COLUMBIA – A cacophony of voices can be heard on the
recording, the participants becoming more and more shrill as they compete for
volume. Bystanders echo and boo.
It sounds like it could be a hallway fight among a group of
middle or high school students, but it isn’t. The participants are all grown
adults – and they are members of the school board at Richland School District
Two.
The recording is from a closed-door board meeting.
The April 28 meeting was called to discuss safety and
security in Richland Two schools – an issue that’s received attention after
several gun incidents and assorted reports of students holding fights at school
and circulating videos online.
The audio recording of the school board members’
confrontation – a four-minute clip provided to media – begins with School Board
Chair Teresa Holmes quietly laughing while board member Lashonda McFadden is
speaking – part of a pattern of bullying that’s been observable for months
during the board’s public meetings.
McFadden is talking calmly about an unknown issue when the
drama begins.
“You can laugh if you want to,” McFadden says.
“I am, but go ahead,” Holmes says, “Go ahead. Finish your
statement. Don’t worry about me.”
“I’m not worried about you,” McFadden says her voice
beginning to shake.
“Finish your statement, honey,” Holmes says, “Do what you
gotta do.”
“Shut the f*** up,” McFadden replies, becoming emotional.
“Come on, that language is not necessary,” says Vice Chair
James Manning, his voice clear and louder than others, as if it might be closer
to the recording device, as others express their disapproval.
“Little girl, little girl, little girl,” Holmes repeatedly
taunts McFadden.
“I’m fed up with you,” McFadden says. “You want to call me a
little girl? I found out what ‘little girl’ means. I found out what it means.”
“It’s ok. It’s ok. Are you upset?” Holmes continues. “Are
you upset, Lashonda?”
“No, I’m not upset. I’m just letting you know right now that
I will f*** you up….”
The other board members erupt in a chorus of disapproval,
and from that point on, it’s hard to hear much of what is said.
“You have threatened me!” Holmes exclaims multiple times.
“That’s jail!” school board member Cheryl Caution-Parker
says excitedly.
“I’m tired of this bull***it,” McFadden says.
“You threatened me!” Holmes shouts.
“Go file a complaint like you normally do,” McFadden says
amidst the chaos of voices.
“And what you gonna do, boo?” Holmes continues. “So, what you
gonna do? Do it! Do it!”
Then McFadden says, “I want to let you know that if you
think you’re going to continue to disrespect me, then I will catch your
mother-f****** ass outside.”
Holmes says, “Now that’s the second threat. Thank you for
saying that in front of everybody. Thank you.”
“It’s a matter of record now,” Caution-Parker says.
“What I saw was your lack of professionalism, madam chair,”
says board member Lindsay Agostini. “Laughing at one of your board members
starting to speak. That’s what instigated this.”
“You don’t know what I was laughing at,” Holmes says, “Are
you in my head ma’am? I might’ve been thinking of something else.”
Holmes continues to taunt and laugh at McFadden, And then
the recording ends.
This four minutes of audio has elicited a firestorm of
commentary, online and among students and families across the school district.
Asked about the exchange, multiple school board members have
said that this level of conflict is not unusual in their closed-door meetings.
The tension and hostility among board members has, with increasing frequency,
occurred public meetings as well.
The board is generally split on issues with Holmes,
Caution-Parker, Manning and Amelia McKie on one side and Agostini, McFadden and
Monica Scott on the other.
Holmes, the board chair, declined to comment on the
incident.
She did, however, address it in an e-mail to Agostini, who
requested to view the video referenced in Holmes’ police report about the
incident.
“It’s important for the entire board to have access to the
video and to know who breached the confidence of the Executive Session,”
Agostini wrote in an e-mail to Holmes.
“This is now a legal matter,” Holmes wrote in her reply,
declaring the video off-limits, comparing herself to a rape victim, calling
Agostini names and trying to place blame on Agostini.
“It is quite clear… you are negative,[sic] and determined to
remain in high conflict despite truth or morality. In full disclosure, I find
your deceitful and continuing hostility toward me sad,” Holmes wrote.
