Why does Richland 2 Lie?

As a result of Pamela Davis' meltdown at the January 25, 2022 board meeting, I was placed on Trespass Notice by Director of Safety and Security Marq Claxton. Even though it was Pamela Davis who shouted and became disruptive, I was the one who was ordered out of the meeting room and off the R2i2 property.

On February 5th the District's letter (dated January 26th) was delivered. It began with

"This letter is to inform you that you are excluded from any and ALL [emphasis in the original] Richland School District Two properties, facilities, campuses and buildings for the 2021-2022 school year as a result of the following conduct which occurred on 1/25/22 at R2i2 [emphasis in the original]:

- Disruptive Behavior

"As of this notice, access to any Richland School District Two property must be requested at least 24 hours in advance AND you MUST receive access authorization from the Director of Safety & Security or the Director's designee."

Now, what are the lies?

Marq Claxton apparently never approves a request for access.

He denied my request to attend a press conference at R2i2. He denied my request to use the public library. 

The library intervened and got approval for my using the drive-up window, but I wanted access to the inside library.

Claxton also exceeded his authority when he sent a letter “excluding” me from ALL property. Administrative Rule KI-R allows the exclusion from “the” property; i.e., the one property where an incident occurred.

I have filed complaints with the Board. So far, no board member to whom I submitted a complaint has acknowledged it. Under Board Policy KE a Board member who receives a complaint from the public must submit it to the superintendent. Did they? 

Did the superintendent log each complaint? Is he investigating? Will he respond? Will his response be satisfactory?

If it's not, then I will complain further to the board under existing Board Policy KE and expect a grievance to be scheduled and heard.

The majority of the board will quite likely stick together and approve a revision to Board Policy KE on March 22. Attend (or watch) the meeting and see how they handle Item 8.3 on the agenda. Will they kowtow to the South Carolina School Boards Association and gut Policy KE in favor of the superintendent?

Richland 2 Student Fatally Shot

On March 7, 2022 a Richland 2 student was fatally shot about two blocks northwest of Richland North East High School. This happened off school property and after school hours.

There has been virtually nothing in the news. WIS-TV wrote a story and, in a second story, interviewed Sheriff Lott. WACH-TV published one story, and the next day removed it. 

Trevion Fuller, 14, died by gun shots on March 7, 2022. He was a Richland North East High School student who had been transferred to Blythewood Academy.

Often, when a student dies, a school will make some type of announcement (press release) and indicate whether counseling will be offered to students. If Richland 2 has made a peep, I haven't seen it. Have you?

Richland County deputies arrested a 16-year-old a short time after Trevion was found, and that boy is in jail (juvenile detention). His identity has not been released. 

Why am I writing a story, when mainstream media did not cover this shooting in depth? Because it is news. Richland 2 made a big splash on December 9, 2021 with a photo op at R2i2, attended by officials of several school districts and law-enforcement agencies. The Richland 2 led a big signing ceremony. Has anything happened since?

Should Richland 2 have done more after I addressed the school board in February 2018, two weeks after the shootings in Parkland, Florida? Is the association with BeSMART going to be more than just one more program of "All Talk and No Walk"? Were the start-up steps already in place on December 9, 2021?

There is a GoFundMe to help with final expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/f/trevions-funeral-expenses?qid=ea9404fbf873b6686b94a9c2aa2ec67c  It's close to its goal. May I encourage you to kick in today? Few families are prepared to meet sudden expenses of this type. I had donated to the original GFM that had been mentioned in the WACH-TV article, but that one was withdrawn when current one was organized.

I urge you to demand that the Trustees direct the superintendent to report to the Board on exactly what is happening with the BeSMART initiative and what can be expected from it. I can assure you that "talk and gun locks" are not going to solve the gun violence problems in Richland County and Columbia. The solution is going to be to get right down at the ground-zero level and deal with the issues at the very core of gun violence.

Open Letter to School Board re Policy KE

The following email was sent to the school board (and others) today, March 18.

You can read the proposed revision to Board Policy KE on the Agenda for the March 22, 2022 board meeting. Scroll down to Item 8.3. Click on it, and then click on the Attachment. Note: the attachment has two pages. The first page is the existing Policy KE, which the Board will consider replacing. The second page is the proposed Policy KE.

Email and call board members before Tuesday with your comments and requests. Do you agree that the proposed revision diminishes any Complaint you might make?

Members of the Board and trustees-elect Holmes and McKie,

At the March 22, 2022 board meeting Administration brings to you a revision to Board Policy KE Public Concerns and Complaints.

