Article 4 – Disgusting School Board Leadership on Parade!!! At September 28, 2020 School Board Meeting!! 2020 School Board Election–On-line Forum— Report and fact checking by Robert A. Williams

Editor’s Note: I have two basic and core beliefs about politicians and political candidates.
1. If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the PROBLEM!
2. It is not what you say that counts, it is what YOU DO!!
The September 28th 2020 School Board meeting and the following September 29 2020 School Board Candidate forum told the tale on Incumbent school board candidates Shearra Miller, Richard Hooker and Roger Harris. Not only should they drop out of their 2020 campaign for re-election, they should resign immediately from the School Board.

All governmental agencies including the Cleveland County School Board are required by state law to adopt “rules of order” under which they conduct their business during their “official” business meetings. State law also requires the School Board and everybody else to hold their business meetings such that are open to the public and a fair and accurate accounting (minutes) of the meetings are kept and recorded for public inspection. Meetings behind closed doors are expressly forbidden by law except for a very few special situations that do not apply to anything in this report. The September 28, 2020 School Board meeting broke just about every rule in the book and laws on the books And, then some.

The Cleveland County School Board selected Shearra Miller as their Chairman. Richard Hooker as their Vice Chairman. The Chairman of the Board officiates over Board meetings. When the Chairman is absent, the Vice Chairman runs the meeting. For the September 28, 2020 school board meeting, all members were actually present, except for Medical Doctor Jack Hamrick who was on the line for the meeting.

On September 28, 2020 at 6:00 PM Chairman Shearra Miler called the School Board meeting to order. Followed by a 90 second prayer by a Christian Pastor. Followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the US Flag. Four minutes into the meeting and everything was hunky-dory.

Next, the Chairman recognized guests. Five minutes into the meeting and things were still hunky-dory.

But in that six that sixth minute, the unethical acts and shenanigans began.

That next order of business was to Adopt the Meeting Agenda. Normally a formality with no discussion, but a vote to approve the agenda is required. This time Chairman Shearra Miller states that there were several people signed up for “Public Participation” and that she wanted to amend the agenda to move Public Participation from the end of business to the first item of business. I immediately smelled a rat. Little did I know right then, exactly how big it really was. But I was paying full attention, knowing the devil is in the details.

The North Carolina General Assembly has adopted Public Policy that governmental business will be conducted in such a way that the public will have the opportunity to watch their elected and appointed representatives do the business of the public. They also passed laws that require the agencies to do the people’s business in a public arena. Just about as soon as the General Assembly passed these public meeting laws, the various governmental agencies began working out ways to get around these laws. Cleveland County Schools, as well as the Cleveland County Commissioners and the Cleveland Community College Board of Trustees joined right in there too. Working behind closed doors was easier to do than having to answer questions from the public. “Collaborating” in little groups somewhere behind closed doors was much easier for them. Working in the “dark” also makes it much safer for crooks, working their secret deals, to operate. Cockroaches have evolved and adopted that same reasoning.

Public Participation is, by law, established for the purpose of allowing the public to have a say in how Cleveland County Schools does business. For years the CCS School Board meetings had public participation at the beginning of their meetings. This proved embarrassing for the School Board when members of the public brought their complaints to the School Board in the public participation part of the agenda and all the parents who had come to the meeting to watch the School Board give out awards to students were hearing the complaints. As the awards were mostly a Public Relations stunt to begin with, the School Board wanted to continue with that. So, the school board took action to make sure the parents who were there just to see their child get an award and then leave the meeting would not hear about any complaints. They moved the public participation to the end of the meetings. The school board were just as smart as the cockroaches in that respect.

So, moving public participation back to the start of a school board meeting was unusual. And out of sync with their MO. Something sinister had to be on the way and I just knew it.

I knew other things too. When the public participation got moved to the front of the agenda, the last business item of the agenda became “COVID-19 and reopening updates.” The Agenda Item Details for the “COVID-19 and reopening updates” listed the item as just “discussion” and “information.” NOT a PEEP about a vote on anything.

I also knew that the North Carolina Teachers Union that Shearra Miller, Richard Hooker and Roger Harris, along with Supt. Fisher are hooked up with and Governor Roy Cooper and the Democrat Party don’t want schools to start schools until after the 2020 Elections so President Trump’s good economy will not be on people’s minds. Little did I know that what played out at the school board meeting indicated that Miller, Hooker, Harris clearly did NOT have the Children’s best interest at heart, but dirty politics. Read on.

The first speaker during the public participation was Dr. Peggy Borders. Dr. Borders stated she was a parent, physician, citizens and a CCS graduate. That she was concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic and urged the School Board to NOT open up schools yet.

What I did NOT yet know yet, was that a major outbreak of COVID-19 positive tests had developed at Crest High School and certain ones on the School Board knew it, but were sacrificing the safety of children, teachers and staff at CHS in order to hush-up the news of the outbreak until after the 2020 School Board Forum at Cleveland Community College.

Now, for brevity, I will skip over the other speakers and go straight to the end of the meeting regarding COVID-19 and reopening updates.

