Richland 2 denies superintendent charged parent, no charges filed in school board incident

Richland District 2 on Thursday denied that Superintendent Baron Davis had charged toward a parent during Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

The district released its first in-depth statement regarding an incident at the board meeting. The incident, which resulted in two police reports and two members of the public being removed from the meeting, occurred between Davis and one of the members of the public. The statement does not name the two members of the public.

However, Gary Ginn, a frequent district critic, accused Davis of trying to charge toward him in an aggressive manner at the meeting. Ginn said he filed a report with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department about the incident after the Tuesday meeting.

The sheriff’s department said Thursday no charges would be filed in connection to the incident.

The Richland 2 statement disputes the assertion Davis was acting aggressively or instigated a conflict with the parent.

The incident began when Gus Philpott, a frequent critic of Richland 2’s administration, introduced himself to Davis’ wife, Pamela, who was sitting near him, according to Ginn, Philpott, and the district’s statement. While the district’s statement does not identify those who were told to leave, Ginn and Philpott told The State they were the two men.

Pamela Davis, a Richland 2 teacher, responded to Philpott by saying she knew who he was and didn’t want to talk to him. Philpott told The State he did not know who Pamela Davis was when he introduced himself.

“He refused to respect her boundary and continued trying to engage her,” according to the district’s statement.

District security then told Philpott to move seats, which he did, according to the statement, Philpott and Ginn.

The district says Philpott later tried to talk with Pamela Davis, and a second member of the public also joined the conversation.

Ginn said he was that second member of the public and was reacting to Pamela Davis swearing at a student who was attending the meeting. The 14-year-old student told The State that Pamela Davis swore at him after the student said she was acting “childish” for rebuffing Philpott’s introduction.

The State has reached out to Pamela Davis.

Richland 2 said Philpott refused district security’s commands for him to sit down. Philpott was then escorted out of the meeting and told he could not return or else he would be considered trespassing. Philpott said he was not told how long he would be banned from meetings.

Philpott said his behavior was not problematic and he was given no reason for being kicked out of the meeting.

“The core four and the superintendent want to trim us from the audience,” Philpott said, referencing a group of four board members who often share similar views during meetings.

After Philpott was removed from the meeting, Baron Davis had heard his wife had been “harassed,” according to Richland 2’s statement.

“With the past inappropriate behavior of these individuals in mind, he became concerned for the safety of Mrs. Davis and others in the room,” Richland 2’s statement said.

Davis got between his wife and Ginn and told Ginn to ask him any questions he might have, according to the statement and Ginn.

Richland 2’s statement said Ginn “took a step forward and responded loudly,” causing Richland 2 security to get between the two.

Ginn, however, said Baron Davis was “coming at me like a freight train,” and security had to hold Davis back.

Others who saw the incident provided varying accounts of what happened. Monica Scott, a Richland 2 school board member, told The State security was pulling Davis away from Ginn, but that Davis was not “charging” at Ginn.

Teresa Holmes, Richland 2’s board chair, said while she only saw part of the incident, “Dr. Davis charged at no one.”

After the incident, Ginn was escorted out of the building.

The two people removed from the meeting “have a history of outbursts, disruptive and adversarial behavior at and following school board meetings. One individual also has a documented history of sending emails of a threatening nature to Dr. Davis,” Richland 2 said in the statement.