McFadden - prohibited from talking to Supt?

At 10:08PM tonight, watching from home, I heard Trustee McFadden say that she has been "excommunicated" and prohibited from speaking with the superintendent.

What the heck is that about?

I tuned back in and had missed her comments just before that. It was during the discussion of a review of Board policy BEDB - Board Agenda. I'll listen to it again tomorrow.

While the camera was off Trustee McFadden, she left the meeting. Her departure should have been mentioned by the Chair, but it was not. Another failure on Holmes' part.

This is outrageous.

And right after that, there were motions to add topics to be the next agenda. Watch Holmes while Trustee Agostini is making a motion for a topic to be added to the next agenda. Holmes is staring into space and NOT listening attentively to Trustee Agostini.

Trustee Agostini made a motion. Then Holmes asked if that was a motion. What does she think it was? She was spaced out and just not listening. Her job as Chair is to listen. If she is not going to do that, she should get out of that Chair and resign.

Well, Holmes isn't even really a legitimate board member, and she shouldn't be chair! Manning knew that when he nominated Holmes for Chair on June 29, 2020. Big mistake. He has got to be regretting that. Or he should be.

And listen to Caution-Parker. She was nasty to Trustee Scott. Just totally NASTY. If this was still the 1800s, there would have been a duel at 10:45PM in the parking lot.

Unfortunately, the majority, The Squad, is secure until November 2022 - unless Holmes and McKie get removed from the board for not being legitimate members and that one other trustee is confirmed as no longer residing in the District. 

A Bully's Tactic

Recently the Lexington-Richland 5 School District wanted a new superintendent, and so it hired one. Only it didn't.

It contracted with a business to run the school district. It contracted with HeartEd LLC, Akil Ross' education consulting firm, according to The State newspaper.

A former school superintendent, Stephen Hefner, and others didn't like that move, and a complaint was filed with the district's accrediting agency, Cognia..

And what is the response of Lexington-Richland 5?

It is suing the former superintedent.

The State's updated article yesterday included this statement. "Board member Nikki Gardner argued the lawsuit needed to move forward to deter politically motivated action agains the board and the superintendent."

She is wrong! Her position has a chilling and silencing effect on a statements, comments and opinions of those who disagree with decisions made by a school board. 

A school board should hire only a live person who is personally and individually accountable for his actions.

Next we'll have principals and teachers who want the district to contract with their corporations. And, after that, a student will incorporate a business and have it show up (or not) for classes and tests. How would you ever administer detention to a student's LLC?

Check out the homepage for L-R5: lexrich5.org  The first link that caught my eye was "Meet the Candidates for Superintendent".  Aha! The undated page includes "Dr.Akil E. Ross, Sr." Looks like his consulting firm is NOT a candidate. The other candidates ought to make a big deal out of that!!!

Why is that link even on LR-5's homepage?

Honesty on personal FB page?

How important is it for a public official to be honest on her personal Facebook page?

As of 12/11/2021

I think most would agree rhat a public official should be honest at all times.

If a school board official, even one who has never taken the oath-of-office legally, identifies herself as a "School Board Commissioner [sic] for Richland School District Two", is that correct? Is that honest?

Richland 2 doesn't have "Commissioners". It has Trustees. (Richland One calls its elected officials Commissioners.)

Is it just a simple, dumb mistake? What possible reason could there be for such an error?

And how about misleading the public by calling yourself an "Assistant Administrator / Guidance" for a school district where you haven't worked since August 1st? The person, whose Facebook page it is, was never an "Assistant Administrator". According to that school district, the person was a Guidance Counsel/Lead Teacher who also had some administrative duties when the Administrator was not present. But that doesn't make her an "Assistant Administrator".

For some people, "little things" don't matter. Is it just a case of "Don't sweat the small stuff"?

Like not taking the oath of office legally, and therefore not being a legal member of a school board, but sitting on the board, voting on school matters, accepting pay and perks, and glad-handing all.

Many years ago, I heard "integrity" explained as what you do when no one is looking. Well, everybody is looking.

Is honesty important?

Can a public official block someone on social media?

Can a public official block a person on a social media platform?

