What's up? Public Participation Form on Retreat Agenda

On Friday, August 5, 2022 the school board will hold a "summer retreat" at the Sandhill Lake House located at Clemson University's Sandhill Research and Education Center, 900 Clemson Road, beginning at 9:00AM.

The District could livestream it but will not. 

Item 3.8 on the Agenda is "Public Participation Form". Apparently, some revision is on the way. The revised form could be attached to the agenda, but it is not.

So much for transparency in the new School Year, which started July 1.

Item 3.12 is Safety Plan. No elaboration there, either.

Why isn't the District livestreaming this event? The excuse offered of length and no action to be taken just doesn't cut it. 

The District threatens the public with this paragraph, which has become standard boiler-plate in meeting announcements:

"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, the individual will be escorted 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."

As the public knows from January 25, 2022, when an attendee shouts, "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! DON'T TALK TO ME! GET AWAY FROM ME!", such shouting will not be considered creating an unsafe environment. It is not out of order, loud, disruptive or inappropriate. It will no lead to be escorted out.

Especially if you are married to the superintendent.

ACLU vs. Holmes?

Will the ACLU sue Teresa Holmes?

Teresa maintains at least two Facebook pages/groups, and at least one of them seems to be her official school board member page. They are "Dr.Teresa Holmes" (no space between Dr. and Teresa) and the second is "Dr. Teresa Holmes: School Board Member Richland Two".

Read this January 9, 2019 ACLU article: "Court Rules Public Officials Can’t Block Critics on Facebook"  Click on the link to read the article.

I emailed Teresa on June 17, 2022 and requested that she unblock me from her official page(s). I sure she must be busy recovering from the chaos of her board leadership; she hasn't replied yet.

The first page is still completely invisible to me.

The second page displays this message, instead of content: 

"This content isn't available right now

"When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted."

I am contacting the ACLU and asking them to investigate Teresa's two pages.

The Fourth Circuit includes Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. The Court's decision applies right here in Columbia. What will Teresa's lawyer tell her? What would Richland Two's lawyer tell her? 

Will they tell her to just open her up Facebook pages? Or will they tell her to "Take a chance. You're just a small fry."

More good news

Check out yesterday's (July 26, 2022 article about Richland 2 in the Post and Courier newspaper. 

Here's the leading paragraph. 

"COLUMBIA — Northeast Columbia parents wrote to Henry McMaster for five months, asking him to look into “dysfunction” and “toxicity” among the board and superintendent of Richland County School District Two, before the governor asked the state inspector general to investigate."

You can read it, if you are a subscriber, by clicking here: www.postandcourier.com/columbia/news/complaints-of-columbia-school-districts-toxic-environment-sparked-state-investigation/article_cec562fa-0c45-11ed-9ecc-e7cd5decab1c.html/?tpcc=colanl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Columbia%20Editor%20Letter%20July%2027&utm_content=Columbia%20Editor%20Letter%20July%2027+CID_3b43b083ebf22fc69d3c948cb88c22d8&utm_source=CampaignMonitor&utm_term=toxic%20environment

Dysfunction?

Toxicity?

Now ... who was responsible for that???

The U.S. Constitution - What do YOU know about it?

Here's another great PragerU 5-minute video. This one is on the U.S. Constitution.

What do you know about the Republic that is the United States? And about the risks that a Republic faces?

Princeton University's Professor Robert George provides a short course in our government. One of the key statements he makes is that the framers knew that their efforts would fail, unless "Citizens (were) embued with the spirit of Republicanism."

Are you willing to have our Republic fail, like those in Greece and Rome did? Look how long we have lasted. I, for one, am unwilling to accept a statement by others that "all governments fail."

Do you understand that the Federal Government has limited powers? And why?

Are you one of James Madison's "well-instructed people"? Are you well-educated about our constitutional liberties and responsibilities?

Are students in Richland 2 schools being "well-educated" in principles of our form of governmen?

Past Board Chairs. When did Chaos begin?

I remember the order and the civility that existed on the board, when I attended my first board meeting on February 27, 2018. The division, disharmony, and back-biting wasn't present. Who have the board chairs been since Craig Plank?

Board Chair history:

2017-2018 Craig Plank 

2018-2019 Amelia McKie *

2019-2020 James Manning

2020-2021 James Shadd (July 1, 2020 - Nov. 17, 2020)

2020-2021 James Manning (Nov. 17, 2020 - June 30, 2021)

2021-2022 Teresa Holmes **

2022-2023 James Manning 

Minutes of the June 25, 2019 and the June 28, 2020 board meetings, when officers for the following School Year were elected, are missing from the District's website. 

* McKie was ineligible to continue serving as Board President after November 13, 2018, because she had failed to to file her SEI before the oath of office was administered on November 13, 2018 and never took the oath of office after December 4, 2018.

** Holmes was ineligible to serve as Board President, because she had failed to to file her SEI before the oath of office was administered on November 13, 2018 and never took the oath of office after December 4, 2018.

Why the Rush to Retain Wyche Law Firm?

Remember the rush by the (majority of the) board to retain The Wyche Law Firm ("Wyche")?

The ink was hardly dry on the Governor's directive to the State Inspector General to investigate Richland Two and the superintendent and the board had to rush to line up its mouthpiece. Before they even knew (for sure) what the I.G. would be investigating.

Is that like getting your DUI lawyer lined up and standing by his telephone, before you head out to Saturday's night's drinking party?

And remember how Teresa would not allow other board members to ask questions about the deal with Wyche? Like,

How much was Wyche going to charge?

Whom would Wyche represent? (the board or the district? or both?)

Why some of the trustees received the information about the deal only 30 minutes before they were expected to discuss it and then vote on it?

Why there wasn't competitive bidding?

What the estimated (total) cost is for Wyche?

Wyche's hourly rate is $375.00, according to the District's response to my FOIA request.

The lead attorney on the representation is Wade Kolb, III.

There was absolutely confidential about that! Yes, it had been discussed in the executive session, but that did not mean it could not be discussed in public session. Why shouldn't The Public know?

It is crystal clear to The Public who was responsible for the chaos and the antics in the last school year (2021-2022). Teresa Holmes tried to put the blame on Trustees Agostini, Scott and McFadden. The Public knows the truth.

It is that chaos that drew the attention of the legislature and the Governor to Richland Two.

What the R2 Board Could Learn

Did you ever watch a meeting of the Richland County Council? Expect to see a model of organization and efficiency.

Every member of the Richland 2 School Board should watch last night's County Council meeting. The Chair, Councilman Overture Walker (from our District), runs the meeting with precision and control.

Notice how motions are made and seconded. Notice how discussion is handled. Especially notice how the vote on a motion is handled.

Compare the smooth running of the County Council meeting with a Richland 2 school board meeting.

If the Richland 2 School Board hired a professional coach and a parliamentarian, meetings would be 60-90 minutes. Not 2-4 hours!

County Council members don't fill the air with extraneous comments. The Chair doesn't expound on matters. He conducted the meeting as it should be conducted. If he didn't need to comment, he didn't.

Unlike the Richland 2 School Board, where a couple of members can be counted on to say how many years they have been in education or how they are a proud "product" of a certain high school.

Notice how quickly voting is handled. Do you question why it takes so long to tally votes by seven board members electronically? When it's time to vote, voting should be completed in about five seconds. Just press the button. (Hint to some: press the correct button.)

Will business be conducted better, more smoothly, more quickly under the new Chair?