School Board Member Danny Blanton rightly accuses Former School Board Chairman Phillip “Bully” Glover of killing the “Flexible Calendar” Law Change in the NC Senate!!! CCS Vocational Education Totally in Shambles!!! Other School Board Members don’t care and leave the School Board Meeting before business is done at April 8, 2019 School Board Meeting!!!

Editor’s Note: Folks, I started a single article regarding the April 8, 2019 school Board meeting but it started getting so long and complex that I have broken the April 8th happenings up into several Articles. This article is the third with several more e to come.

First, some background on this portion of the April 8, 2019 School Board meeting.

School Board member Danny Blanton, with almost six years of service on the CCS school board has become known as the “Champion” on the School Board for the taxpayers, citizens, parents and students alike. When someone has a problem with CCS, the board member they will likely call is Danny Blanton. And Danny returns phone calls, which the rest of the school board refuse to do unless you are a “somebody” in Cleveland County. Danny’s popularity has caused hostility among other school board members as Danny does what HE believes is right and not what he is told to do.

Over the past several years the CCS school board “majority” (everybody else besides Danny Blanton) has fell out of favor, for various and very good reasons described in previous articles, with the Cleveland County Commissioners. The Commissioners asked NC House Representative Tim Moore to take away the school board’s authority to nominate Board members to the Cleveland Community College Board of Trustees. Also, to make the School Board a partisan board to enhance the turnout necessary to make necessary changes to the school board. Yet the Commissioners; recognizing Danny Blanton’s qualifications, determination and dedication, appointed Danny Blanton to the Region C Work Force Development task force in order to find and identify problems and issues and develop fixes for those problems and issues. Also newly elected Commissioners Doug Bridges and Deb Hardin have started attending school board meetings. Except for the April 8, 2019 School Board meeting.

Editor’s Note: At the April 16, 2019 Commissioner’s meeting I asked Bridges and Hardin about missing the “joke” of a school board meeting on April 8th. Both quickly answered that there was a conflict and they were not able to attend. My sources say there was more to it than that.

Sources informed me that School Board Chairman Shearra Miller had previously called Commissioner Chairman Susan Allen telling Allen that Commissioners Bridges and Hardin attending school board meeting made her and the other school board members uncomfortable. So, Commissioner Chairman Susan Allen, knowing she could not just tell Bridges and Hardin what to do, in a planned scheme scheduled a County sponsored event at the same time and same day but at a different place than the school board meeting. Now that this truth has hit the light of day, us citizens expect the reappearance of Commissioners Bridges and Hardin at future School Board meetings, along with Commissioners Ronnie Whetstine, Johnny Hutchings AND Susan Allen. County Manager Brian Epley and Asst. County Manager Kerri Melton to boot. People are tired of this kind of “game playing” in county government and want it stopped. AND STOPPED NOW!!! That part Ain’t funny no more. Especially in a “dying county” with failing schools and a school board full of clowns that think everything is a joke.

Back to the story line:

One of the first things Danny Blanton was instrumental in doing in the Work Force Development area was to help coordinate CCS with Cleveland Community College for some badly needed work force development classes. The CCS classes would have to be taught at CCC because of a lack of facilities at CCS. This was to be a short-term fix for those high school students caught without a vocational training career path until CCS could develop that career path at the high schools.

Next, Danny Blanton discovered the CCS and CCC calendars did not match. The mis-match amounted to thirty days of training that would be lost for those high school students needing that vocational training that would be taught at CCC. A point CCS missed entirely. Or maybe they didn’t miss it. Maybe they just didn’t care enough to do anything except dumb down the classes and send the students on their way without proper training.

But again, Danny Blanton stepped up and led the way for the purpose of changing the state laws to allow “calendar flexibility” to allow a match between the CCS calendar with the CCC Calendar. After getting (begrudedly) a resolution in front of the school board to request a change in state law to allow Cleveland County (only) to synchronize the CCS and CCC schedules, Danny Blanton made the motion to the school board to approve the resolution. School Board member Phillip “Bully” Glover” seconded that motion, which was approved 9-0.

Then, Danny Blanton single-handedly took that resolution around Cleveland County and got just about every governmental entity to sign off in support of the resolution. Blanton then took the Resolution to Raleigh. The Bill passed overwhelmingly by a 100-10 vote in the NC House.

The NC Senate approval vote was all that was left to put this program in the bag. Which would have been a win for Danny Blanton’s efforts as well as a win for all those students who needed the vocational training at CCC in order to qualify for employment. A Win-Win for everybody. The Shelby Star ran a front-page article with Danny Blanton’s picture in regard to this big success.

