knew I was referring to McKie and Holmes. Fully-qualified meant they had to have taken the oath of office legally! I asked the board to deny an illegible nominee.

Since February 2019 I have complained that McKie and Holmes are not legitimate members of the board. Tonight I reminded the board that two of the people have never taken the oath of office legally.

And so, what happened when the agenda reached the time for election of officers. The superintendent runs the election, and he called for nominations for Chair.

Mr. Manning led the pack in jumping right in with his nomination of Teresa Holmes for Chair. Right out of the box! 

The superintendent should have raised the issue of legitimacy. Another board member should have called a Point-of-Order.

Manning KNOWS that Holmes is not a legitimate board member. Holmes has never taken the oath of office legally. Yet Manning quickly spoke up to noiminate her. The Squad lined right up with Manning, and the vote was 5-2.

For Vice-Chair, Manning was nominated, and the vote again was 5-2.

For Secretary, Amelia McKie was nominated. The Squad lined up again, and she won with a 4-3 vote. McKie is not only not a legal board member, she is not eligible to be a board officer. And she also is not eligible to the the District's nominee to the South Carolina School Boards Association for Regional Director. But there she is.

Last year I contacted the Richland County Sheriff's Department and SLED about McKie and Holmes. SLED investigators interviewed me at the S.C. Attorney General's office. For a while it really looked like the A.G. was going to file charges. And then he didn't. 

However, now it's a new story. This Board cannot function with two illegitimate officers. The taxpayers must demand that only duly-qualified board members should serve as Officers. And ALL board members should fully qualified, which McKie and Holmes are not.

The Chair and the superintendent set the direction of the District, because they control the agenda. 

Get ready, folks. The District 2 ship is setting sail for even more dangerous waters.

CRT - Two Hours of Public Comments

No, not in Richland 2, of course. The Richland 2 board is willing to listen only to (up to) 10 members of the public at a board meeting, and for not more than 30 minutes.

So, where was there a two-hour public lambasting of the board? Douglas County, Colorado - just southeast of Denver and not far from where I lived.

Check out this article in the June 22nd edition of The Daily Signal, a publication of the Heritage Foundation. The title?

Is Your School Hiding Its Critical Race Theory Teaching? Here Are 5 Things to Ask About

I recently submitted a FOIA request to Richland 2 for documentation of teaching of Critical Race Theory. The reply was that there was no "documentation" responsive to my request. So I knew I hadn't ask the right question(s).

Read this article, which was originally published in The Denver Gazette.

Publication Participation

Why does Richland 2 require those wishing to speak during Public Participation to sign up not later than 15 minutes before the re-convening of the Regular meeting?

Is this just a case of "Because we said so"?

Tuesday's meeting starts at 4:30PM, and the board will quickly enter Executive Session (for food, beverages, and some confidential business). Watch when they come out of Executive Session. Some of them will be carrying extra meals to take home, if past meetings are any indication of what will happen this Tuesday.

There are two Public Participation segments during Regular Board Meetings. One 15-minute segment is held early in the meeting, and the second is held late in the meeting, AFTER the board has conducted its business and voted on agenda items.

HOWEVER, you must sign up to speak before 5:45PM. And you don't get a choice about speaking at the first or second segment.

Speakers get three minutes to sound off, so only five will speak at the first segment. If you are Number 6 to sign up, and each of the others takes his full three minutes, then you get to cool your heels until nearly the end of the meeting. If you wanted to comment on an item the board will consider and vote on, Tough Luck!

Why doesn't the board hold a 30-minute segment and give the public an opportunity to speak up before they take care of business?

What if a "Loudoun County" Night occurred and 200 people showed up to bark at the board about Critical Race Theory (or Richland 2's version, Culturally Relevant Theory (or Pedagogy))?

Would the board listen? Not likely. Instead, RCSD deputies would get a work-out, because they will be instructed to remove many members of the public.

Even though the State of South Carolina has removed COVIC-19 restrictions, the Richland 2 board continues to restrict attendance at board meetings to 30 members of the public. It is past time to open the public meetings to larger attendance.

