‘Unruly’, ‘outbursts’, ‘bullying’: SC school board members fight over censure
The Richland School District 2 board voted to censure a longtime member Monica Elkins-Scott for “outbursts” at public meetings, including behavior that has been described as “threatening” by her colleagues.
The board discussed “legal advice regarding board member conduct” behind closed doors on Thursday. Elkins-Scott received a letter from chairwoman Angela Nash earlier that day informing her that said the board intended to “address concerns” regarding her conduct.
During the public meeting, board member Joe Trapp made the motion to censure Elkins-Scott for violations of board policy, including:
- Failing to maintain confidentiality of matters discussed during executive session
- Failing to refer employee concerns and complaints to the Superintendent for investigation and appropriate action
- Failing to abstain from individual counsel and action in interacting with district employees
- Breach of the superintendent’s contract which specifies the duties of trustees in interacting with employees in the District
- Making threats against other trustees in violation of the duty to work harmoniously with each other
- Disrupting the orderly proceeding of board meetings by speaking out of turn and not yielding to directions from the chair
“This is just hilarious to me,” Elkins-Scott said before the vote. “I just think you guys are such a joke.”
Nash called a point of order for decorum. Elkins-Scott and Nash spoke over one another before Nash called a brief recess.
Nash called Elkins-Scott’s behavior in some meetings “absolutely unruly.”
“This has been a repeated thing, and this has been a longstanding situation that you have had with the community of outbursts in these meetings whenever you have felt necessary to call board members names,” Nash said to Elkins-Scott during the meeting. “And when it comes down to goverance, the first people we’re supposed to be able to govern is ourselves.”
In a 5-2 vote, the motion passed. Elkins-Scott herself, as well as board member Gary Dennis, voted against the motion. Censure does not prevent Elkins-Scott from speaking or voting at meetings, but signals the board’s disapproval of her behavior.
Following the meeting, Elkins-Scott told reporters the board’s allegations against her were “completely untrue.” She said she is going to sue the Richland 2 school board members who voted to censure her for defamation of character.
“The board has always tried to silence my voice,” said Elkins-Scott, who has been on the board since 2012.
The censure stems from the school board’s March 24 meeting, members got into an argument over Richland 2 job cuts, spurred by Elkins-Scott’s comments. At one point Elkins-Scott called a fellow board member a “coward” and later said “you can stop me here at the mic, but you can’t stop me outside.”
Nash told reporters that it was interpreted as a threat.
“Do we not hold people — board members — to a higher standard than we hold our students?” Nash asked reporters. “If we had students who were doing that, we would call that what? Bullying.”
This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 9:57 AM.