Tonight I was curious whether Teresa Holmes had ever corrected her description of her position on the Richland 2 school board.  I attempted to view one of her pages, titled "DrTeresa (no space) Holmes..." Last time I checked that page, Teresa described herself as a Commissioner in the Richland 2 school district. Tonight? I cannot access that page.

Teresa sent me a nastygram at about 11:00PM one night and informed me that she was going to block me. I guess she figured out how to do that.

Hello? "Commissioner"? Richland 2 doesn't have any commissioners. Richland 2 has Trustees. And Teresa isn't even legally one of those, because she has never taken the oath of office legally.

Teresa has been usurping public office since November 13, 2018, when the oath-of-office was administered to her at that evening's school board meeting, before she became eligible to take the oath of office. It was not until December 4, 2018 that she first became eligible to take the oath-of-office.

Is this important to anyone else?

Why does the District tolerate not just one, but two women on the school board illegitimately? Amelia McKie also took the oath on November 13, 2018. She too did not become eligible to take the oath until December 4, 2018.

What happened on December 4, 2018? Both Holmes and McKie filed their Statements of Economic Interests with the South Carolina Ethics Commission.

In spite of becoming eligible to take the oath on December 4, 2018, neither Holmes nor McKie has even taken the oath since that date. Taking the oath-of-office (legally) is required to hold office.

Should Holmes be able to block me from her social media page? Her main page seems to be full of self-promotion pictures. She is all smiley with other public officials. Is she starting her campaign for re-election already?

Will it be possible to have Holmes and McKie arrested at a school board meeting and removed from their chairs? There are plenty of RCSD deputies there at school district expense. I wonder whether they would do their jobs, if I presented them with information of violation of numerous laws and asked them to "do their duty". 

Do you think that Holmes and McKie should take the oath of office legally and become legitimate members of the school board?  Please comment below.

SEL - "the Insidious Teaching Tool You've Never Heard of"

 

                                                         SEL and surveys (data-mining)

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) - ever heard of it?

If you've been paying attention to the uproar over Critical Race Theory, you've probably heard of it. But do you know what it is?

Read this article (and/or listen to the podcast) from today's The Daily Signal, a publication of The Heritage Foundation. From this article, "The (SEL) program seeks to indoctrinate kids into leftist ideology by reinforcing a series of critical race theory-based morals and values."

Read about the firing of Jennifer McWilliams, who got canned from her Indiana elementary school teaching position northeast of Indianapolis. 

What happened to her job?

"When she voiced her concerns about the racist ideology, she was summarily fired."

Teachers here and around the country are learning to hunker down. Don't stick your head up out of the foxhole. Suck it up. Keep your mouth shut (if you like having a job and a paycheck). Do what you're told. Teach what you are told to teach, the way you are told to teach it.

Do not get on the bad side of your principal or any higher-up administrator.

Is the program "Leader in Me" here in Richland 2?

I remember a first-year, freshman English teacher in college who was brave enough, when asked during a faculty meeting to fill out what he considered a dumb questionnaire, to exclaim something about "utter nonsense", snap his pencil in half, and walk out of the meeting. I always wondered where he worked next.

Check out McWilliams' webpage at www.jennifermcwilliamsconsulting.com  Could we get her to come to Columbia and conduct a workshop (Special-Called board meeting) for the school board?

Are you familiar with data mining? That's collecting information from students and analyzing it, often without parental consent. Watch McWilliams' video. Click on the YouTube video above or click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCErTSJkWTs

How much money does Richland 2 spend with Panorama Education for surveys?

Does Richland 2 have a REAL Ombudsman?

The following email was sent this morning to the Richland 2 Ombudsman, Kelli Johnson.

According to the Richland County (S.C.) website, 

"An Ombudsman is an impartial dispute-resolutioner, whose major function is to provide informal assistance to citizens and to assist citizens with county concerns and request for service.

• Receives and investigates concerns and requests for service.
• Develops or identifies a range of responsible options to resolve problems and facilitate discussion.
• Helps citizens find alternative solutions and develop new ways to solve problems themselves."

In most organizations, the Ombudsman is a strong and independent authority, often reporting directly to the CEO. An ombudsman is an advocate for the person with the issue - the complainant, the employee, the customer, etc. An Ombudsman has clout.

