And 8/9/22 Convocation STILL Locked

Hope is on the way. Maybe. The Richland 2 Ombudsman has replied that all my inquiries about the locked August 9th Convocation have been consolidated and "... Libby Roof, the Senior Chief Communications Officer, (has been asked) to respond. She has indicated that she hopes to be able to respond to you by Friday of this week."

Now, isn't that a great customer-centric response?

Ombudsman, in Richland 2 language, is a traffic cop, not a problem solver. That's by design, of course. She has no authority to investigate and correct maladministration. Do you think she can go into Baron's office and say, "Listen, boss. Philpott is right. The best thing would be to just remove the password-protection lock from the Convocation file on Livestream."

Where would she like to work next? How would she get a job without a good recommendation?

The convocation recording never should have been locked in the first place. On Tuesday, August 9th, Libby Roof could have, and should have, removed the password lock. Of course, she wouldn't dare. 

Just exactly why did Baron Davis want his comments kept private? And why did Board Chair Jams Manning blink, when asked to help?

File your complaints with the Office of the State Inspector General, folks. Send them to oig@oig.sc.gov  Include whether you agree to waive confidentiality. Or use the webform at oig.sc.gov 

Convocation - same remarks as at Retreat

I have received credible information that Supt. Davis made the same remarks at the August 9th Convocation as he made at the August 5th Board Retreat.

If you were at the Retreat, which was not broadcast live on livestream or recorded, then you heard what he said. So, if he said it at an open public meeting of the school board, why won't he unlock the password-protected recording at   https://livestream.com/richland2/events/10569733?

Supposedly, he said that the District is 'under attack". Well, with the (lack of) transparency that exists, should he be surprised?

Isn't that like taping a sign "Kick me" to your backside? And then whining when you get kicked?

New Board Officers, November 2022

The Richland 2 school board will have all new officers after the election in November 2022.

The Core Four has maintained a stranglehold on officer positions for too long. On June 28, 2022 the following officers were elected: Chair - James Manning; Vice Chair - Amelia McKie (proud owner of a huge debt to the S.C. Ethics Commission for fines); Secretary - Teresa Holmes.

Manning and McKie did not file for re-election. Their terms-of-office end on November 8, 2022. Or maybe on November 17, 2022, one week after the election is certified.

State law S.C. Code of Laws reads, 

"SECTION 59-19-70. Chairman and clerk of board.

"The trustees shall, as soon as practicable after the appointment of any new trustee, organize by the election of one of their members as chairman and another as clerk of the board. The chairman shall preside at meetings of the board and perform other duties imposed on him under the law, and the clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of all meetings in a book provided for that purpose and perform all other duties required of him by law."

This is a law that Richland 2 has not followed, like the law regarding the beginning of a term-of-office (until their error was pointed out to them and corrected in November 2020).

When the board meets at the first meeting after the election, the new board members will be sworn in and will take their seats. They will join Trustees Agostini, Scott, and McFadden. Then the trustees will elect the officers for the remainder of the School Year. to June 30, 2023. So long, Teresa.

Since Holmes served for four years without ever being sworn in legally, I'd say she is ineligible to be an officer of the board. Hopefully, the new board will agree and will send her to a seat at the end of the row.

And I suspect the new board will waste no time in moving the superintendent away from the pivot point in board seating and put the Board Chair in that seat, where Robert's Rules of Road state the Chair is to sit.

8/9/22 Convocation - Still Locked

Do you wonder what Supt. Baron Davis does not want the public to know? His speech on August 9th is still password-protected. That means you cannot hear what he told employees.

What did he say?

Some nonsense about the Richland Two "brand". Come on, man. You aren't peddling soap.

And some nonsense about how the District is "under attack". 

Seriously?

Click on this link. If the lock has been removed, you can hear his remarks for yourself.

https://livestream.com/richland2/events/10569733

If the link is still locked, let him hear from you. Email badavis@richland2.org  Or call him at the District office. Contact him every day until he unlocks that speech.

