Don't Miss Policy JICA (proposed revision) - WOKE all the way

On the agenda for the July 12, 2022 school board meeting is a first reading of a proposed revision to Board Policy JICA - Student Dress/Articles/Displays

You can read it in the attachment to the agenda. Email me if you don't know how to find the agenda. gusphilpott@gmail.com

The revision drifts far away from Student Dress, to be re-named Attire.

Following a re-statement of the District's Mission to develop global citizens - blah, blah, blah - 

Check out the new first paragraph. Just exactly how is a school responsible for ensuring that attire does not contribute to a hostile or intimidating environment for any student?

If a student wears a "I love Trump" shirt or a shirt with "Jesus is the way" (or a hoodie with BLM on the front) to school, and "another student" gets triggered and trots off to the Principal's office to complain of a "hostile environment",  what happens next?

You can guess, can't you?

In a world of equity at Richland 2, which student will be supported? Which one will be disciplined?

You and I know the answer to that question.

Why is there a re-statement of core values (Learning, Character, Community & Joy) in the Attire policy?

"Students have the right to be treated equitably." No, no, NO..... The right is to be treated EQUALLY. Look closely at "marginalization" and identity in that bullet-point.

Whoever drafted that revision should be required to affix her name to it. My guess it came straight out of the DEI department. 

Contact all the trustees and express your opinion (even though you already know the Core Four will approve it at the second reading on August 9.

Will board meetings return to 90 minutes (max.)?

Remember when school board meetings ran about 90 minutes? What happened over the past three years? (You and I know.) Chaos. Disrespect. Shaming. Out-of-control.

Will James Manning, as the board chair for this school year, restore order and control over meetings?

Suggestions:

Establish a 90-minute time-frame for meetings before entering the planning session with the superintendent on the Thursday before a Tuesday board meeting.

Shorten the Inspiration Moment to three minutes (max.), including the introduction. Select a different board member to introduce the Moment. Amelia McKie must have thought she was at the Academy Awards or Toastmaster Championships. 

Move right into the Pledge. And, no, it's not "Join me in reciting the Pledge." It's "Join me in the Pledge of Allegiance." Let the Chair thank the speaker. It's not necessary to spend another 1-3 minutes thanking the speaker.

Cancel student performances as the Inspiration Moment. If the Board decides to have Student Performance, instead of Inspirational Moment, change the Agenda.

Eliminate the lag between speakers during Public Participation by asking following speakers to queue up.

Crack down on unnecessary board member comments that are redundant and off-topic.

Eliminate the long delays in board voting. What is the world takes so long to tally and announce electronic votes?

Know Robert's Rules of Order and follow them without shaming board members.

When the agenda is created, set a time-limit for the dog-and-pony shows put on by the staff (at the superintendent's direction). Presenters don't need to read slides to board members (and the audience).

Board members should study the packets that are distributed to them before meeting and be prepared to ask succinct questions.

If a board member wants something, make a motion (or a secondary motion). Saying, "I would like ..." is a waste of time. Recall how many times Teresa Holmes just blew on past what a minority member said, instead of asking, "Do you want to make a motion?"

Conduct the board meeting in a fast-paced, concise manner without "rushing". Work against "Time Remaining". Put up a big clock, similar to that used in football and basketball games.

Eliminate individual thanks by board members for staff presentations. That just wastes time. The chair can thank for all. Cut out the "I've been an educator for 35 (or 40) years" remarks.

Let four-hour board meetings be a relic of the past.

Like any of these suggestions? Have some of your own? Put them in the Comments section below.

Dennis & Julie Podcast

I'm a fan of Dennis Prager and PragerU. Dennis is a smart man.

Recently I learned of the Dennis & Julie Podcast, featuring (who else?) Dennis Prager and Julie Hartman.

This is a must-watch. I'd like to give you an image on which you could just click, but this video must be one that YouTube has partially censured. It doesn't show up in the YouTube search window for the Blogger platform.

However, you can watch the video by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRcvdxliOiE

Dennis introduced Julie as his first co-host. They discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other topics.

Open Letter to board chair James Manning

To Richland 2 board chair James Manning:

One of your first acts as Board Chair for the School Year 2022-2023 should be to require Teresa Holmes and Amelia McKie to take the oath-of-office and become legitimate members of the Richland 2 school board.

This issue was first raised during public participation at a school board meeting in about February 2019. The board was informed that the oath-of-office administered to Holmes and McKie on November 13, 2018 was done so THREE full weeks before they first became eligible to take it.

That is because neither Holmes nor McKie had filed her Statement of Economic Interests report (SEI) with the South Carolina Ethics Commission. They filed the SEIs on December 4, 2018. Neither has taken the oath-of-office since that date.

Had the board required Holmes and McKie to take the oath-of-office in February 2019, the District would have needed to correct the votes on motions only back for three months. All votes of Holmes and McKie should have been removed. Many results of voting on motions would have changed.

The problem of wrongful voting has continued now for more than 3½ years. The effort required now to correct votes and results is massive.

With respect to honesty, integrity, responsibility, transparency, and South Carolina law, there should be no further delay in correcting this legal nightmare.

The board has functioned with only five legitimate members since November 13, 2018. McKie's term as board chair ended on November 13, 2018, and a new board chair should have been elected for the balance of the 2018-2019 school year.

