Change for the Sake of Change?

The District has engaged in unnecessary busywork by revising the Board Member page (as of 11/22/2022) on the District's website and moving a board member's email address to a second page.

This change already affects board members Agostini, McFadden and Scott. Now, instead of seeing the email address under the photo, a viewer sees a title and "About (board member)".

If you click on the About link, you go to the next page, which is a bio, the email address and a phone number. Email addresses for the new board members are shown, pending development of their biographical sketches.

Phone numbers for Board members should not even be listed on the website. Plus the I.G. has recommended District telephones, not personal phones for official business.

Considering how much time it takes for a board member to answer the phone, listen to someone's complaint or comment, and then do something about it, board members must work many hours every week performing non-executive duties.

If a board member receives an email from a parent or community member, it is easy and quick to forward that email to the superintendent to handle.

Of course, it would be more efficient to forward it to a staff member who could do something about it and copy the superintendent, but board policy is to communicate with the superintendent, not directly with staff.

A dumb bottleneck decision, but that's it for the time-being.

Hear ye. Hear ye. Could you hear last night?

I know I have some hearing loss, but I'm not deaf (yet). Last night I forgot to ask for a hearing device, and so I heard little of the meeting. I wondered why those on the board were not instructed to speak directly into their microphones and why their voices could not be heard throughout the room. Or could they?

Lindsay Agostini was absent last night and did not attend telephonically. 

I watched the Livestream replay this morning. The first part of the livestream recording was the swearing-in ceremony, and the Special-Called Board meeting begins at 36:45 on 

https://livestream.com/richland2/events/10680159/videos/233869004

Due to the fact that none of the past officers is now on the board, the meeting was called to order by the senior board member, Trustee Monica Scott. After reading the names of the new board members and who had administered their oaths of office, Trustee Scott skipped Item 2.1 on the agenda, which was Approval of the Agenda. That was the first item and necessary before proceeding. However, she first asked for a Motion to suspend Board Policy BD for this meeting only.

Hopefully, the Board will adopt the procedure used by the Richland County Council to speed along a meeting. When the chair calls for a motion (for example, to suspend Policy BD for this meeting), then all that another board member needs to say is "So moved" and another board member says "Second". There is no need to expand the Motion.

The Motion can be explained during discussion, if any. This shortens the handling of the Motion and makes the job of the recording secretary much easier. 

Trustee Scott began to proceed to the election of board members, but the superintendent interrupted to suggest that the suspension of Policy BD should be only for that meeting. That had been covered in Trustee Scott's request but not in the motion as made by Trustee McFadden. The limitation was added.

Then the superintendent spoke on the record that the board needed to approve the agenda for the meeting. (He could have coached Trustee Scott directly (whispering), unless he was following State law and Robert's Rules of Order that everything said in a meeting is to be audible to all board members and to the public.). The vote should have been read as "6 Yes, 1 Not Present at Vote. Motion passed."

Then Trustee Scott called for a Motion "to second", but what was needed was a Motion to approve the agenda. Trustee McFadden made the motion, and a female voice could be heard seconding it. The chair did not state who seconded the motion. The chair called for the vote, and the displayed version of the motion indicated that Trustee Niki Porter had seconded it.

The recording secretary had failed to include Lindsay Agostini's name in the voting list. Because she was absent, a "1" should have been entered in "Not Present at Vote." All seven voting positions should be accounted for.

Item 3.1 was addressed again, with Trustee McFadden reading the long motion and Trustee Angela Nash seconding. The vote was 6-0-0-0 (Yes-No-Abstain-Not Present at Vote).

The chair passed the meeting to the superintendent for the election of officers. The following officers were elected:

Chair - Lindsay Agostini

Vice Chair- Monica Scott

Secretary - Angela Nash

For Item 3.3 a female board member, who did not request recognition by the chair, asked if more than one Delegate could be certified to the South Carolina School Boards Association (SCSBA), and the superintendent stated two delegates and one alternate could be certified. Trustees McFadden and Porter were nominated as Delegates and Trustee Joe Trapp was nominated as Alternate Delegate. 

The result was achieved, but the process was a mess. The presiding chair read what should have been the motion and then asked for a second (without having asked for a Motion). She called for the vote and then remembered to ask for discussion. The Motion was actually incorrect, because it called for McFadden and Porter to be approved to serve as "a delegate"; it should have read "delegates". The vote was 6-0-0-0.

The final item was the nomination of a board member to serve as the SCSBA Region 8 Director. Trustee Scott was nominated. 

Frankly speaking, she should have declined and allowed another board member to serve in that position. As Vice Chair, she'll have plenty of duties, one of which will be to brush up on her role as back-up to Chair Lindsay Agostini for running a meeting.

The last item was to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Scott asked for a motion to adjourn, which was made by Trustee McFadden. There was no request for a Second, discussion or vote. 

Monday's Schedule - Ceremony & Meeting

Don't be misled by the published Agenda for Monday's Special-Called Board Meeting. On Monday, November 21, 2022, at R2i2:

5:30PM Swearing-in of four new board members.

