Mail Delivery 2/3/2022 - Nothing from Richland 2

Did Richland 2 decide it had made a big mistake by issuing me a verbal Trespass Warning at the board meeting on January 25, 2022?

Is that why it hasn't followed up with a written Trespass Notice?

Did Marq Claxton actually just issue a verbal warning last Thursday and order me off the property for that one night only?

The District had time to put out a couple of media releases, and Teresa Holmes and James Manning had time to jump on their soapboxes in front of R2i2 on Friday. I'm so glad they did that. Their words were aired on WIS-TV and are recorded for replay and future use. 

I emailed the superintendent that night (Jan. 25)  at 11:44PM. In that email, I wrote, in part,

"Claxton made a huge error by not asking me what happened. He apparently took your wife's word (only) about what happened. 

"I urge you to direct Claxton NOT to issue a Trespass Notice without a complete investigation, Including talking with me and telling me exactly what Mrs. Davis said."

Apparently, the superintendent accepted my suggestion and has told Claxton to delay sending me any written Notice. Claxton has not contacted me.

Claxton is a former NYPD officer. He ought to know general law-enforcement policy. Before you make a decision, you interview the people involved; especially in a petty situation like a school board hearing.

Of course, what happened after Pamela Davis yelled at me is not so petty. According to media reports she uttered profanities at a 14-year-old high school student who was there to address the school board that evening.

That should have resulted in her expulsion from the meeting, a Trespass Notice to her, and an investigation by Richland Two officials. The superintendent would have to recuse himself as her husband and as a participant that evening.

Boardroom lay-out

Come to the February 8th board meeting in person.

Attending in-person means the board has to see you.

Look carefully at the lay-out of the board room. Notice how much of the room is taken up with the "social-distancing" of the board desks from the corner behind the superintendent toward the audience.

Then count the desks and floor area taken up by staff. Ask yourself: "Why is the staff placed between the board and the audience?"

Then there is the social-distancing for the audience. Do you feel like you are out in the Back Forty?

If staff were placed elsewhere (for example, in an adjacent room with video or not even there!), more members of the public could be accommodated. Would 60-100 community members and parents attend?

Why does the superintendent get the King's position in the corner? The entire board should face the audience. 

Trustee Scott called attention to the superintendent's place of honor. That's where the board chair should be - in the corner, on the angle where she can easily see (and hear) every trustee, so that she can call on them promptly (and then stop talking while they talk).

Got an opinion on this? Send an email to the full board, asking them to change their own seating and to remove the staff from its position as a barrier to the board. Before or after you send that email, post a comment below.

Incompetence? Intention? Insult?

Which is it?

Richland 2 school district has still failed to provide anything in writing to me about Marq Claxton's verbal trespass warning on Tuesday, January 25.

Even a student who is disciplined in Richland 2 and gets kicked out of school gets something in writing, explaining his rights. You know, something like "You have the right to appeal this suspension from school."

Of course, a lot of difference it makes to the suspended student, who is kicked out of school for 5-10 days and then gets an appeal hearing, after he has unwillingly endured his suspension. And if the appeal is successful and the suspension is reversed? 

Too bad! He already missed the 5-10 days of school and suffered the embarrassment and humiliation of the suspension.

Is the rule at Richland 2 "Guilty Until Proven Innocent"?

What is the real reason that Richland 2 has not promptly delivered any written Trespass Notice?

Is it part of a nefarious plan of retaliation and retribution for speaking out about what is so wrong with how board meetings are being conducted?

Is it part of a design, hoping that I'll feel intimidated, afraid, targeted? 

Sorry, Richland 2. It's not working.

Feb. 4 Board Retreat - open to the public

  RICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT TWO BOARD OF TRUSTEES
TO HOLD BOARD RETREAT ON FEBRUARY 4, 2022

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Richland School District Two Board of Trustees will hold a board retreat on Friday, February 4, 2022. The board retreat will start at 9 a.m., and 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 link below to access the agenda for the February 4 board retreat: http://go.boarddocs.com/sc/rsd2/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CASP6R6083B5

To provide members of the public the ability to watch the board meeting from the safety of their home, the meeting will be streamed live at http://www.richland2.org/livestream.

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.

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.

UPCOMING BOARD MEETING: February 8, 2022

The official notice is attached.

Thank you! 

"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."

Does this mean that Pamela Davis will not be able to attend or, if she does, that Richland 2 security officers will keep a close eye on her?