“Your goal of intentionally working against certain members
of the board, the administration and continuous [sic] conspiring with outside
sources to attempt to create an atmosphere of confusion in order to, [sic] sway
the election in November is appalling.”
Also in the email, Holmes vowed to expose malicious intent
and hypocritical behavior “no matter the cost” – and to “no longer be silent
about exposing antics.”
McFadden, for her part, issued a written apology Monday for
her role in the ruckus, asking for forgiveness as she apologized to Holmes,
district parents and students, her family and church family, and fellow
Christians.
“As an elected leader over your children, it is my deepest
regret that I allowed my emotions to alter my character and behavior to use
such horrific and vulgar language,” said McFadden, who is also a parent.
“For those who have called, texted, dropped by, sent well
wishes, and prayer to me during this most trying time… THANK YOU! I have felt
the encouragement pulling me through the depths of guilt and shame.”
Agostini said she believes both participants in the exchange
and the person who made the recording – a violation of board policy – should
all be removed from the board as consequences for their actions.
Board member Monica Scott said that because of the breach of
trust caused by the recording of executive session meeting, she will no longer
be attending those meetings.
Manning, who insisted to The Voice that there is no video,
only a recording, refused to comment on whether or not he had made the
recording, called for McFadden’s resignation.
“We have students who get expelled for threatening,” Manning
said. “I don’t know how she can continue to properly serve when she’s making
decisions over students who have exhibited similar behavior.”
Manning was among those who defended Superintendent Baron
Davis and his wife, Pamela (a high school teacher), when, several weeks ago,
they reportedly became unruly toward members of the public at the start of a
school board meeting and law enforcement became involved. Pamela Davis
reportedly used vulgur language toward a student in the audience during the
incident.
I never would’ve thought that we would be in this type of position in Richland Two. We have always been seen as a leader in education in the state, and to see where we are now is unfortunate.
– Stephen Gilchrist, Member of the Richland Two Black Parents’ Association
Also, in that incident, two people attending the meeting –
both of whom some witnesses say were not unruly – were banned from school
district property.
Both of those who were banned say they intend to sue – one
(Gary Ginn) for violation of his constitutional rights under the first and
fourteenth amendments, and the other (Gus Philpott) for issues such as
“defamation, libel and due process.”
Ginn, a parent, described the window the recording gives the
public into how the board operates.
“I think that we should just remove the whole school board,”
Ginn says. “I think the governor should just wipe the slate clean and remove
the whole school board and basically release Dr. Davis and Pamela Davis from
their positions at the school district, and that would solve all the problems.
Then we as parents wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore.”
Stephen Gilchrist, a founding member of the Richland Two
Black Parents’ Association and member of the Richland County Planning
Commission, said he applauds the recent approval of a state law that added
school board members to the list of public officials that can be removed by the
governor for misconduct.
“Obviously in Richland School District Two there’s been a
lot of public displaying of a lot of issues that the law has been designed to
address,” Gilchrist says. “So, unfortunately, we have become the poster child
for Senate Bill 203, and we will just see what happens as folks begin to
revisit some of the issues that this board has been having over the last
several months and years.”
He says parents and others have begun calling the governor’s office asking for help, but that’s not enough. Gilchrist says local leaders – from the Richland County Council, which holds purse strings for the school system, to local business and community leaders – should oppose the school board’s continued dysfunction.
“I never would’ve ever thought that we would be in this type
of a position in Richland School District Two,” he says. “We have always been
seen as a leader in education in the state, and to see where we are now is
unfortunate.”
The board routinely expels or otherwise disciplines students
for behavior, he says – but in many ways the board members conduct themselves
even worse than the kids. He says suspension and removal should be options for
them, too.
“I don’t think that we can continue to fund dysfunction at
the level that we’ve been doing that and raising taxes on people to fund
dysfunction,” he says.
“It’s my hope that with so much concern about what’s
happening at our school district, we will come together as a community to try
and bring either some new faces to the leadership of the school district or
have the state really weigh in on what’s been going on here.”
