Board Policy KE summary

This morning I posted this summary on Facebook of last Tuesday's discussion of Board Policy KE.

"I was very disappointed in the gross representation of the former Policy KE. It did NOT allow a person to go straight to the BOARD with a complaint. A person could complain to a Board MEMBER (that's not "to the BOARD"). That board member was required to forward the complaint to the supt. If the supt's decision was unsatisfactory to the person, then the person could appeal to the BOARD, and the Board HAD TO hear the complaint. That "right" for the complaint to be heard by the Board is gone now. Thanks to the SCSBA, the Core Four, and the supt. Board Policy KE had finally become known to the public, and the board ran for cover. (Important: I was first told there was no appeal procedure. I appealed my Trespass Notice, anyway, and KE popped up.)"

What is a Woman? Anyone?

Pres. Biden's pick for a U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, wouldn't even say what she thinks a woman is.

Now, is that someone whom anyone wants on the Supreme Court? 

That not only reflects poorly on her, but it reflects poorly on Biden for nominating her. Did he actually talk to her, or did his minions put her up and say, "Pick her. Pick her"?

People keep telling me not to judge (no pun intended) a book by its cover. As a photographer, I realize that any photograph is just 1/1,000th second of a person's expression. In Jackson's case, I do so judge.

The photographs circulating in conservative news scream at me, "Not that one. Not that one."

Biden previously announced he intended to nominate a black woman to the SCOTUS. That's about as stupid as Richland Two's 100 Premier Men of Color project.

There are ways for a high court's nominee to avoid answering questions that could come up before her in an official capacity later on. Refusing to say what a "woman" is, is probably not one of them.

OK, is Lia Thomas a woman?

All this nonsense suggests to me that I ought to put on a brassiere and stroll into the April 7th school board meeting. When Marq Claxton grabs me and tries to have me arrested, I'll just say, "I am not Gus Philpott, to whom y'all issued a Trespass Notice. I am Frankie Philpott. Now get your grimy paws off me before I have you arrested for sexual harassment!"

If you can get at it, read today's Daily Signal, a publication of the Heritage Foundation. There are two great articles. One is about Jackson.

The other is by Hans Spankovsky and the attempt of the League of Women Voters to cancel him in Akron, Ohio.

If you aren't yet a supporter of the Heritage Foundation, I strongly encourage you to become a member.

Why I write this blog

See this symbol at the bottom of each article?

This means you can email the article to someone you'd like to know about it. Please click on it often and forward article. Invite your friends, family, neighbors, and work colleagues to follow this blog. It is my hope that they will be able to make better decisions at the polls on November 9th.

If you owned the $1,000,000,000 that Richland 2 is, would you keep the four who constitute the majority of the board around much longer? Would you tell them to stop bickering and start working together?

I don't see any record of who forwards articles. No email addresses (yours or that of the person to whom you forward an article) are mined or used for anything. I don't care who forwards articles, and I appreciate you if you do.

What I do see is the counter on this blog. Today it is at 46,760. These are pageviews, not unique visitors. That's up substantially from a few months ago. 

Why have I continued to write this blog?

1. McKie has not paid down her $57,100 fine to the S.C. Ethics Commission!

2. Holmes and McKie have never taken the oath-of-office legally. They are not legitimate members of the school board.

3. The school board is in chaos. In all my years in business I have never seen anything like it. The disrespect shown by the majority to the minority (three) members on the board is inexcusable.

4. In spite of two workshops that were to heal the chaos, the chaos and disorder on March 22 were as bad as they have ever been.

You may have noticed that this blog is not monetized. It's free. Please spread the word.

Lies & Omissions on March 22

What were some of the lies and omissions at the March 22 Richland 2 school board meeting?

The discussion of Board Policy KE - Public Concerns and Complaints was, to say the least, contentious.

The biggest deception came from Supt. Davis' explanation of the existing Policy. Davis will never be accused of being at a loss for words. Or of being a Man of Few Words. If something can be said in ten words, you can count on him to use 100 or more.

Davis said repeatedly that the Board could be swamped with complaints from the public. He even read the Policy out loud. Yet no one said, "You have told us about the policy, and what you just read is not what you said." Why not?

Certainly the Core Four (Holmes, McKie, Manning, Caution-Parker) would never say that. And Trustees Agostini, Scott and McFadden are too polite to say that. But it needed to be said.

The old Police KE did not say the public could go straight to the Board. It said a person with a complaint could file the complaint with a board member. That board member then was required to forward the complaint to the superintendent. And the superintendent would be expected to investigate it.

What Supt. Davis never said was that people with complaints probably had already started with the "chain-of-command", as he preferred to call the pecking order. A parent probably started with the teacher and maybe went up to the Assistant Principal and even the Principal, before feeling blown off and then going to a board member for help.

What Supt. Davis did not say is that he would have reached down for all the information before making a decision. At least, he should have. What he did say is that he shouldn't have to make a decision without all the information. And he was correct.

But he would NOT have made a decision without "all the information". Nothing prevented him from getting information from staff or teachers.

