Dear Editor,
Apparently, someone, for an unknown reason, started a rumor that the FFA program at Manning High School was being discontinued. As a former school board member of 12 years, an honorary member of the FFA, and as a recipient of a state FFA award, I, like many others, know the value of FFA in Clarendon County and throughout our state and nation. The first thought that came to my mind when I heard the rumor was that there is no way that this could be true.
Anyway, as a result of this misinformation, contact was made with Clemson University, State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver, the Vice Chair of the House Agriculture Committee, the Director of the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Services, and probably others. It was even mentioned that FFA was being dropped because of financial issues and the use of the funding from Clemson University was brought up. Consolidation was mentioned. Many in our community were upset and enraged. All of this was because of an unsubstantiated rumor that could have easily been immediately proven false. The whole thought of FFA being discontinued was a fabrication.
To me, to involve all these officials and organizations was unnecessary and somewhat embarrassing when the first step should have been to contact the leadership of the school district and attempt to obtain actual facts. Only after contacting others from throughout the state and spreading this misinformation, the leadership of the school district was contacted, and it was confirmed that the rumor was not true. FFA was not in danger of ending at Manning High School. I commend Quadri Bell for his actions. As a former President of FFA at Manning High School, FFA is near and dear to him. Upon hearing of the rumor, he contacted the leadership of the district along with others and found out that in fact, it was all rumor and misinformation. Once he confirmed that, he made a public statement to inform everyone about the facts that he obtained. The public information office of the school district also issued a press release. Maybe whoever started this, even if unintentional, should issue a retraction and all those agencies and individuals who were contacted should also be informed that the information they received was incorrect.
Kevin L. Johnson
State Senator, District 36
