Watch how a board meeting should NOT be run

Be sure to watch the recorded Livestream of the February 8, 2021 school board meeting. I bailed at 6:53PM, totally fed up. I do not understand why most of the board members put up with what was going on. By about Thursday (Feb. 11) you should be able to view this meeting at www.livestream.com/richland2

Notice the plastic shields on each board member's table. What a waste! They are already wearing masks and practicing social distancing. I would have knocked that dumb shield off my desk, had I been a board member.

The meeting began its decline at 6:04PM, when the Chair called on (trustee-elect) McKie to introduce the Inspirational Moment. The best intro would have been, "The Inspiration Moment will be given by Mrs. Helen Grant."

What actually happened? McKie, as usual, was long-winded and blathered on and on. The only worthwhile part was to explain that Mrs. Grant has a law degree. Who has ever heard of a lawyer being addressed as "Dr. (Grant)". She is Mrs. Grant. I anticipated that the introduction was going to be longer than the actual Inspirational Moment. But Mrs. Grant proved me wrong.

Tonight's Inspirational Moment was eight minutes long! It should have been 2-3 minutes. I'm sure Mrs. Grant cares about her family history, all the way back to 1865, but I doubt that anyone else does. She mentioned Black History Month several times (of course) and "enslavement of black people" and that she is only three generations from slavery.

When Board business moved on, the superintendent butted in and slammed Trustee Agostini. The Chair should have stopped him, not only at this time but later in the meeting, when he became defensive. The superintendent "schooled" Mrs. Agostini on "dysfunction" and "lack of civility".

The superintendent is NOT a board member, yet his seat is in the corner of the seating, establishing him in a superior role. Chair Manning should be at the corner, where he can see everyone. 

After Agostini spoke again, the superintendent butted in again. Robert's Rules of Order dictate that he is to get permission of the Chair to speak. He seldom does.

Once the superintendent starts, he quickly gets on a roll. Never at a loss for words, he can say in 500 words what could be said in 25. But the Chair won't cut him off.

The Chair and the superintendent were flat wrong when they commented on the authority of the Board to get an item considered for an agenda for the next meeting. They are excellent at confusing everyone, and the board falls for it. 

The superintendent rambled on and on about how the board can get an item on the agenda,. But just a couple of weeks ago Agostini tried. She made a motion. Discussion commenced without a second, and eventually the Chair ruled that he could decide not to put it on the agenda. He was wrong.

It's almost like a tag-team match when a board member brings up something. The Chair and the superintendent beat down discussion. After a motion, the correct next step is a second. Then there is discussion - without the superintendent! The Board Discusses! Each member should have a say, before a member gets a second say. 

The discussion of the lawsuit about Jools and vaping was a fiasco. The superintendent felt bruised, slighted, his integrity questioned, his honesty, his word, all because a board member said she had not heard any data about Richland 2 students who are vaping.

Who cares if he feels slighted. That's what he gets the big bucks for. 

The motion to support a class-action lawsuit failed. The vote was 3-3. Holmes was absent. The next words out of the superintendent's mouth were that he would, in effect, bring it up again. He does not like to lose. The board decided. His job is to suck it up and move on. (The next time it comes up, Holmes will be there, and the vote will be 4-3. The board made a decision and should refuse to consider it again.) But Manning and the superintendent will put it back on an agenda. Watch for it.

I bailed out when superintendent highlights started. I'd had enough.

S.C. Highest Civilian Honor Goes to Principal

Photo Credit: N. Charleston H.S.

Do not miss this story about the award given to Henry Darby, 
Principal of North Charleston High School. 

Gov. Henry McMaster awarded Darby the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest civilian award. 

Hoping the information would not find its way public, Darby took on a second job of stocking shelves at night at Walmart. He gave his earnings to low-income students and their families to help with bills.

Once word got out, thousands of dollars were donated by the community, and Walmart chipped in $50,000.