Holmes and McKie should not have been nominated for, or elected to, officer positions on the board. Holmes and McKie should not have been elected as board officers on June 29, 2021, and they should not have been elected as board officers again on June 28, 2022.

S.C. Code of Laws Section 8-13-1110 reads, in part,

ARTICLE 11

Disclosure of Economic Interests

SECTION 8-13-1110. Persons required to file statement of economic interests.

(A) No public official, regardless of compensation, and no public member or public employee as designated in subsection (B) may take the oath of office or enter upon his official responsibilities unless he has filed a statement of economic interests in accordance with the provisions of this chapter with the appropriate supervisory office.

Will you correct this error now?

Not school district -related, but good reading

A neighbor sent me this scam alert. Whether it's true or not, it could be. We get so used to paying with plastic. So, be careful. Share this article by using the "Mail" button below. (No record is kept of any articles forwarded or emails used.) Note: I didn't write it. This did not happen to me.

The following is a recounting of the incident from the victim:

Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying that he was from some outfit called: "Express Couriers," (The name could be any courier company).  He asked if I was going to be home because there was a package for me that required a signature.

The caller said that the delivery would arrive at my home in approximately an hour. Sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with a beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine. I was very surprised, since there was no special occasion or holiday, and I, certainly, didn't expect anything like it. Intrigued, I inquired as to who the sender was.

The courier replied, "I don't know, I'm only delivering the package."

Apparently, a greeting card was being sent separately. (The card has never arrived!)  There was also a consignment note with the gift.  He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol, there was a $3.50 "delivery/ verification charge," providing proof that he actually had delivered the package to an adult (of legal drinking age), and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone, especially a minor.

This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash.  He then said that the delivery company required payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that everything is properly accounted for, and this would help in keeping a legal record of the transaction.

He added, "Couriers don't carry cash to avoid loss or being, likely, targets for robbery."

My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled out his credit card, and the "delivery man," asked him to swipe the card on a small mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad.  Frank, my husband, was asked to enter his PIN number and a receipt was printed out.  He was given a copy of the transaction.

The guy said everything was in order, and wished us good day, and left.

To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday, $4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit account at various ATM machines.  Apparently, the "mobile credit card machine," which the deliveryman carried, now, had all the info necessary to create a "dummy" card with all our card details including the PIN number.

Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card, we, immediately, notified the bank which issued us a new card, and our credit/debit account was closed.  We, also, personally, went to the police, where it was confirmed that it is, definitely, a scam because several households had been similarly hit.

WARNING: Be wary of accepting any "surprise gift or package," which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package.  Also, never accept anything if you do not, personally, know or there is no proper identification of who the sender is.  Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!

PLEASE, pass this on, it may just prevent someone else from being swindled.

Richland 2 responds to S.C. IG

WIS-TV published Richland Two's response to the Governor's direction for the State Inspector General to investigate Richland 2.

In an article published on wistv.com yesterday, Richland Two wrote:

"Richland School District Two administrators contacted State Inspector General Brian Lamkin on June 23, 2022, to follow up on a report that the Governor had submitted a formal request to Mr. Lamkin to conduct an investigation, review and analysis of Richland Two. In speaking with Mr. Lamkin, we pledged our full cooperation with the investigation.

"As demonstrated in our recent successful accreditation process and our annual financial audits, our district approaches any and all reviews with a strong commitment to transparency and to our Core Values of Learning, Character, Community and Joy."

That standard of "Core Values" certainly does not apply to the January 25, 2022 incident in the board room. Transparency? Seriously?

Then-board chair Teresa Holmes refused to convene an investigation into the disruption caused by Pamela Davis, a Blythewood High School teacher and wife of Supt. Baron Davis, and the superintedent himself.

I thought it was amazing that the sheriff's department could almost instantly conclude that no crime had been committed by the superintendent, who allegedly charged at the white man who intervened when Pamela Davis was cussing out a 14-year-old student who was present that night. Teh student told me what her words were.

The District should have investigated her for conduct unbecoming an employee. I filed a complaint through the principal at Blythewood High School and have never heard one word from the District.

I suspect Inspector General Lamkin will put this on his list of items to investigate. How will the District spin its response?

Spot-on Article by Retired Education

Here is an article not to be missed. This was sent to me today by a reader, who had found it in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The author is AJ-C guest columnist Jim Arnold, an educator of 48 years' experience. His career track was teacher, assistant principal, principal and then superintendent.  He is now an adjunct professor at Columbus (Georgia) State University.

He hits the nail squarely on the head when identifying today's problems in education and why teachers have been fleeing for years. 

How does this sound to you? Familiar?

From his opinion piece in the newspaper: "Over time, the beliefs that 'all children can learn' and 'all children can succeed' translated into “'all children will succeed at high levels.' ” 

He puts "equity" right where it belongs - in the dumpster.

But what do we have here in Richland 2?

Be sure to take the time to read and digest this article. If you aren't an AJ-C subscriber, pay the 99¢ for six months and become one. It's a real newspaper.

https://www.ajc.com/education/get-schooled-blog/opinion-no-accountability-for-georgia-students-no-autonomy-for-teachers/7WDS5OUHKNECHMFYWO3AWNCETU/

Many thanks to the reader who sent this to me.