Under the old Policy KE, the person who was then dissatisfied with the superintendent's decision had the right to appeal to the Board. And the Board had to hear the complaint. 

When the Board voted 4-3 on Tuesday night, it stripped that required hearing of an appeal from the revised Policy. It stripped the public's RIGHT from the policy.

Why would Holmes, McKie, Manning and Caution-Parker want to strip that right from a parent (or even from a community member)?

Ask them. And let us know what they say.

COVID "guidance" - unbiased?

Parents ought to be interested in this FoxNews article about COVID-19, the CDC, and school re-opening data.

The FoxNews headline is: "Biden admin operated with missing data as CDC iisued pandemic guidance, emails show". Check it out right here.

How involved in writing school re-opening guidance were teachers' unions?

What about learning loss?

You know that famous phrase, don't you? "I'm from the Government. You can trust me."

The next Richland 2 school board meeting will be Thursday, April 7. Following that, board meetings return to Tuesdays, April 26, and May 10. Put these meetings in your schedule and show up in-person. Watching online is not good enough. Let the board meetings see your faces.

Are you sick and tired of the chaos and the lies? The March 22 meeting had both. Don't settle for it. Pay attention. 

And post comments here and write Letters to the Editor of The State, the Post and Courier, and The Voice of Blythewood. Get your letters out where people will see and read them. Post comments on Facebook and NextDoor.

It is imperative that you understand the lies that were told on March 22. Ask the Core Four (Holmes, McKie, Manning and Caution-Parker) why they tolerated the lies! Demand answers.

Demand Corrections.

4 Hrs. 26 Min. - 3/22/22 - Whew!

NOTE: This post was written on Wed., March 23, and held, as I intended to insert links to the comments made by two speakers. The District appears to have eliminated the option of selecting specific portions of the recording. The links now are to the livestream.com/richland2 recording and it will be necessary to move the timer bar to the time shown. (3/24/2022)

Last night's school board meeting ran, from start to finish, for FOUR (4) hours 26 minutes. What in the world is wrong with the Board leadership (or lack thereof)?

I stuck it out through Item 8.3 (revision to Board Policy KE) and then bailed out, only to return later during the board and superintendent comments.

Why won't Holmes tell McKie to just introduce the Inspirational Moment? A good introduction would be about 30 seconds. Is McKie practicing her Toastmasters' skills and preparing to host the next Academy Awards? Sheesh! Just introduce the speaker! A good introduction would have been, "Tonight's inspirational moment will be presented by Jaiden Bostic, a 5th Grade student at Round Top Elementary." To hear McKie tell it, Jaiden is an "award-winning actor". Seriously? "Published author". Seriously? And calling a 10-year-old "sir"? What nonsense!

And who set up Jaiden? He is an accomplished student, but did he write his entire act? Two-three minutes of inspiration would have been sufficient, rather than the commercials for his website, book and book-signing. livestream.com/richland2 (1:07.19)

Holmes had already thanked Jaiden, in her overly-gushing manner, and then McKie delayed the Pledge of Allegiance with her own unnecessary comments. And referring to him as "Mr. Bostic"? Dumb. Absolutely dumb! I'll tell you - November won't come soon enough for Richland 2!!! 

Question for Holmes? After a Motion is seconded, she calls for discussion. When there is none, she says, "Seeing none ..." and calls for the vote. How does one see discussion? How about "hearing none...", Teresa?

There were only three speakers last night. Holmes couldn't even read the first speaker's name correctly. Manuel Cabrera. She read his first name as Marvin. If she needs glasses, Teresa should get over her vanity and wear them! Is it carelessness? uncaring? or just plain disrespect on her part? 

And isn't Larry's last name "Smalls"? Not Small. Again, carelessness on Teresa's part?

Perhaps I should start referring to "Theresa Homes". Would she even notice?

Somebody should explain to Mr. Cabrera that it is not the District's responsibility to provide a safe walking route through his neighborhood. Buses? Yes, maybe. Sidewalks or path through the woods? No.

Joe Trapp and Larry Smalls spoke on the topic on the agenda item, Board Police KE. Listen to them here:

Joe Trapp: livestream.com/richland2 (1:27:00)

Larry Smalls: livestream.com/richland2  (1:30:00)

The Core Four had their minds made up on KE, but thanks to Joe and Larry for speaking up and trying to remind the The Core Four that the Public is still present and accounted for.

Richland 2 - playing a new game?

Something has changed in the past two weeks! Through the date of the previous board meeting, it was possible to watch the YouTube version of the meeting video and snag out a segment, using a webtool called Vibby. This allowed copying a portion of the meeting, such as the remarks of a speaker during Public Participation, and placing a link in a webpost or blog.

This allowed me (and others) to write: "Look at this" and all the reader would have to do is click on the link. The link would take the viewer directly to that portion of the meeting video.

And now? Look what shows up when the District's video link is pasted into the Vibby webtool.

An email will be on the way this afternoon to Richland 2 to ask if they placed that restriction and, if so, why?