I urge you to reject the revisions to Board Policy KE. The existing Policy KE is sufficient to give the "Public" a right that is proper.

This revision would likely not even be on the Agenda but for the disruption that occurred on January 25th and the fact that Gary Ginn and I are not quietly sulking in a corner. You know who caused that disruption. That is the elephant in the room.

The revision, following the Model South Carolina School Boards Association (SCSBA) policy serves the administration, not the public. Beginning in the first sentence the word "patron" shows up. Who is that in the school district? That reflects bureaucratic design and influence and it disrespects and diminishes the "Public".

Why should Public Concerns and Complaints be resolved in "as informal a manner as possible"? Complaints should be properly accepted, registered and resolved by a formal policy. A Complaint is just that, and it should be taken seriously.

How can the Human Resources Director be tasked under Board Policy AC with resolving Public Concerns and Complaints which, by definition, are not personnel issues.

The SCSBA represents the bureaucratic arm of school boards (the board and the Administration), not the Public.

Board Policy KE should represent the Public.

The paragraph addressing defamation of a staff member is completely unnecessary. That employee is adequately protected under common law. That paragraph is just a bullying technique or hammer to warn off the public. There again is the influence of the SCSBA. The SCSBA does not run the Richland 2 school board. You do.

The superintendent is accountable to the school board. Removing the board's obligation to ultimately resolve a complaint is unfair to the public. If you approve the revision to Policy KE, you abdicate your responsibility as elected officials. 

When Item 8.3 comes up on Tuesday, please vote NO.

Gus Philpott

www.Richland2.info

847.971.7083

"Pi Day" and Ides of March

Do students learn in schools today about pi. Yesterday was "celebrated" as Pi Day (3.14 (March 14) - the pie shoppes love it). Pi. Do you know what that is?

"Succinctly, pi—which is written as the Greek letter for p, or π—is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. Regardless of the circle's size, this ratio will always equal pi. In decimal form, the value of pi is approximately 3.14." Source: www.scientificamerican.com

"To only 18 decimal places, pi is 3.141592653589793238" (Thanks again to Scientific American)  Memorize that now. The test is Saturday.

Now, how about the Ides of March? Does anyone learn about that in school these days? Well, that's today, March 15.

Can't quite remember what it is or what it means? Use your friend, Google.

R2 Trespass Letter Violates Admin. Rule

Should the Richland 2 School District observe and follow Board Policies and Administrative Rules?

Board Policies are pretty easily found on the District's website at www. Richland2.org

It's another matter entirely to find Administrative Rules. Not so easy, but possible. The ones that may of most interest to parents and community members will be found in Section K - School-Community-Home Relations

Upon inquring about the procedure, rule, practice, regulation of District 2 pertaining to Trespass Notices, I learned of Administrative Rule KI-R Visitors. To find it,

Go to the District's website at www.richland2.org   At the top right, click on EXPLORE. Then click on SCHOOL BOARD. Then click on BOARD POLICIES. On the left side, click on SECTION K - SCHOOL-HOME-COMMUNITY RELATIONS. 

For the Trespass Policy, scroll down and click on Policy KI Visitors. Under that AR KI-R is the Administrative Rule regarding trespass.

It reads, in part, 

“No Trespass” Notices 

• "District and school administrators, after school or after hours program managers, district security and safety staff, school resource officers or other on-duty, or extra-duty law enforcement officers assigned to work at a school or event may issue a verbal or written “no trespass” notice for the school facility [emphasis added], delay the entry of a person for cause, or ask for the removal any such individual as necessary. On-duty law enforcement officers patrolling a school campus after-hours may also issue a “no trespass” notice to individuals who are not in compliance with a school’s “no trespass” sign or rules, are causing a disturbance, or are not in compliance with a local law while on school property."

I was especially interested in "for the school facility", because that term is singular, not plural.

The Trespass Letter issued to me reads, in part, "you are excluded from any and ALL [emphasis in the original] Richland School District Two properties, facilities, campuses and buildings for the 2021-2022 school year as a result of the following conduct which occurred on 1/25/22 at R2i2 [emphasis in the original]:  Disruptive Behavior"

Note again the singular "facility" in the AR and the use of plural in the Trespass Letter.

I have addressed this issue with the District. So far, I have not received a response.

Remembrer Trustee Caution-Parker's statement that there are rules and the District will follow the rules. Caution-Parker is aware of my complaint about this, if she reads my email. All the other trustees received a copy of my complaint that was emailed to her, just in case she doesn't read email from me.

Shooting Death near RNE

One week ago, on March 7, 2021, a 14-year-old boy was fatally shot about two blocks from Richland North East High School (RNE)

WIS-TV carried two stories and no names.

