Richland 2 school board member accused of saying ‘F— you’ to protester in video

Two parents are accusing a Richland 2 school board member of saying “F— you!” to a protester following a school board meeting.

Meggan Keith and Kenneth Keith were standing outside the Richland 2 Institute of Innovation, where school board meetings are often held, on Oct. 12 to protest the district’s mask mandate. Following the school board meeting, Kenneth Keith said, he told school board member Cheryl Caution-Parker “you should be ashamed of yourself,” echoing language he said the school board member used during the meeting.

After that comment, someone on the other side of the camera can be heard in the video saying “F— you!”

The camera was pointed selfie-stye at Meggan Keith, and the school board members were out of view. Though Meggan initially thought it was Board Chair Teresa Holmes who used the profanity — Holmes was also walking out of the meeting at that time — Kenneth Keith corrected her, saying it was Caution-Parker who used the profanity, according to the video.

“Several (school board) members last Tuesday made it a point to talk about how civil the public was and how they appreciate their ability to keep calm,” Meggan Keith said. “It’s never been the public that’s been the problem. It’s been the board members.”

In the last several months, Richland 2’s school board has seen meetings devolve into chaos. During a September meeting, three board members walked out, causing the meeting to end because not enough members remained to have a quorum. The walkout exposed a simmering rift on the board between the board’s leadership and the three members who walked out. Tensions continued as more recent board meetings have devolved into screaming matches between board members.

The State reached out to Caution-Parker for comment.

The Keiths are former Richland 2 parents who moved their children outside the district because of the district’s mask mandate and “the hot mess the district is,” Meggan Keith said.

Richland 2 parent Melissa McFadden also told The State she saw Caution-Parker say “F— you” to Kenneth Keith. While Meggan Keith initially mistook who used the profanity, McFadden said she clearly saw Caution-Parker say it.

“I literally saw it come out of her mouth,” McFadden said. McFadden said she is not related to the school board member Lashonda McFadden.

While school boards throughout the country have drawn increased attention from community members, and Richland 2 meetings in particular have devolved into shouting matches, the problem is the board members, not the parents, McFadden said.

“No parents did anything threatening to them, and that should be clear,” McFadden said. “They were arguing among themselves.”