But, it Ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

All those school board members who had been trying to shut down Danny Blanton for so long were totally jealous because of Blanton’s achievements. Which was basically a temporary fix for the school board’s long-time negligence. The school bo0ard majority then developed a devious plan of their own. A scheme to undermine Danny Blanton and, in turn, sabotage the future of a number of high school students. A devious, underhanded, cruel and most of all a secret scheme. Led by none other than two-faced Phillip “Bully” Glover. The very same Phillip Glover who had seconded the resolution motion in the first place.

Bully started a “whispering campaign” around Cleveland County that the Calendar Flexibility” plan being carried around by Danny Blanton was NOT what the School Board wanted. I discovered this several weeks ago. When Bully Glover went to a function in Boiling Springs telling people “If the School Board wanted calendar flexibility, the CCS Board Chairman and Superintendent would have asked for it.” Scroll on back and read for yourself.

Evidently Danny Blanton read my article closely (as I send advanced copies to all school board members) and did some checking himself. Of course, Danny Blanton found out for himself that my article was totally true. And that there was more to it as this was a developing planned scheme. By Bully and his other school board co-conspirators.

Note-All the rest of this article comes from the School board meeting on April 8, 2019.

Danny Blanton requested an item be placed on the school board agenda for the April 8, 2019 school board meeting for a calendar flexibility status update. AND to “out” school board member Phillip “Bully” Glover for his nefarious and dastardly actions. Glover’s actions, along with the other behind the scene actions of others were causing delays in the NC Senate vote on the Bill to allow calendar flexibility. School Board Chairman Shearra Miller, a Bully ally, refused to give Blanton’s update a place on the agenda.

But Blanton was persistent. OK then, I will just sign up for Public Participation and say what needs to be said. Oh no! thought the cagey Shearra Miller, all you have to do is make a motion to amend the agenda. Of course, Miller didn’t figure on anyone seconding Blanton’s motion. And if somebody did, the rest of the clowns on the school board would just vote no. And that would be the end of it. And Blanton, honest to the core, didn’t even think this pack of clowns on the school board would stoop so low, foolishly agreed to make the motion to amend the Agenda to allow him to speak.

Of course, what happened next should surprise no one. When the meeting rolled around, Danny Blanton did not bother to sign up for Public Participation before the meeting and later in the meeting made his motion to amend the agenda. School Board member Dena Green seconded the motion and the motion failed by a 7-2 vote. (Dena Green is now taking some heat from the clowns as retaliation for seconding Blanton’s motion. That is how this crowd works.) Then by the same margin the school board approved the Agenda as it was-without a vehicle for Blanton to update the board on the status of the bill to approve calendar flexibility for Cleveland County only. Or to out Phillip Glover as he needs to be outed. Outed in such a way that he will never-ever be elected to anything in Cleveland County or anywhere else.

Folks, the discussions during this travesty, as well as a tragedy, at the April 8th CCS School board meeting is shown on the CCS Video Broadcasts. I did not attempt to capture it all during this article. But here were parts that were not captured by the CCS video. I WILL cover that. Read on!!!

At the end of the meeting Danny Blanton attempted to have his say to the full board. But the board clowns immediately adjourned the meeting and immediately stopped the meeting recording. And then just walked off the stage. And left the meeting room and congregated elsewhere to pat themselves on the back for killing opportunities for CCS students to get the training for good jobs. Something they were gladly accepting for just the chance to shut down Danny Blanton. Of course, I was sitting there taking in all that had happened during the meeting and afterwards too.

And thinking, no wonder the clowns on the school board didn’t want Commissioners Doug Bridges and Deb Hardin to witness such an unbelievable fiasco as what had just transpired.

As I am writing this article, I am now apprised that the Calendar Flexibility Bill is not likely to be heard in the NC Senate. Basically, killing the Bill. And basically, condemning a number of students to an inadequate education. And how can a set of training courses, make-do to begin with, succeed with 30 days (six weeks) of total time lost from the git-go. All because the clowns on the school board won’t work together to do the right things for our children. But then falsely claim, with a straight face, that they do.

All in all, I am convinced of just one thing. The battle to make the school board (and other governmental agencies in Cleveland County) do what is right for Cleveland County citizens must now be fought, not at school board meetings, but at the ballot box in the 2020 Elections. All the while another 1,000 students graduating in 2019 will have to suffer for the sins of the School Board as well as sins of those voters and Commissioners who allowed the school board to do so much wrong for so long.

Folks, think about how you can do a better job than the five clowns on the school board who are up for election in 2020. That would be Shearra Miller, Roger Harris, Jo Boggs, Jeff Jones and Richard Hooker. Five new dedicated candidates can win election in 2020 and form a new majority that has the power of fixing most to all of what is wrong at CCS. If you can do better, file for the office. Everybody else, vote for these new candidates who are dedicated to educating our students instead of petty jealousies. When you are elected, Save CCS from itself and make your changes quickly.

Stay tunes for the rest of what happened at the April 8, 2019 school board meeting. More surprises are yet to come.