Special-Called Meeting - sound issues!

When I attempted to listen to the recorded version of the June 17, 2021 Special-Called Board Meeting, there was no sound!

For the first 23 minutes the screen shot was displayed that the board was still in executive session. The opening remarks of the public meeting at 5:30PM were not recorded.

The public meeting starts AT 5:30PM, and that's when the recording, including sound, should begin. Recently, important remarks were made during that portion of the open meeting, preceding the executive session. The public is entitled to hear (and see) everything!

At 23:19 of last night's meeting the open meeting began recording. without any sound. I skipped forward at short intervals, and there was no sound - ever. I wondered whether it could have been my computer, so I re-booted. More than once. 

This morning I checked again. The splash page for the executive session is still there. Video recording begins with the board members at their seats, waiting for the beginning of the meeting. Supt. Davis takes his seat at 23:26. There is no sound. Chairman Manning appears to be speaking, and then there is a hand vote on something - probably the opening of the meeting. Trustee Agostini votes No on something by raising her hand.

It's hard to read lips when they are still wearing their masks.

Shortly after that there is another hand vote. Still no sound.

I was told previously that staff monitors the audio and video. Where was the staff last night? Why didn't the meeting stop until the sound issue was resolved. The public is entitled to hear what is said, when meetings are livestreamed!

This morning, sound begins at 30:03. Then at 31:12 Chairman Manning pauses the meeting while a livestream sound issue is worked on. 

During Dr. Miley's budget presentation Teresa Holmes interrupted (34:09) with a comment to re-state what Dr. Miley had just said. She must have wanted a sound bite for a future campaign, because her comment was otherwise totally worthless. Dr. Miley had just made the statement. Holmes did not need to re-state it. Most of the other trustees had their board packets, notebooks, pads for notes, etc. on their desks. Holmes did not. All she had on her desk were her phone, water bottle, water cup and elbows. She must have a phenomenal memory for detail on complicated issues like budgets.

A potential increase in the SRO contract with the sheriff's department has been budgeted, but Dr.Miley did not mention the amount of the current contract or the increase. Residents should be especially interested in the cost of having SROs in Richland 2 schools. How much does it cost to have a cop in a school? Any guesses? Personally, I feel only the law-enforcement aspect aspect is the only worthwhile benefit; i.e., having a cop on hand to handle cop stuff. Having them present as Officer Feel-Good is a terrible waste of money. SROs are not instructional staff. They should be friendly, but they aren't your "friends." 

A lower-step teacher with a B.A. can earn up to $41,000/year. Dr. Miley talked about being competitive. Is Richland 2 a leader in the competitive world of education or trying to catch up? It's easy to spend other peoples' money - the taxpayers'. Should the hiring goal be to find the best you can afford, or to raise taxes so that you can afford those who want more pay?

Dr. Scott (f/m/a Elkins) asked a line-item question. Note again. Holmes had NO materials in front of her. Did she have the proposed budget committed to memory? Where was Trustee Caution-Parker? Did anyone hear her comment or ask questions? Without a roll call taken at the beginning of the meeting, who knows if she was there? 

Dr. Miley spent some time talking about "needs and wants" of the District and then referred to surpluses. Remember how recently the District just couldn't wait to spend half its surplus and paid out bonuses to teachers and staff? Yippee, Free Money. And now it's gone, and they are hunting around for money for the "needs and wants". Why didn't the District hang onto that money then?

This is one of the problems with having so many feel-good trustees on the school board and too few trustees with solid foundations in business and finance!!!

If there were a transcript of that special-called meeting and then someone went through it with a big red marker, what would be left? Knock out all the drivel and blabber, and cut to the chase. It's M-O-N-E-Y. Other Peoples' Money. OPM. The School Board, just like Congress and State Legislature, doesn't feel any pain when spending your money and asking for more. Does it?

At the end of the meeting, Caution-Parker seconded the motion to adjourn. Wonderful!

Just the right kind of school member - - NOT

Justice High School (Fairfax, Va.) graduates got an earful at graduation, when the lone Muslim school board member unloaded on them about racism, white supremacy and jihad.

Read the story here: https://www.foxnews.com/us/school-board-member-graduating-class-entering-world-overwhelmed-racism-extreme-individualism

Didn't the kids learn anything in 12 years of school? Why would they just sit there and let Abrar Omeish continue to rant?

Maybe a look at Justice High School explains it. Check out its homepage:

If you can't read the wording on that one girl's shirt, it says "WOKE PACK".

Care to let Abrar Omeish know how you feel about her remarks at that school's commencement?

Abrar Omeish, Phone: 571-423-1089; E-mail: Abrar.Omeish@fcps.edu

Rech-Lex 5 Supt and 1 board member resign

Why would the Richland-Lexington 5 School District AND a board member resign at last night's board meeting?

Here's the story in The State newspaper.

Supt. Christina Melton issued a polite and "politically-correct" statement afterwards. 

You can bet there is more to the story.

Will she eventually tell the whole story?

Will the board member go public with the true reason for his resignation? The article in The State mentioned the board member in its headline but included nothing in the story. Hello?

WISTV.COM and WACH.TV also failed to identify the board member.

The Post and Courier was braver and more complete. It identified Ed White as the board member, and it indicated that newly-elected (November 2020) board members may have been at least partially responsible for the superintendent's resignation.

Richland 2 voters should be reminded that The Squad holds the majority of R2 board seats, although two members of The Squad aren't legitimate board members. All that Amelia McKie and Teresa Holmes have to do to become legitimate board members is take the oath of office legally. When they took the oath on November 13, 2018, they were not yet eligible to take it because neither had filed her Statement of Economic Interests Report with the South Carolina Ethics Commission.

South Carolina law clearly states that you are to file your SEI before you can take the oath and assume the responsibilities of the elected office. 

Next time you see McKie and Holmes, ask them why they refuse to take the oath of office legally.

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?