June 29th Board Meeting - special hours

The June 29th school board meeting will convene at 4:30PM*, according to the notes with the published Agenda. This is an hour earlier than normal. See the Agenda for items to be discussed out of public hearing. A longer-than-usual Executive Session is planned. 

At 6:00PM the Regular Meeting will re-convene. 

However, an email to media indicated that the board meeting will start at 5:30PM, with the budget hearing and Regular Meeting at 6:00PM, after the Executive Session.

* NOTE: Check on the District's website for any correction to the starting time.

EDIT at 6:28PM 

An amended announcement was mailed out by Richland 2 that the correct starting time of the board meeting is 4:30PM.

At 10:39AM the District sent out it first announcement to media, with the starting time as 5:30PM.

At 10:51AM I emailed the District to ask the correct starting time; 4:30PM or 5:30PM. 

At 11:10AM the District issued a correction of the starting time to 4:30PM.

Still waiting for the District to say "Thanks".

CRT: Joy Reid vs. Chris Rufo

For a discussion of the interview between Joy Reid (MSNBC mouthpiece) and Christopher Rufo, Manhattan Institute senior fellow, see this FoxNews article: https://www.foxnews.com/media/christopher-rufo-msnbc-joy-reid-critical-race-theory

Do you know these terms?

"intersectionality, critical whiteness studies, ethnic studies, and critical pedagogy"

Pay close attention, when you hear any of these words in Richland 2 School District. 

Robin DiAngelo is mentioned in the article. I tried to read her book but quickly gave up. I have a strong stomach, but it's not strong enough to digest her drivel.

In all (well, some) fairness to Joy Reid, I would not know her from Godzilla's mother, if both were standing in front of me.

Thank you, Loudoun County (Va.) Parents

Thanks for Loudoun County, Va. parents and the school board there, Loudoun County has been much in the news about the parents' fights with the board over Critical Race Theory.

Do you think CRT is right here in Richland 2? Do you know the extent of "diversity training" (mind-bending) in Richland 2 School District? Think you should find out more - now?

Here's an article for your reading enjoyment.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-loudoun-county-became-the-apex-of-the-fight-against-critical-race-theory?itm_source=parsely-api&utm_source=cnemail&utm_medium=email

And here are some highlights from that article:

police arrested at least two parents who refused to leave a public school board meeting. 

nearly year-long pushback against the district for allegedly pushing critical race theory on children

progressive ideology in the classroom. 

Between 2018 and 2020, LCPS spent $422,500 in taxpayer funds on diversity training programs hosted by The Equity Collaborative, a California-based consulting firm. 

How much has Richland 2 spent?

promoting social justice in the classroom

Learning for Justice — the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center’s teaching arm — to craft the district’s new curriculum. The proposed lesson plans recommended restructuring history and social studies classes to emphasize slavery as fundamental to American society for students from kindergarten to fifth grade. 

You've heard of The 1619 Project; right?

Dr. Seuss’s children’s book contained “racial undertones” that are not suitable for “culturally responsive” learning. 

the district’s progressive school board. The board did not publicly announce many of the changes

speech code that would have prohibited teachers from criticizing the school board’s racial equity plan. District employees were instructed to be committed to “action-oriented equity practices” in all forms of personal and public speech. 

district also hired an equity lead

teachers were required to undergo an equity presentation 

teacher bullying a student for saying he takes a colorblind approach to observing people. 

Parents who pushed back against critical race theory in Loudon County were met with intense pushback from the “anti-racist” community, including teachers. 

A black mother called the board racist for daring to teach her children that they were oppressed. 

The board voted to silence parents condemning them by suddenly ending the public comment portion of the meeting, which was scheduled to go on for hours. 

TED Talks - Luvvie Ajayi Jones

There are two short TED Talks by dynamic Luvvie Ajayi Jones. Without saying more, I'll just recommend them and urge you to listen to them. 

"Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable"

https://www.ted.com/talks/luvvie_ajayi_jones_get_comfortable_with_being_uncomfortable

"How to be a Professional Troublemaker"

https://www.ted.com/talks/luvvie_ajayi_jones_how_to_be_a_professional_troublemaker

Every parent and every student should hear these two talks. Read her books, too. And check out her website at www.luvvie.org