Richland 1’s ‘jacketgate’ controversy underscores parents’ frustrations with spending

Some Richland 1 parents are calling it “jacketgate.”

It’s the issue that came to light when Richland 1 school board member Beatrice King spoke up at a meeting and later wrote an op-ed in The State accusing the district of wastefully spending hundreds of dollars on customized windbreakers for board members.

“A $100 jacket? Come on,” King told The State after the Jan. 17 op-ed was posted. “We have teachers who can’t afford to pay for their classrooms.”

But the custom jackets — King estimates they cost $700 for the entire seven-member board — are just a symptom of larger frustrations some Richland 1 parents have with how the district spends its tax money.

“It’s not about the jacket,” said Julie Latham, whose two children graduated from Richland 1.

Rather, it’s about a district spending on unnecessary items while teachers can’t afford basic supplies, Latham said.

“Our teachers, our kids don’t have basic supplies,” Latham said.

What’s more, three-quarters of Richland 1 students are impoverished, according to the S.C. Department of Education Report Card.

Latham said she reached out to several, random teachers in the district and asked them what they needed for their classrooms. Those items included pencils, tissues, copy paper, Post-It notes, markers, masking tape and more, according to screenshots of five messages Latham provided to The State.

It’s not uncommon for teachers to pay for classroom supplies using their own money, and it’s something that is souring many teachers on the profession, according to a previous article from The State.

Teachers receive $275 from the state plus an additional $250 from Richland 1 each year to pay for supplies, Richland 1 spokeswoman Karen York said in an email.

“If any teachers do not have the supplies they need, they should bring that to the attention of their principals,” York said. “Principals have the ability to address any such needs.”

Richland 1 school board chair Jamie Devine has defended, in a rebuttal op-ed, the purchase of the jackets as a part of a larger branding strategy.

“It was a thoughtful way for us to show support for the district in a prudent manner while also promoting the district as our members travel throughout the district, state and nation,” Devine said in the op-ed.

The jackets, Devine said in the op-ed, were purchased using revenue from athletic gate receipts, and not taxpayer money.

The State has reached out to Devine.

Some parents, however, thought “jacketgate” distracted from larger issues at the district. Flynn Bowie, who is often critical of Richland 1’s administration, said in a letter to Devine that the jackets were a “trivial” fight when the district has larger financial issues.

“The money spent on the jackets could have been used to buy copy paper for a particular local school that’s been out for the past month or some other trivial and aggravating expenditure, but I’d rather stick to the big stuff,” such as money spent on advertising and marketing, Bowie wrote in the letter, which he posted to Facebook.

Jacketgate is not the first time Richland 1’s spending has drawn criticism in recent months. Just before approving this year’s budget, Richland 1 found out it needed to cut $8.8 million from this year’s budget. Shortly after that surfaced, The State exposed how Richland 1 made a $4.5 million budgeting mistake, which contributed to the budget woes.

The conflict underscores a rift in Richland 1’s school board, with King questioning spending and perhaps being joined by newcomer Jonthan Milling, who won a Dec. 31 special election after campaigning on a platform of bringing more transparency to the Richland 1 board.

Latham credits Milling’s transparency-focused campaign, and his previous, successful lawsuit against Richland 1 for a Freedom of Information Act violation, as reasons why Milling won the at-large election with 60% of the vote.

For his part, Milling said he opposes spending district money on “gifts” for board members and notes the jackets were approved before he took office.

In Devine’s op-ed, he said King and many other board members have received gifts from the school board, such as “polo shirts, umbrellas, mugs, totes and other branded items,” Devine wrote.

School board members often receive gifts from the districts for which they work — and sometimes from companies seeking district money — according to a previous article from The State and S.C. Ethics Commission records.

Between 2013 and 2018, King reported receiving $293 worth of gifts from Richland 1 and the schools within the district, records show. Aside from the jacket, King’s costliest gift from Richland 1 was two shirts and a hat worth $40.

The only other actively serving board member who reported receiving gifts was Cheryl Harris, who received $25 worth of stationery in 2013.

“The key word you said was ‘report,’” King said, noting the ethics commission does not require her to report some of the items she reported, such as a $5 mug from Forest Heights Elementary.

“I wanted to have a list so people could see we get stuff,” King said.

King described her concerns with “Jacketgate” as more “symbolic” of a mentality than a serious threat to Richland 1’s $337 million budget.

“I want to get past this and move on,” King said.

Isabella Cueto contributed to this report.