RCSD reported that a 16-year-old was arrested a short time after the body of the 14-year-old was found early that Monday evening in a wooded area north of the RNE.

Was either boy a student at RNE?

WIS-TV is not releasing the name of the deceased boy, because his parents requested privacy.

The first article is here:  https://www.wistv.com/2022/03/08/14-year-old-killed-richland-county-shooting/

The second article, on March 9, including a WIS-TV interview with Sheriff Lott, is here:   https://www.wistv.com/2022/03/09/sheriff-leon-lott-addresses-teen-gun-violence-richland-county/

That article has been considerably shortened since last Wednesday.

I have not been able to find any follow-up stories.

Is gun violence among teens now so common in Richland County that media are no longer informing viewers and readers of key information?

Richland 2 was instrumental in forming a coalition of eight area school districts and tagged BeSMART to be involved. I heard that BeSMART had been involved with Richland 2 for two years to produce this effort. 

Well, just exactly what is the plan here? Will this just be another program that is "All Talk and No Walk"?

Having programs at schools and passing out gun locks is not going to solve the problem that has been allowed to grow for years - many years! The problem is that empty space between two ears of so many kids.

Sheriff Lott offered one answer to parents in the TV interview. "Be nosy" in your kid's life. Know who his (her) friends are. Know where he is. Know what he is posting and reading on social media. Know what's on his phone. Know what's in the book bag. 

I'll add: Know how he is doing in school. Or if he is even in school. Recognize his language and attitudes. Know where he is at night.

That area may be on of the most dangerous in Richland County. At a community meeting several years ago, I heard a parent say that she put her young children in the bathtub at night, hoping the tub would stop any bullets fired in drive-by shootings.

[EDITED 3/15/22] WACH.TV reported that the 14-year-old who died on March 7 was Trevion Fuller. Still trying to learn what school he attended. Read the 3/15/22 article here.

[EDITED 3/16/22] WACH-TV pulled their story and it is no longer available. An obiturary is posted on the website of Pressley Cares Mortuary Services. It currently reads that Trevion "peacefully transitioned on March 7, 2022." The WACH-TV print story included a reference to a Columbia anti-gun violence effort. The original GoFundMe, organized by a woman in Orangeburg, cannot now be found. A different GoFundMe has been started.

R2 Teacher Being Disciplined for Cursing Student?

At the March 8, 2022 school board meeting a 14-year-old student addressed the board about the January 25, 2022 uproar that occurred in the board room just prior to the 5:30PM start of the meeting.

Watch this 3½-minute segment of the March 8^th board meeting. It begins with the introduction of the second speaker that evening. Tap this link: https://www.vibby.com/v/myUDgOZ2n

Shortly after he begins, you'll hear trustee-elect and Chair Teresa Holmes interrupt the him to say "No names"; the speaker had not mentioned a name, only a title. NOTE: Board Policy BEDH does not prohibit the use of names or titles by a speaker, but Holmes continues to admonish speakers who do mention names and titles.

As the student continued and related to the board what a Blythewood High School teacher had said to him on January 25th, Trustee Manning interrupted and said he felt that the topic was a personnel matter that was being addressed by Administration. Is it really?

Then Trustee McFadden spoke about letting the student continue, and her opinion prevailed.

Now, are the profanities uttered by Pamela Davis at the January 25, 2022 actually being addressed by Richland 2 School District as a personnel issue? 

Does anyone on the planet think that the HR Department will investigate and make a finding that the wife of the superintendent disrupted the meeting and conducted herself in a manner unbecoming that of a teacher? Will the HR Department recommend a suspension or termination? And will the HR Department find against the superintendent?

Seriously?

If I were the superintendent, I would direct HR to make a complete investigation and report, and I would insist on honesty and transparency. I would have their report released to the public. And there would be no retribution or retaliation against those who performed their jobs responsibly and thoroughly.

The Board ducked its obligation and responsibility to investigate the totality of the January 25th disruption, when The Core Four on the board (the majority: Holmes, McKie, Caution-Parker, Manning) would not support a Motion to investigate. Holmes based that on the decision by the Richland County Sheriff's Department not to file charges.

Isn't there still a law about Disruption of Schools? Isn't there still a law about Disorderly Conduct? Isn't there still a law about Assault? 

I can assure you that Gus Philpott and Gary Ginn did not break any laws that night. And, if the actions of Pamela Davis and Baron Davis had been charged, it's very likely that plenty of witnesses would have been available to testify about their words and actions. Did the sheriff's department even seriously consider charges against the Davises?