Months of Threats? Baloney

Supt. Baron Davis told the Post and Courier about "months of threatening messages to board members and him.

Has he been drinking the same Kool-Aid as the National School Boards Association?

I'd like to see his stack of threatening messages. Has he reported each and every one to the Richland County Sheriff's Department? to SLED? to the FBI? Well???

See today's article, which follows disruptive actions by both Supt. Davis and his wife Pamela Davis, a teacher at Blythewood High School, at the January 25th school board meeting.

https://www.postandcourier.com/columbia/richland-two-board-member-wants-superintendent-placed-on-leave-after-confrontation/article_6cc22606-7ef6-11ec-9318-7bb2c58b6730.html

He told the reporter that he was concerned about the safety of his wife and other school officials.

Why did Mrs. Davis shift into violent, angry, shouting mode, when I introduced myself to her last night? Has Baron been taking too much work home?

She had a hair-trigger anger-control mechanism, or maybe none at all. And that's how she was in public, with plenty of school security officers and sheriff's deputies all over the place.

At each school meeting I have thanked the deputies and security officers for being there to protect the public from the school board. Now I'll also thank them for protecting us from the superintendent and his wife.

I didn't know about Trustee Scott's request to put both Davises on leave during an investigation. That should happen. It won't happen, because The Core Four (Holmes, McKie, Caution-Parker and Manning) will vote against it. Agostini, Scott and McFadden will vote in favor, but the vote to discipline will be 3-4 and fail.

Teresa Holmes, herself an illegitimate member of the Richland 2 school board, flat out lied to the Post and Courier, when  "Holmes told The Post and Courier that the people at the center of the disruption before the meeting have been part of a coordinated effort similar to other areas of the country to disrupt board members and oust those they feel disagree with them politically."

Just last night Holmes spoke about slander and libel. I'm sure my attorney will be interested in her comment. I can state unequivocally that I am not, and never have been, part of any such coordinated effort. 

The people who caused the disruptions last night were Baron Davis and Pamela Davis. Baron earns $244,000 from Richland 2, and Pamela Davis earns $78,000+. Disgusting, isn't it? And Baron draws additional money from his side-hustles; at least three of them.

Baron Davis played with race card with the Post and Courier reporter. 

People don't dislike him because he's black. Just like people don't dislike Holmes and McKie, because they are black. It's not the "black" part that people don't like. It's "who" they are, all three, that people don't like. I wouldn't like them if they were white, brown, red, yellow or green or any other color. 

Richland 2 "Trepass Notices" - how many?

How many residents of the Richland School District Two have been issued Trespass Notices by the school district?

I know of two. 

But there must be more. Read this great article in FitsNews 

https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/01/26/south-carolina-superintendent-brawls-with-parents-at-school-board-meeting/

Start asking around. Let me know. Ask parents and community members who received Trespass Notices to contact me at gusphilpott@gmail.com or just post a comment below.

The Trespass Letter I saw a couple of months ago provided no End-Date or Appeal Process. That doesn't mean there isn't either.

Should the District, in its "infinite wisdom", actually issue one to me, it will find I shall react with every legal means available to me. 

A friend today asked me what would satisfy me.

First, let me say what will not satisfy me. If I get a call from Baron Davis or Pamela Davis, and he or she says, "Nothing personal, pal", that's not going to cut it.

A sincere written apology?

Rescission of  the expected Trespass Notice?

That'll be a start. But then it's going to cost the School District "a little something" for the defamation that occurred last night, when Security Director Marq Claxton threatened me with the Trespass Letter. 

Chair's flop on Procedure; Holmes wrong AGAIN

(Sort of) Board Chair Holmes blew parliamentary procedures AGAIN on the Consent Agenda.

Result? The official Minutes of the January 11, 2022 meeting have been approved WITH MAJOR ERRORS.  But does the board, including the Board Secretary, care???

At the January 25th board meeting, when the Consent Agenda was to be approved, McKie made the motion and Caution-Parker seconded.

