Richland 02 board accepts Hope City charter withdrawal, denies one student appeal and approves multiple personnel actions

The Richland School Board of Trustees on April 8 accepted the withdrawal of the Hope City charter school application, denied a student discipline appeal and approved several personnel and admissions items during its regular meeting.

The board voted 7-0 to accept the planning committee’s withdrawal of the Hope City Charter School application after the planning committee told the district on April 4 it would submit a new application in a later cycle. "The planning committee formally requested the board not review and rule on its charter school application and withdrew the application while indicating the planning committee's intent to submit a new charter school application at a later date," said Angela Nash, board member, when she moved the motion.

Why it matters: The board’s acceptance leaves the February 2025 application withdrawn and not approved; the planning committee signaled intent to refile in the next application cycle. The board recorded unanimous votes for multiple executive-session items before returning to public session.

Key actions and outcomes

- Hope City Charter School application — Motion by Angela Nash; second by Mr. Dennis. Board accepted the planning committee’s withdrawal of the Feb. 10, 2025 application; vote 7 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions. The board acknowledged the planning committee’s intent to refile in 2026.

- Student appeal (student #1) — Motion by Miss Washington; second by Angela Nash. The board voted to deny the appeal; tally announced as 5 yes, 2 no, 0 abstentions. The motion passed.

- Student admission requests to the district adult education program (students 1 and 2) — Motion by Ms. Williams; second by Angela Nash. Approved 7 yes, 0 no.

- Employment recommendations and certified releases — Motion by Mr. Trapp; second by Angela Nash. Approved as presented; vote recorded 7 yes, 0 no.

- Ratification of professional recommendations and administrative multi‑year recommendations — Several motions moved by Mr. Dennis and seconded by Angela Nash to ratify specific employee recommendations for the 2025–26 school year and to remove or accept particular employee numbers as listed in the motions. Where recorded, multiple ratification votes passed; several motions showed tallies of 6 yes, 1 abstention or 7 yes, 0 abstentions depending on the motion. The board authorized each ratification as presented.

Board procedure and context

The board first approved the evening’s agenda (moved by Mr. Dennis; second by Angela Nash) by a 7-0 vote before briefly convening an executive session for legal advice, pending contractual negotiations (including Hope City), student appeals, personnel and related items. After the executive session the board returned to public session and took the votes listed above.

What the board recorded

Motions and vote tallies reported in the meeting were read into the record by the chair or vice chair and announced publicly. Where the transcript recorded only a tally (for example "7 yes, 0 no" or "6 yes, 1 abstention"), the board did not name individual board members’ votes in the public roll call portion of the minutes presented at the meeting.

Ending

Board members said no further discussion was requested after votes were announced. The meeting continued with a report on alternative programs and concluded with routine board and superintendent comments.

Votes provenance (selected excerpts from the meeting transcript):

"The board will now vote on items discussed in executive session 7.07 0.1, Hope City Charter School application. May I please have a motion regarding the Hope City Charter School application." — transcript excerpt associated with the charter withdrawal motion.

"The vote is 5 yes, 2 no, and 0 not present. The motion passes." — transcript excerpt associated with the student appeal vote.

"The vote is 7 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions." — transcript excerpt (used repeatedly for unanimous votes).