Since I didn't do any of those things at the January 25 board meeting, will I be able to attend without coming under the scrutiny of the security officers?

BLM Activism here?

Yesterday started Black History Month.

This headline topped an article on FoxNews.com yesterday:

Schools across America implement BLM Week of Action that calls for 'disruption of Western nuclear family'

Click on the headline for the article. Be sure to see the photo of the BLM banner hanging from the top of an embassey in Madrid, Spain last year! What an embarrassment to the USA. The diplomat in charge of that embassy should have been canned.

What kind of nonsense can we expect in Richland 2?

The District's website was primed and ready to go with "Celebrating Black History" dominating the homepage.

DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) is killing Richland 2 and America.

Read this article from The Heritage Foundation about Harvard University's "Method of Discrimination"

Recently, a black friend told me, "It looks like American may be heading into a race war." 

We can start heading that off right here in Richland County! But we need to get busy now to halt the devisiveness.

Still No Trespass Letter!

As of mail delivery today Richland 2 still has not provided me with a written Trespass Notice. 

Without it I do not know the details,;which properties, if any, I can enter; how long the Notice lasts; and, most importantly, what the appeal procedure is.

They may think they are leaving me in limbo - in no-man's land. But they are wrong.

Earlier today I emailed the Board of Trustees that security director Marq Claxton was not replying to my emal about a Trespass Notice; also that Supt. Baron Davis was not replying to my email.

Why wouldn't Claxton or Davis have the professional courtesy to respond?

I can think of several reassons; 1. they know they blew it by issuing a verbal Trespass Warning to me on January 25, and they are afraid to put it in writing; 2. they are being discourteous and unprofessional by snubbing me by remaining silent; 3. they can't find the operations manual that provides the instructions for dealing with trespass issues; 4. the District can't afford ink and paper to print out one trespass letter; 5. the District can't afford the postage ($0.58) or $5-6-7-8 to send a Certified Letter with return-receipt requested. 

Today I requested an immediate hearing with the full school board, so that I can defend myself and seek a retraction of the verbal warning. I asked for a hearing with all the witnesses present, including Pamela Davis. And without Supt. Davis. 

I want to hear Pamela Davis accuse me of whatever misdeed she perceives happened. Now I know what happened. I was there.

Her story, as told on WIS-TV, doesn't hold water. The Richland 2 security guards who first responded will testify to her outburst, her shouting. 

Who told her to say she felt intimidated? Afraid? Targeted? What? By a polite greeting? 

If she was so afraid of those two white men she had seen at many meetings, why did she sit down inches from where I was standing? Sorry. The victim role doesn't work with me.

Within a day or two I'll have the written report from the Sheriff's Department. I was told there is only one report. There should be a minimum of two. Two deputies were present when Marq Claxton issued the verbal trespass warning. Each should have written a report. 

Apparently, I can get Pamela Davis' and other statements only by subpoena. So be it. Then subpoenas will follow. And then I'll know exactly what Pamela Davis told the deputies.

Richland 2 Security Department should have reports from all of its security officers. The two who first came over, attracted by Pamela Davis' shouting. The two who came into the hallway, while I was talking with deputies. The two who walked out with me, assuming they have remembered their names. Claxton should have written his own report. 

Will the school board respond to my request for a full hearing? 

Is Keith Price back?

Has anyone ever read the RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE RICHLAND LIBRARY SANDHILLS AND RICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT TWO?

Do you suppose anyone is in charge of reviewing and updating them? How long ago did Keith Price leave Richland 2? He became Superintendent in Georgetown, S.C. in June 2020.

See Rule No. 26 "Richland Two Security and staff will assist in monitoring that all abide by these rules and regulations.  The Assistant Superintendent for Schools, Mr. Keith Price, will handle all disciplinary issues in the building."

Would this mean, if Price is no longer with the District, that no one is in charge of disciplinary issues?

Rule No. 22 is "Any person who has been put on trespass notice at any Richland Two facility is not allowed at R2i2." The Richland County Public Library is "at" R2i2. 

Is not the school district unlawfully restricting my access to the library through this rule? The library is a taxpayer-supported, public entity. I'll bet my lawyer will task Richland 2 to task for applying this "rule" to property it leases to the library.

Too bad Keith Price is not Superintendent of Richland 2. I'll bet things would be a lot different - and calmer.