Trustee Agostini moved to remove the Minutes of the past meeting from the Consent Agenda. 

What did Holmes say? She asked if Trustee Agostini was making a Motion. HELLO??? DUH......

How many meetings will it take to train Holmes in parliamentary procedures??? When someone says, "I move...", she is making a motion. Somebody, please explain that to Teresa. The supt. should explain it to her. Manning, the Vice-Chair, could/should explain it. McKie, the Board Secretary (sort of) could explain it. Maybe.

I've written before that, as soon as Agostini begins speaking. Holmes stops listening. That's part of the problem. She doesn't want to hear anything Agostini says.

At the last meeting the superintendent confirmed no Second was necessary.

Then Holmes embarrassed herself by asking if Agostini had a reason for wanting the item removed.

THAT IS THE WRONG QUESTION, and she has no right or duty ot ask it. 

Holmes should have called for Discussion, explaining that no second was required. Then, during discussion, Agostini would have explained. The only thing that Agostini needed to say was that there were serious errors in the Minutes. And the Board then should have approved her secondary motion. That item would then be off the Consent Agenda and handled separately, after the remaining Consent Agenda was approved.

Agostini withdrew her motion, suggesting that the board should learn how to handle a Board member's request to remove an item from the Consent Agenda.

Holmes said it was addressed properly.

THE FACT IS THAT IT WAS NOT !!!

And then Holmes asked for a Motion on the Consent Agenda. Holmes cannot even keep track of what's happening. Why not???

If you ever want to know whether Holmes has been wrong about something, ask her. I'm sure she'll tell you she has never been wrong!

We aren't deplorables. We are Disruptors.

Now we know who we are. According to James Manning, we are "Disruptors". 

Listen to the board comments after the COGNIA report on the District. They started about  8:15PM, and I'll find the timer-marker after the recording is posted. This is in the livestream.com/richland2 for January 25, 2022.

Manning clearly doesn't like anyone who disagrees with him (or the Core Four).

EDITED 1/26/22

I received a long email about COGNIA last night from a Richland 2 professional. I didn't watch the full COGNIA report online, but I'll do that. I remember having a negative reaction to the portion that I did watch, especially Supt. Davis' glee about COGNIA's report that Richland 2 wasn't doing enough in the equity area.

Seriously?

Overnight I thought more about Manning's use of the word "disruptors". Mrs. Davis' outburst certainly was more disruptive in a board room than anything i have seen since my first meeting in February 2018, two weeks after the Parkland, Fla. shootings.

I'm still confounded by her outburst. When I first greeted her (I didn't know who she was) with a friendly, "Hello, I'm Gus Philpott", she instantly turned aside, to her left, unwilling to even look at me. Then she shouted, "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. DON'T TALK TO ME. GET AWAY FROM ME."

You'd have thought I was the devil incarnate. Maybe she saw a red suit, horns and a pitchfork. 

TRESPASS!!!! Philpott kicked out of 1/25/2022 board meeting!

So much for positive race relations at Richland 2!!!

Shortly before the beginning of the executive session, and before the board members took their seats, I was speaking with two men and one male student. I noticed a black woman seated in the first row. I'm a nice guy, not racially biased, and I stepped over in front of her and said, "Hello, I'm Gus Philpott."

WW III started. She said, very loudly, "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! DON'T TALK TO ME! GET AWAY FROM ME!" 

I immediately stepped back. I was shocked. Who would respond to a polite Hello like that?

PAUSE

I have to write up a statement for the Sheriff's Dept.

An R2 security officer told me it was Mrs. Davis who yelled at me.

Security Chief Marq Claxton put me on Trespass and ordered me off school property.

Stand by for News. (You remember Paul Harvey; right?)

CONTINUED

Page 2 (Thanks, Paul Harvey)

I have filed a report with the Richland County Sheriff's Department about tonight's reaction by Mrs. Davis. 

I'm not going to put all the details here - yet.

In the meantime I seem to have joined the Trespass Club, which means I cannot be on any Richland 2 property. I'll get the "infamous" letter in a few days.