Remember, he spoke on paid time. He used District-funded technology. HE is in charge of the decision to unlock the link.

What is he hiding?

Robert Lominack - Richland One

Take a look at this message from Robert Lominack, Richland School District One board member and candidate for re-election in his District. 

"I look forward to continuing to focus on the issues I have been raising for the past 10 months. 

• We have to do more to support our teachers and staff. 
• We have to be more transparent about what we're doing and why we're doing it.
• We have to be willing to admit when we as a board and an administration are failing. 

"This is the only way we'll get better. It's the only way we will build back the trust we need. And it's the only way we will truly support every student in the district."

These are the words of a Servant Leader.

These words will never pass the lips of The Core Four in Richland Two.

Three of them are not running for re-election. 

Let's help the fourth come in about #12 on November 8th.

How the Board Chair Helps

This morning I emailed the Board Chair and others about the stone-walling by the superintendent to unlock his "Convocation" of last Tuesday, August 9.

Good morning, Chair Manning, members of the board, and trustees-elect Holmes and McKie,

Last Tuesday, August 9, 2022, Supt. Davis addressed the District staff in which is called a Convocation on https://livestream.com/richland2/events/10569733

As of this morning the presentation is still password-protected (locked) and cannot be viewed by the public. 

What is the big secret? The public is anxious to hear his remarks about the District's "brand" and how the District is under attack (which it isn't).

Tuesday night Libby Roof told me it was locked, because not all staff had heard it yet. Must the public wait until every last employee has heard it?

Will you please cause the presentation to be opened to the public today?

Thank you.

Gus Philpott

James Manning replied within an hour with "This is an administrative issue and you are already in touch with the proper staff regarding your concern."

Manning sent an additional message about three hours later, in response to a Trustee's request that the password protecting the Convocation be removed. His reply to her and me was, "District staff have received a FOIA request from Mr. Philpott.  Staff will handle that request in the timeframe allowed by State law."

For whom does Manning work in his elected position on the school board? Does he represent the voters or does he represent the superintendent?

The superintendent is clearly wrong to keep his message from the people of the District. He is a public servant, paid by the public, and he spoke on the public's dime at 8:30AM on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, using public property.

Just exactly what did he say that he doesn't want the public to hear?

I guess it's a good thing that he decided not to file for re-election. Voters won't get a chance to vote him out on November 8th for his unwillingness to represent the constituents of the District, rather than siding with the superintendent.

If you think Baron Davis is wrong to hide his Convocation, email him at badavis@richland2.org or telephone him at his office, 803.738.3236. His executive assistant, Georgette Council, will see that he gets your message (unless he tells her to just file it in the "round file").

Who over-spent the $7,000 allowance in 2021-2022?

In the school year just ended (2021-2022), several board members over-spent their $7,000 allowances for travel and training.

One good question is who approved reimbursing them for the excess, once they had hit their $7,000 limit.

Once they reached the maximum, a good Accounts Payable clerk would have cut them off. 

And maybe that "good A/P clerk" tried. But did someone else approve continued payments? At least two board members got more than $2,000 over the $7,000 limit. And that was for expenses before the end of the school year on June 30.

Where does the buck stop? Apparently, in Richland 2 the bucks don't stop. They just keep on rolling out. The superintendent acknowledged at one board meeting that he should have kept a closer eye on things.

But my question is, why would he even have a hand in the deal? Way down in the bowels of the accounting department, there is a clerk who does the accounting for the trustees' travel money. The limit should have been the LIMIT. But it wasn't. 

That clerk has a supervisor; the supervisor should not have approved the excess. And that supervisor has a department manager. And that manager should not have approved the excess.

I have a FOIA request in for the last two expense reports submitted by Teresa Holmes. I'm curious about the two signatures that over-ruled the A/P clerk.