Tag: transgender bathrooms

David Cox and Shanda Allen for Horry County School Board

When Horry County voters go to the polls for primary balloting next week, two candidates for Horry County School Board, David Cox and Shanda Allen, stand out in their respective races.

David Cox is currently the school board vice chairman. He has represented Horry County District 9 for two terms. Having recently moved to Market Common, Cox is a candidate for the Horry County School Board District 4 Republican nomination.

Cox has gained valuable experience during his two terms on the school board. He wants to bring that experience to the citizens of District 4.

“Four out of the five new schools we contracted for last fall will be built in District 4,” Cox said. “I believe my experience on the school board can be valuable to the parents and students of District 4 as it goes through significant change in the next 12-18 months.”

Cox is a fiscal conservative who has helped hold the line on tax rates for Horry County residents. During his eight years of service, the school board has reduced tax rates by 18 mils while maintaining the building and maintenance requirements of one of the fastest growing school districts in the state.

In addition, Horry County high school students have continued to increase their SAT and ACT scores, as well as earning tens of millions of dollars of scholarships to colleges.

“I am proud of my eight years of service on the school board and hope the citizens of District Four will vote to allow me to continue to bring my experience to board decisions for the benefit of all the students in Horry County,” Cox said.

Shanda Allen brings considerable experience to her candidacy for the Horry County School Board District 11 Republican nomination.

She was a substitute teacher in Horry County Schools for 10 years, giving her significant knowledge of the classroom needs of both teachers and students.

Continue Reading →

USDOJ Auditing Horry County Schools

Grand Strand Daily has learned that the US Department of Justice is sending an auditor to Horry County next week to audit the student to teacher ratios in English as a Second Language courses in Horry County Schools.

Why is the Department of Justice auditing student to teacher ratios in an education course?

This reporter spent nearly an hour on the phone with various individuals at the USDOJ headquarters trying to get an answer to that question.

I did find out that the audit is coming through the Civil Rights Division and I did briefly speak to an attorney, described to me as “on the case,” but the attorney would not answer any questions.

(How many times have you heard representatives of federal, state or local government decrying the supposed inaccuracies of stories in the media? What they never tell you is our collective governments do their very best to keep everything they are doing secret from the media.)

Failing to get an answer to my question from DOJ representatives and considering the Civil Rights Division is involved, I am going to hazard a guess the upcoming audit has more behind it than just English as a Second Language student to teacher ratios.

My guess is it also includes the fact that Horry County Schools is at least on the periphery of the transgender bathroom use issue that has the USDOJ so active in Virginia and North Carolina at this time.

Is this a warning shot across the bow that the USDOJ is looking closely at Horry County Schools?

This strikes me as a huge overreach by the federal government.

Consider this, tax dollars paid partially by citizens of Horry County are being used to audit courses in Horry County public schools, paid for by more tax dollars from citizens of Horry County, to determine whether the civil rights of illegal immigrants, many of whom pay no taxes at all, are being violated?

Continue Reading →

The Social Issue of Transgender Bathrooms

Any time a controversial social issue comes to the fore, it brings along with it a variety of opinions that become so heated that rational thought becomes blurred.

The question of transgender bathrooms in Horry County schools has exploded into such an issue. The debate on this potent issue includes public fears, religious morality and political involvement.

At one time, this type of dilemma would not have been on anyone’s agenda as to many it is a non-issue. However, right now it is a hot topic as the controversial transgender bathroom is getting public and media attention no one thought possible.

Two days ago the Horry County School Board passed a resolution to say the administration would follow the law as it now stands (allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify or a private bathroom, whichever they prefer).

The school board also passed a motion to file an amicus curiae brief in support of the Gloucester (VA) County School Board, the agency in the middle of a lawsuit on transgender bathroom use.

Parents of non-transgender students continue to question the morality and safety of the decision. Parents of transgender students worry about the safety and stigmatization of their children.

For the reader…If you want to be a compassionate individual, try having a person’s anxiety who has a transgender body and their torment. Imagine the turmoil of how they feel trapped within a body they don’t want to have, but are not able to fully be the one they want to be. It is a self-torturing conundrum to have, trying to break loose from a feeling of frustration to one of freedom. For them it must be a joy to be able to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.

On the other side of the coin, is the moral consciousness of people who believe such a decision is immoral and sacrilegious to the core of morality. To them, crossing over from one gender to another is blasphemous.

Continue Reading →