What is the role of the Richland 2 Ombudsman? She reports to the superintendent. Can she go to him and say, "We have a real problem here. This is a legitimate complaint. We cannot just sweep this one under the rug."

What will his response be?

Here's the email sent this morning to Ms. Kelli Johnson. Copies were sent to the outside attorney for the school district, the Richland County Councilman for our district, the executive directors of the Richland County Election Commission and the S.C. Ethics Commission, Gov. McMaster, the S.C. Attorney General, the S.C. Superintendent of Education, the five legal school board trustees and the two trustees-elect, and the superintendent.

For the Ombudsman.

Dear Ms. Johnson:

The Richland School District Two school board has two participants who have been usurping public office for three years, and I seek your assistance in having them removed from office.

I have reviewed the services offered by the Ombudsman, and I am writing for your assistance.

THE OMBUDSMAN CAN:

• Listen to clarify concerns to understand them thoroughly
• Help community members identify and explore options for solutions
• Provide information to help resolve concerns by researching Board policies as well as Administrative Rules
• Coach and empower individuals on how to prepare conversations that lead to collaborative resolutions
• Navigate individuals to the correct resources and people to address concerns
• Foster effective communication
• Track trends to help the district identify areas that could be improved

Significant dates:

11/6/18 Teresa Holmes and Amelia McKie were elected.

11/9/18 Richland County Election Commission certified the election.

11/13/18 The oath of office was administered to Holmes and McKie; they took office that night. However, on that date neither was eligible to take the oath of office.

11/14?/18 Notarized oath of office documents were transmitted to the S.C. Secretary of State (SCSOS). The SCSOS should be informed that false notarized documents were sent to it, because neither Holmes nor McKie was eligible to take the oath of office legally on Nov. 13, 2018.

11/16/18 School board member term-of-office began.

12/4/18 Holmes and McKie filed their Statements of Economic Interests Reports (SEI) with the S.C. Ethics Commission.

* Neither Holmes nor McKie was eligible to take the oath of office on 11/13/18, because they had not filed their SEIs.

* Holmes and McKie first became eligible to take the oath of office on 12/4/18.

* Neither Holmes nor McKie has taken the oath of office on or since 12/4/18.

I have raised this issue regularly with the School Board since February 2019. It is absolutely within the purview of the school board to address this issue.

Administration informed me one time only that it considers Holmes and McKie to be legal board members, but it has never provided an explanation for why S.C. Code of Laws Section 8-13-1110(A) does not apply. That law reads, in summary,

1. the elected person files the SEI (by filing the SEI, the elected person first becomes eligible to take the oath of office);

2. the elected person then takes the oath of office;

3. the elected person then enters upon official responsibilities.

The order is clear: 1-2-3.

However, Holmes and McKie followed this order: 2-3-1, and that is not in compliance with State law.

For three years the District has improperly paid monthly stipends to both Holmes and McKie and has paid or reimbursed expenses for both.

In view of the District's published services of the Ombudsman, will you please help me explore the options to remove Holmes and McKie from the board? 

Sincerely,

Gus Philpott

847.971.7083

Resident, Richland School District Two

Critical Race Theory - what you didn't learn at the Board presentation

Were you disappointed by the presentation to the Richland 2 Board of Trustees about the difference between Critical Race Theory (CRT) and culturally-relevant teaching (crt)?

Frankly, I was the most disappointed by Helen Grant's response to Lindsay Agostini's question. Mrs. Grant couldn't even tell Trustee Agostini what CRT is.

If I had been the superintendent, the next day Mrs. Grant would have been looking for a new job.

Check out this website for information on CRT: www.uspie.org  It's the website of the U.S. Parents Involved in Education. Click on the tab right in the middle of the first line of subjects: CRITICAL RACE THEORY.

It's too bad that Mrs. Grant didn't spend some time on that page before the presentation. Her presentation was not about the Differences.

Oh, but don't worry. Just trust Helen Grant and Teresa Holmes, when they say, "Richland 2 doesn't teach Critical Race Theory." Seriously?

Of course, Richland 2 does not teach Critical Race Theory. Richland 2 doesn't teach theory.

Now what about all those elements of Critical Race Theory that are taught, emphasized, urged, encouraged to be used in the classroom?

Those are what concern many parents of Richland 2 students!!!