If you care to send a note of appreciation to Principal Darby, the school address is 1087 East Montague Ave., North Charleston, SC 29405

McKie Ethics Debt now $51,800

Amelia McKie's debt to the South Carolina Ethics Commission hasn't gone down since July 2018. In fact, it has gone up!

The Ethics Commission issued Order and Decision No. C2017-023 on July 3, 2018. It ordered McKie to pay. It told her what would happen if she didn't pay. She didn't.

On July 10, 2019 the Commission entered a Judgment against McKie in the Richland County Common Pleas Court. The Judgment Amount is $51,750.

McKie has not paid one penny toward that Judgment.

The Ethics Commission has now added $50.00 to the bill for a late-filing penalty. 

McKie is (sort of) a School Board Trustee in a District with a $300,000,000 annual budget. I say "sort of" because she has never taken the oath of office legally. She is not even legitimately on the School Board. Yet the other trustees allow her to sit in a seat at the board during meetings, pay her a monthly wage of about $800, and even let her represent Richland 2 on the board of the South Carolina School Boards Association (SCSBA)!

Supt. Davis, over whom McKie frequently gushes during board meetings, frequently speaks about Richland Two's being a "premier" district. Really? Led by a "premier" board? 

Why doesn't he sit down with her and say, "Amelia - look, friend, you really need to take the oath of office and you've got to start paying off your debt to the State of South Carolina."

Is any board member tough on Ethic? Manning? Agostini? Elkins? Caution-Parker? McFadden? 

I'm not going to ask about Holmes. She has her own problems. She too has never taken the oath of office legally and, therefore, is not a legitimate member of the Richland 2 School Board. At least, she doesn't owe any money to the Ethics Commission.

What's the answer? McKie should leave the board. "Resigning" won't be the right step, because she is not even legally on the board. So, she should just stop showing up. And the District should stop paying her. (They should never have paid her (or Holmes) since November 13, 2018.) Richland 2 should appoint a board member in-good-standing to the SCSBA.

Was the Presidential election fair?

How concerned are you with the claims that the November 2020 presidential election was stolen? Do you think there was voter fraud? How much voter fraud was there? Was there foreign intervention in our U.S. election?

Are you as, or more, concerned with whether the election was fair than with who won?

Or is it, as far as you are concerned, "over" because "your man" is in the White House, and your choice for Vice President is poised to take over when Joe Biden bails?

Watch this two-hour program put together by the president of MyPillow, Mike Lindell. YouTube has taken it down, and it's under attack by mainstream media. By my book, when that happens, there is something there to see.

The program is titled Absolute Proof, and it is hosted on Lindell's own website.  www.MichaelJLindell.com

Make up your own mind after you watch it. Don't be like one friend of mine who says none of it is true (but won't watch it). She tells me, "Show me the proof", yet she won't watch it. 

As I watched it, I thought about an election much closer to home - The Richland One School Board. How in the world did Tamika Myers spend only $675 and beat out a highly-qualified opponent, Jonathan Milling? How did she get 23.930 votes for $675? FitsNews provides background on Myers. Read it here. Reporter Mandy Matney did a great job.

Two board members need official District email addresses

Richland 2 School District should create District-server email addresses for Trustee Monica Elkins and, if and when Teresa Holmes ever becomes a legal board member, for her.

The District did promptly establish an official email address for Mrs. McFadden, after she became a legal board member, by her being properly sworn in and taking office in accordance with State law.

The District has improperly allowed Ms. Elkins and Ms. Holmes to use personal email addresses for school board business.

Almost everyone is familiar with the Hillary Clinton email scandal that was created by her personal email server in her home.

Why is a District server-based email address important?

All official email is subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 

There is no way to know if, from time to time, Elkins or Holmes deletes an official email. There are, or should be, procedures in District Policy for deleting official email. The rule is probably "Don't delete anything."

More importantly, official emails are subject to FOIA. If the District were to ask Holmes or Elkins to search for a certain email or group of emails, how would the District be certain that the search was thorough and that every pertinent email had been found?

One of these days Elkins will no longer be on the board. What happens then to all the emails in her account? Will she just delete them? And then, if asked to produce one or more, say, "Oops"?