During the COVID-19 update, Supt. Stephen Fisher went on and on and on about a lot of “stuff” and how hard the CCS staff was working. I will fast forward through that also. At the latter part of that, Fisher brought up Tiffany Hansen of the Cleveland County Health Department to inform the School Board and the public that COVID-19 positive test results had come in that were way over the state and area averages and that the reason for the spike in positive tests were unknown.

Also, folks, remember that a vote for re-opening schools at this September 28, 2020 was NOT on the agenda.

Near the end of the COVID-19 and reopening discussion, Board member Danny Blanton asked the Tiffany Hansen of the Cleveland County Health Department for a recommendation on whether or not to reopen Cleveland County Schools. Ms. Hansen (seemingly strange at the time) went around and round with statements that were NOT related to Mr. Blanton’s question. Then Mr. Blanton basically asked that same question, again in slightly different words-what is the Health Departments recommendation to the School Board on whether or NOT to reopen schools. This time Ms. Hansen stated “That decision is up to the School Board” Again refusing to state a recommendation-one way or another.

My smell of a rat increased another 100%.

Then, to back up Danny Blanton’s previously stated contention that warned the entire School Board that if they voted to reopen schools without recommendations from Health experts, they would be liable for lawsuits=Danny Blanton made a Motion to wait until October 26, 2020 to make the decision to reopen Cleveland County Schools. Blanton stated that the Motion was to protect the health of our children, teachers and staff until health officials would make their recommendations. Dr. Jack Hamrick seconded Danny Blanton’s Motion.

Blanton’s motion set off 90 minutes of discussion, disagreements, second guessing and more second guessing about when to talk and when to re-open. With me and most everybody else in the audience not knowing about the Crest COVID-19 outbreak, about 80% of the discussion seemed to want the board to discuss reopening right before the start of early voting and then do something right before the November 3rd Election Day. Strangely Shearra Miller, Phillip Glover, Richard Hooker, Jo Boggs and Roger Harris, the nucleus of the anti-Danny Blanton faction on the School Board-minus Coleman Hunt went on and on among themselves about the dates of discussion and voting to reopen the schools. It was like most of this contingency of School Board members had gotten together amongst themselves and left Coleman Hunt out of the discussion. I have to note that Coleman Hunt’s MO is a staunch supporter of the Anti-Danny Blanton contingency. Danny Blanton was calling for a vote on his motion, made and seconded. But the total lack of leadership on the CCS School Board was totally exposed when everybody did not have a secret and pre-decided upon narrative. Mr. Banton called for a vote again and Phillip “Bully” Glover made a “Substitute Motion to discuss reopen on October 12th and to actually reopen on October 26th. And then everybody started going over and over the same things they had already gone over and over.

Everybody in the audience was also stunned by the spectacle of a leaderless school board gone wild. A striking display of a lack of leadership on the School Board. Dr. Peggy Borders, who happened to be sitting beside me on my right side was leaning forward and listening closely to every word. On my left side a person who I thought was Star Reporter Dustin George was doing something feverishly on a smartphone or small electronic notepad apparently trying to capture what was going on. I could hear a few gasps and groins from behind me, apparently also dismayed at what was happening and also what was not happening. As for myself, this hour and a half of total chaos on the school board disgusted me. I also was puzzled and even baffled by Tiffany Hansen of the CC Health Department refusing to answer Blanton’s pertinent questions. I started to jus get up and leave three or four times before it was all over.

Finally, Shearra Miller called for a vote on Bully Glover’s substitute motion. Danny Blanton voted NO because his motion was not voted on. Roger Harris voted NO because, in my opinion, he is the most devious of the incumbent candidates running for reelection and he wanted to be able to deny voting for a motion to restart schools. Glover’s Motion passed 7-2.

The next item was to adjourned the meeting and they did adjourn the meeting without delay.

But the action was not over. Bully Glover made a bee-line for Dr. Peggy Borders saying “Oh, I am so glad you were able to come (to the meeting). I knew right then that Glover had asked her to come to the meeting and also arranged for the public participation to be moved to the start of the meeting and for Dr. Borders to speak first-probably hoping she would leave the meeting after she spoke and before the ensuing chaos. Then I turned and saw Commissioners Doug Bridges and Deb Hardin. I asked Bridges why HIS Health Department refused to give the School Board a recommendation on restarting the schools. Kerri Melton, Assistant County Manager war right there too. I asked her why she was there? She said she was there to support the Health Department person Tiffany Hansen. School Board Candidate Ron Humphries was flabbergasted by what he just witnessed. School Bord Candidate Samantha Davis had already left before I got to speak to her. Obviously wondering what had just happened and why.

And, now I sit here writing this article, finally knowing about the COVID-10 outbreak at Crest High School and figuring out the pieces of the puzzle.

To the best of my belief and knowledge, I have to conclude that Shearra Miller, Richard Hooker, Roger Harris and Bully Glover knew about the outbreak at Crest and were covering up-at least until after the 2020 School Board forum the next night was over. And surely trying to lie out of this whole set of circumstances right before their re-election vote.

As for me, my recommendations as noted below are proved correct one more time.
I recommend voting just like this: