The Broken Bunch: The money behind the school board

In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t cost that much for conservatives to take over the Charleston County school board.

Donations to the five candidates in the freshly elected Moms For Liberty-backed majority raised $127,444.94, according to an analysis of campaign disclosure reports on file with the S.C. State Ethics Commission.

“They got off cheap,” said one Charleston businessman who gave $500 to a winning candidate. “That’s just not a lot of money. … There’s been a heckuva lot more money spent in the past on unsuccessful school board elections.”

By an odd twist of electioneering, all nine seats on the school board were up for grabs last November as the county moved to single-member election districts. The then year-old Charleston chapter of the right-wing activist group Moms for Liberty (M4L) seized the opportunity to endorse several candidates. Five running for the board won and immediately became the governing majority. Since then, dysfunction in meetings, enmity between trustees and chaos among members of the public concerned about what’s happening to education here has soared exponentially.

The money chase

One of the M4L candidates, downtown Charleston’s Pam McKinney, now chairs the school board. She raised just under $97,500 from South of Broad friends and a broad array of conservative politicos, such as former Gov. Nikki Haley, S.C. Sen. Chip Campsen and S.C. Rep. Mark Smith. Sixty-one of her donors gave the maximum of $1,000; five gave $501 to $999; and 30 others gave $500 each.

But the other four M4L trustees gathered three times less combined — a total of $29,960 in campaign contributions. That’s an average of $7,490 each, ranging from $2,962 for trustee Keith Grybowski of Mount Pleasant to $12,890 for board member Leah Whatley of West Ashley.

Their total is less than just under $50,000 raised by the four other non-M4L candidates now in the board’s minority. Trustees Courtney Waters of North Charleston and Daron Lee Calhoun II of West Ashley raised less than $3,000 each. Two others — Darlene Dunmeyer-Roberson of Hollywood and Carol Tempel of James Island — raised just over $21,000 from about 200 donors each.

Continuing dissension

Watching or attending a school board meeting these days is an exercise in brain-exploding frustration. And since the election, the tension hasn’t stopped.

One past school board member, Erica Cokley, dropped out of a reelection bid in October 2022, but there were problems with the process so she remained on the ballot — and won! When she didn’t accept her seat, a new election came in February, which Calhoun won.

By that time, there was a fracas over the school district’s curriculum. Then there was the struggle to get a new superintendent as well as dustups with the outgoing superintendent. When somebody leaked the names of two finalists — and they then dropped from consideration — the board offered the top job to the one remaining candidate, Dr. Eric Gallien. He took over in July.

Less than three months later, the tide turned. The majority put Gallien on administrative leave after a complaint kept secret from the public that reportedly relates to an employee matter. Then days ago, Gallien sued the board, alleging it “seriously interfered” with him being able to manage the district, which serves more than 49,000 students.

Meanwhile, citizen outrage grew. The minority block of trustees held a press conference imploring the majority to rescind Gallien’s suspension. State representatives chimed in that the state needed to investigate. GOP Gov. Henry McMaster and S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson said it looked like the board wasn’t following state open meetings laws. State lawmakers turned to the state to look into the mess.

And in drama that Hollywood can’t dream, education advocates demanded that one M4L board member, vice-chair Carlotte Bailey, resign after homophobic comments surfaced.

Would you give again?

In the list of contributors that M4L-backed candidates disclosed, it’s hard to find boatloads of donations from the group that spouts “parental rights” as its mantra. Three current officers of the Charleston County chapter, for example, gave a total of $400 to Bailey during the same week in October 2022.

But because the organization is secretive and reportedly screens people who want to attend meetings, the endorsements of eight school board candidates, including the five who won, telegraphed who supporters should back at the polls and with donations.

Many of the people who gave to the M4L-backed bloc, particularly to McKinney, appear to have given for personal reasons based on prior relationships.

Interviews with eight donors, all of whom would not talk for attribution, highlighted how friendships, not a specific political agenda, drove donations.

For example, three Charleston-area businessmen noted how they gave some money to McKinney’s campaign because of longtime family connections. But now they’re disturbed what’s happening with the school board — and with the link to Moms For Liberty.

“Under the present set of circumstances, were she running again, I do think I would have to reconsider supporting her even modestly, because doing so would imply that I endorse the actions she has taken. And I do not,” one said.

Another spoke more emphatically: “I categorically would not have given money if I’d known she was part of Moms for Liberty and will give money to whoever opposed them next cycle.”

A third noted, “I wouldn’t give any of them any money because the disruption they’re causing in the education system doesn’t appear to be helping anyone, the least of which are the children.”
But one person who has undergone public scrutiny would give again.

“My contribution was to a friend who was running for public office,” he said. “But from a 50,000-foot view without a lot of details, they need to get their act together as a group.”

Who is Moms for Liberty?

The Charleston chapter of the conservative “parental rights” group Moms for Liberty got started about two years ago just months after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Among those who reportedly helped to organize the local chapter — one of more than 275 nationwide, was a Proud Boy radical with ties to Republican politics at state and national levels.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in Alabama describes the national Moms for Liberty movement as an anti-government “extremist group” founded in 2021 by former Florida school board members.

“Moms for Liberty and its nationwide chapters combat what they consider the ‘woke indoctrination’ of children by advocating for book bans in school libraries and endorsing candidates for public office that align with the group’s views,” according to the SPLC. “They also use their multiple social media platforms to target teachers and school officials, advocate for the abolition of the Department of Education, advance a conspiracy propaganda, and spread hateful imagery and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community.”

A new Brookings study estimates membership of the group at about 103,000 members in 278 chapters across 45 states. “Clusters of chapters appear in Florida, the Northeast (from DC to New York) and the Carolinas,” it said. According to a national M4L website, South Carolina has chapters in 20 counties.

The Brookings study concludes that M4L is a powerful new player in local education politics across the nation that provides a conservative counterweight to teachers’ unions.

“They may be effective at placing conservative policies on the agenda through their activity at school board meetings, potentially increasing book bans, curriculum restrictions and more. On the other hand, Moms for Liberty is such a polarizing organization, with such an extreme set of positions, that its long-term impact remains uncertain.”

Tara Wood, chair of M4L’s Charleston chapter, did not grant an interview request, but provided the following statement: “Schools answer to the elected school board and the school board answers to the voters. This is our American system of accountability. No one knows better how to educate a child than a parent, and the parents spoke loud and clear last November. That is democracy.”

In October 2022 in the Charleston Mercury, she wrote about the county’s “chance in lifetime” to take over the school board after endorsing eight candidates.

She wrote M4L “vetted candidates we believe will honor parental authority, watch over our tax dollars, accept excellent curricula and wholesome library books, have effective safety and discipline policies, communicate with parents and teachers, hold board meetings at a time parents can attend and be transparent in their agendas, their spending and their votes.”

FOLLOW THE MONEY
High-dollar donations to the CCSD Board of Trustees

Candidates in the county’s non-partisan school board races can receive up to $1,000 in the general election from donors. Below is a list of top donors, by winning candidate, in the November 2022 general election. The spelling of names is published as they appear on campaign disclosure reports filed with the S.C. State Ethics Commission.

Candidates who have been identified as aligned with Moms for Liberty are marked with an asterisk. For a complete list of donors, visit the Public Reporting Ethics Commission’s website (ethics.sc.gov).

District 1: Keith Grybowski
Total raised $2,962.00
Total donations 18

$1,000 donors:
Rennee Brockington, Charleston.
$501-$999 donors: n/a
$500 donors: n/a

District 2: Ed Kelley
Total raised $5,845.00
Total donations 15

$1,000 donors:
George Waters, Mount Pleasant; Kristi Scottaline, North Charleston; Kelley Deaton, North Charleston.
$501-$999 donors: n/a
$500 donors:
Future Prosperity Alliance, Columbia; Adam Elling, Mount Pleasant; Jacob Rabb House LLC, Charleston.

District 3: Pam McKinney
Total raised $97,484.94
Total donations 218

$1,000 donors:
Pamela M. McKinney, Charleston; Pat McKinney, Charleston; Henry Fishburne Jr., Charleston; Croghan’s Jewel Box, Charleston; Renee Brockinton, Charleston; Locked On Strategies LLC, Greenville; Sally M. Hall, Greenville; Robert T. Hall, Greenville; The McKinney Company, Inc., Charleston; Dan Grover, Marvin, N.C.; Robin Gramling, Charleston; Ben Gramling, Charleston; Connie Dewberry, Charlotte, N.C.; Darryl Dewberry, Charlotte, N.C.; Deborah Koch, Charleston; Nancy H. Barker, Kiawah Island; Harry Gregorie, Charleston; Ted Legasy, Johns Island; George Green III, Charleston; Lewis Driskell, Johns Island; Reid Banks, Mount Pleasant; Jennifer Banks, Mount Pleasant; Karyn Lee (Hewitt), Mount Pleasant; William Hewitt, Mount Plesasant; Michael Haley, Johns Island; Nikki Haley, Johns Island; John Rivers Jr., Charleston; Cary Chastain, Charleston; Chip Campsen, Charleston; Bristol Holdings LLC, Charleston; John Boatwright Jr., Charleston; Barbara Boatwright, Charleston; Whitten Meares, North Charleston; Louis Rainero Jr., Daniel Island; Lynda Gilkeson, Charleston; Philip P. Vineyard, Charleston; Luther P. Cochrane, Charleston; Margaret S. Cochrane, Charleston; Gary & Susan DiCamillo, Charleston; Neil C. Robinson, Charleston; Baker Motor Company of Charleston, Charleston; VCKH’s Magnolia LLC, Charleston; Robert S. Small, Isle of Palms; Anthony McAlister, Mount Pleasant; Charles & Elizabeth Sullivan, Charleston; Thomas Hash, Mount Pleasant; Mary E. Collins, Johns Island; Robert Collins, Johns Island; Roger Jones, Charleston; Teresa Jones, Charleston; Companion Associates Inc., Charleston; Jim Thompson, Charleston; Marshal D. Mize, Signal Mountain, Tenn.; William B. Ellison, Mount Pleasant; Preston J. Young, Charleston; John Warren, Greenville; Courtney Warren, Greenville; Warren Capital LLC, Greenville; Renee Anderson, Charleston; Mark Smith, Charleston.
$501-$999 donors:
John H. Hofford, Charleston; Susan Ford, Charleston; Doyce Boesch, Johns Island; Tommy Baker, Charleston; Victoria Baker, Charleston; Harvey Brockinton, Charleston.
$500 donors:
Sally Rhett, Charleston; Chad Walldorf, Sullivans Island; Cameron W. Stuhr, Charleston; Todd Garrett, Charleston; Kenneth Barker, Kiawah Island; Chris Fraser, Travelers Rest; Justin Ferira, Charleston; Kim Incampo, Johns Island; Ernie Ravenel, Charleston; Kaycee and John Poston, Charleston; Frank & Blanche Brumley, Charleston; Margaret Donaldson Interiors LLC, Charleston; Greg & Danielle Thompson, Sumter; Louis Costa II, Charleston; Greg Padgett, North Charleston; Todd Barnes, Charleston; Lynn Robers, Charleston; Paul Lieber, Johns Island; Kirk Young, Charleston; Sandra & George Fennell, North Charleston; David Morgan, Mount Pleasant; Dixon Dickens, Wilmington, N.C.; Baker Buick GMC Cadillac, Charleston; Buddy & Tammy Darby, Charleston; Donna W. Henry, Mount Pleasant; Bianca Franck, Johns Island; The Beach Company, Charleston; Cleave Ham, Charleston; Mike Seekings, Charleston.

District 4: Courtney Waters
Total raised $2,800.00
Total donations 5

$1,000 donors:
Lebby Consulting, Blythewood; Brownstone Construction, Columbia.
$501-$999 donors: n/a
$500 donors:
Joyce Green, Mount Pleasant.

District 5: Carlotte Bailey
Total raised $8,263.00
Total donations 38

$1,000 donors:
Renee R. Brockington, Charleston; W. Harvey Brockington, Charleston; Jennifer Hankey, Mount Pleasant; Gerald D. McGee, Charleston; Tammy A. McGee, Charleston.
$501-$999 donors: n/a
$500 donors: n/a

District 6: Daron Lee Calhoun II
Total raised $2,820.00 **
Total donations 38

$1,000 donors: n/a
$501-$999 donors: n/a
$500 donors:
Keith Parker, Charleston.
** NOTE: Calhoun was elected in a 2023 special election; Donations are reported from 12/29/22 to 2/12/23.

District 7: Leah Whatley
Total raised $12,890.00
Total donations 51

$1,000 donors:
Renee Brockington, Charleston; Harvey Brockington, Charleston; Karen Iacovelli, Greenville; Janine Nagrodsky, Charleston; Gerald McGee, Charleston; Tammy McGee, Charleston.
$501-$999 donors:
Suzanne Leber, Charleston.
$500 donors:
Booze Pops LLC, Summerville; Kristy Gore, Hanahan.

District 8: Darlene Dunmeyer-Roberson
Total raised $21,836.00
Total donations 193

$1,000 donors:
Adriel Roberson, Stafford, Va.; Ernestine McDevitt, Johns Island.
$501-$999 donors:
Frank Mitchell, Columbia.
$500 donors:
Nelson Duckson, McDonough, Ga.; Violet Washington, Charleston; John Zloger, Johns Island; Johanna Allston, Yonges Island.

District 9: Carol Tempel
Total raised: $21,903.31
Total donations: 242

$1,000 donors:
Elizabeth Smith, Charleston; SC Realtors PAC, Columbia.
$501-$999 donors:
Nancy P. Moore, Folly Beach; The Six PAC, Sacramento, Calif.; Carol Jackson, Charleston; Gail Schiffer, Mount Pleasant.
$500 donors:
Clarence B. Manning, Charleston; Robert E. Welch, Charleston.