And what about Holmes and her personal email address? She has been acting "as if" she is a board member since November 13, 2018. All of the emails to/from her personal email address that are about school board business are official emails and subject to FOIA.

If, one of these days, it is finally decided that she has not been a legal board member, will she have to turn over all those emails to the District? Or if, one of these days, she is not re-elected to the board, what happens to her emails then?

Richland 2 is one of the largest school districts in the state and has a massive email system. With a $300,000,000 budget and even more in assets, it is not one of the tiny, financially-strapped school districts unable to afford its own email system. 

It is time for the Board to "tell" the superintendent to set up official email addresses for Elkins (and they'll do it for Holmes, too) and tell the women to use only the official email address for school district business. The District can avoid huge problems in the future by having control over retention of all official emails to and from its board members.

Will Richland 2 Board Lack a Quorum today?

When the Richland 2 School Board convenes for a retreat today at 10:00AM, will it have a quorum?

And, if it doesn't, can it legally meet, even though no decisions are to be made?

Why would there even be a question about a quorum?

The reason is that there are two women on the board illegally.

According to Board Policy, a quorum is five of the seven members. Two women on the board (Amelia McKie and Teresa Holmes) have never taken the oath of office legally; thus, they are not legal members of the school board.

They are usurping public office, which is a serious crime in South Carolina. But apparently not one quite serious enough for the Office of the Attorney General to haul them before the S.C. Supreme Court. If that office did so, they would have no defense, and the Supreme Court hearing would likely last about five minutes.

The Justices would need to ask only two questions:

1. On what date did you take the oath of office?

2. On what date did you file your Statement of Economic Interests?

State law (S.C. Code of Laws 8-13-1110(A) says, first you file your Statement; then you take the oath of office, then you begin your official duties.

McKie and Holmes took an oath on November 13, 2018, before they were eligible to do so. Neither had filed her Statement of Economic Interests with the South Carolina Ethics Commission. After The Independent Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County called them on their failure to file, both filed on December 4, 2018. On that date they first became eligible to take the oath of office legally and, after doing so, begin their official duties.

But they have never take the oath of office. Not on December 4, 2018. Not since December 4, 2018.

So, if McKie and Holmes are not legal members of the board, they cannot be counted toward the requirement of Five for a quorum.

The legal board members are Manning, Agostini, Elkins, McFadden and Caution-Parker.

Which one(s) will be absent today? Elkins has said she will not attend any in-person board meeting unless all board members are wearing facial masks. Holmes does not. She wears a face shield. (If she sneezes or coughs, well, we know that a face shield does not prevent her breath from escaping her immediate presence.)

So one non-member of the board keeps one board member away. Why doesn't the Chair order Holmes to wear a mask?

Speech Control?

Does the Richland 2 School District in any way attempt to control speech by teachers, staff, students, parents or community members?

Read this article about efforts in Loudoun County, Virginia by the public schools. They are trying to muzzle teachers who would speak out against the school board's racial-equity plan.

How many parents, staff or even teachers know what the racial-equity plan is for the Richland 2 schools?

The article says this about the Loudoun County Public Schools Board: "The speech code is hidden inside a "professional conduct" policy proposal, which prohibits behavior that undermines "the views, positions, goals, policies, or public statements of the Loudoun County School Board or its superintendent."

Is there anything similar buried in Board Policies for Richland 2?

And another sentence from the article reads "Loudoun County has come under fire for spending $422,500 on diversity training inspired by critical race theory, which claims racism is inherent in nearly every aspect of America. "

How much is Richland 2 spending on similar training? 

Do you even know what "critical race theory" is? Or The 1619 Project? Or whether Howard Zinn's "masterpiece" is being used as a text in Richland 2 schools?

Are Richland 2 students being taught to think for themselves? Or to think the way that they "ought" to think?

When Trustee Monica Elkins attempted to speak out at a recent board meeting about the lack of support from other board members, Chair James Manning shut her down.