6:00PM Special-Called Board Meeting.

What's the Deal in Richland 2?

FoxNews reported today on Tucker Carlson's interview with a 14-year-old girl in Randolph, Vermont who complained about a biological male in the girls' changing room after a volleyball game. See the print article here.

So what happens in Richland 2 schools? Are there policies or rules that apply to use of bathroom or changing rooms by boys and girls? Are there policies or rules that apply to "respecting" others? Are boys allowed in girls' changing rooms?

What about bathrooms in the schools?

At R2i2 I was surprised before one board meeting to see a communal bathroom at the back of the first floor.  The sign on the wall of a previously "Women" bathroom had been changed to a - what would call it - communal bathroom?

Has a man ever used that bathroom?

What does "all gender" mean? 

According to Women's Health magazine, there are 16. See the list here.

Oath-of-Office Date Changed

The four new school board members will be sworn in on Monday, November 21, 2022 at 5:30PM at R2i2.

The date was changed from November 18, because State law dictates that the term-of-office for a newly-elected board member must start one week following certification of the election. 

Because of last Friday's recount and that it did end until the early morning hours, and because Certification was announced about 10:30AM on Saturday, the new trustees could not be sworn in on this Friday.

The District is updating its website.

No Ethics Decision on McKie yet

On October 20th the S.C. Ethics Commission held a hearing on Amelia McKie's violation of omitting her Richland 2 income in 2020 from her 2021 Statement of Economic Interest Report (SEI). The complaint was filed in October 2021.

In April 2022 the Commission announced that there was Probable Cause and a hearing was scheduled for June. On the day before that hearing, McKie called the Commission and told them she thought she had been exposed to COVID. The hearing was re-scheduled to October 20.

On October 20, 2022, a panel of three Commissioners heard the complaint and testimony from McKie. The Hearing Chair announced that the Decision would likely be announced in two weeks. That would have been by November 3rd. It still has not been announced.

Today I learned that Decisions and Orders must be announced within 60 days of a hearing. Ho-hum.

What is there to decide? McKie had failed to report her 2020 income. After she was notified of the Complaint, she filed an amended SEI and reported that income.

The hearing actually could have been quite short.

Q. 1 How much did you earn from Richland 2 in 2020?

A. $9,600

Q. 2. Did you report it, when you filed your SEI?

A. No.

Decision? Liable. (Guilty!)

Fine: Dollar cost of investigation ($550?) and penalty ($100?). Pay up.

And, no, we are not going to just add it to the $57,100 you already owe.

Recount done - Certification expected today (Nov. 12)

According to posts on Facebook, the Richland County Elections Commission completed its recount at about 1:30AM today, and Joe Trapp remains the 4th place winner of votes in the November 8th school board election.

Joe Trapp   12,500 votes (9.78%)

T. Holmes  11,995 votes (9.38%)

The official result and Certification are expected to be announced at 10:30AM.

Will today's Certification affect the November 18th Special-Called Board Meeting? The four new members of the board do not begin their terms-of-office until one week after the Certification of the election.

S.C. Code of Laws Section 59-19-315. "Commencement of trustee's term of office. The term of office of every elected trustee of a school district must commence one week following the certification of his election."

Several Facebook pages were blowing up yesterday with wild, chaotic posts. Civility and respect seemed to be thrown out the window by some.

This country has been consumed by complaints of election fraud in recent years.

Right here in Richland County we witnessed action by the Election Commission to carry out its duty. The recount was apparently triggered by a Mandatory Recount law: S.C. Code of Laws Section 7-17-280.

SECTION 7-17-280. Mandatory recounts.

Whenever the difference between the number of votes received by a candidate who has been declared nominated for an office in a primary election or who has been declared elected to an office in a general election and the number of votes received by any other candidate or candidate not declared so nominated or elected or whenever the difference between the number of votes received by a candidate who received the least number of votes to qualify for a runoff election and a candidate or candidates who did not so qualify shall be not more than one percent of the total votes which were cast for such office therein, the committee or board charged by law with canvassing such votes shall order a recount of such votes to be made forthwith unless such other candidate or candidates shall waive a recount in writing.

Whenever the difference between the number of votes cast in favor of and opposed to any constitutional amendment, question or other issue is not more than one percent of the total cast thereon, the Board of State Canvassers shall order a recount of such votes to be made forthwith."

Complaints on Facebook included that Holmes had not waived the recount, but I don't think anyone knew, for sure, that she had not.

But why should she have done so? I would not have. If the recount was mandated by State law and I thought it might give me a win, I definitely would not have waived it. Would you have?

Congratulations to Joe Trapp. He'll be an asset on the school board.

For my part, I'm glad Holmes did not make the Top Four. I wish she had come in 12th. Or 13th. Much of the disrespect, unprofessionalism, and failure to lead were caused by her presence on the board. I have saved all the snarky and rude emails she sent me over the years. Maybe I'll write a book.