I expect Baron Davis to stand up for me and against his wife. An apology won't be enough, but it would be a start. Sure hope that doesn't cause him another health event. Could she yell like that at him?

What IS Critical Race Theory?

If you really want to know what Critical Race Theory (CRT) is, this one-hour, fifty-minute video is one to watch.

https://rumble.com/vt13zi-opposing-views-is-critical-race-theory-solving-anything-james-lindsay-and-v.html

"Critical Race Theory is calling everything 'racist' - until you control it." This is the opening comment by James Lindsay. He explains his background at the beginning of the interview.

I'm only 21 minutes into the interview. I urge you to watch it.

It's too bad he wasn't at a recent Richland 2 School Board meeting, when Helen Grant couldn't answer Trustee Lindsay Agostini's question about what CRT is. Grant mentioned Delgado, too; only she pronounced his name "Degaldo". If you don't know what CRT is, how can you talk about the differences between CRT and culturally-relevant teaching (pedagogy).

Be prepared to listen "fast". Lindsay could give a 2-hour talk in 20 minutes!

Meeting Announcements - longer, longer, longer

Remembder, back in the good, ol' days when board meetings were announced with "The next board meeting will be (     (date)_   )?

Now, it's 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 22, 2022

 

 RICHLAND TWO BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO MEET TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2022

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Richland School District Two Board of Trustees will hold a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

The board meeting will be called to order at 5:30 p.m. and the board will immediately adjourn into executive session. Public session will resume at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the R2i2 Conference Center located at 763 Fashion Drive, Columbia, 29229. At the board meeting, visitors will be required to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Click the following link to view the agenda for the January 25 Board Meeting: http://go.boarddocs.com/sc/rsd2/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=C2WNES5AC3BE

Public Participation is on the agenda for the January 25 meeting. Comments may be received from any Richland Two student, parent/legal guardian, resident, property owner, business owner, or Richland County elected official. All persons who wish to comment during Public Participation will fill out the appropriate form and sign-up sheet at the meeting before the public session of the meeting begins.

In order to allow for social distancing due to COVID-19, a safe distance between the public and the board, and to ensure adequate access for emergency personnel, capacity for the members of the public who wish to attend the meeting in-person is limited to 50. In case that capacity is reached and to provide members of the public the ability to watch the board meeting from the safety of their home, the meeting will also be streamed live at www.richland2.org/livestream.

As the lobby closes to the public at 5 p.m., citizens attending the board meeting will not be allowed to linger in the lobby. Citizens attending the board meeting will be directed to the meeting space upon arriving at R2i2.

The public will not be allowed to protest or loiter in front of the main entrance. This is for safety reasons to allow emergency access into the building and for others who have other business to enter the building.

In an effort to effectively maintain a safe environment, any person attending the meeting who is out of order, loud, disruptive, making inappropriate comments, and/or a safety concern will be asked to be seated or leave by a security officer. If the person does not comply, a Richland County Sheriff Deputy will escort them off the property.

No signage or other objects will be allowed into the facility that could either be a distraction or used as a weapon.

UPCOMING BOARD MEETING: Board Winter Retreat on February 4, 2022

Don't miss the implied threats, if you look at the wrong person cross-eyed. Don't use your public property R2i2 property). Don't complain about infringement on your Constitutional Rights. 

Don't protest or linger; where's the line between that and "peaceable assembly"? Don't they realize that the public is smart enough to get out of the way, if the paramedics, police or fire show up?

Who determines whether someone is "out of order, loud, disreptive, making inappropriate comments"? Who is going to eject Teresa Holmes next time she pulls any (or all) of those prohibited stunts - IN a board meeting?

Who decides whether a sign or "object" could be a distraction or used as a weapon? Is my tape recorder or phone a "weapon"? A distraction? In whose judgment???

The Board Winter Retreat will include a Robert's Rules of Order (RONR) training. That ought to be "interesting". It's a board meeting and open to the public. Want to hear what they hear about RONR? How often will the trainer say, "You can't do what you've been doing!"