Last spring, Richardson, a Hilton Head Island Republican, laid out his plan to change the board from 11 single-member district seats to six single-member district seats and three at-large seats. He said the plan was an attempt to reduce conflict among board members by electing some members to represent "the whole pie."
Richardson's presentation Monday followed a week of conflict on the school board. Board members voted eight times last week before finally electing Dale Friedman, who represents Beaufort and Port Royal, as the new chairwoman. In most rounds of voting, members were split five to five with one member abstaining.
Hilton Head school board member Pam Edwards, who attended the meeting Monday, stated in an e-mail to other board members Sunday that the election process was a fiasco and she was considering resigning from the board.
"It is no wonder the governor has intervened in our election process and our senator wants to redesign the board make-up. Well, now all I can say is, go to it and I will do everything I can do to help them," the e-mail stated in reference to Gov. Mark Sanford's support of two school board candidates in the November election and Richardson's plan to restructure the board.
But Edwards announced Monday that she plans to stay on the board because she wants to be part of a controversial decision on whether the district should build a high school north of the Whale Branch.
When Richardson initially announced the restructuring plan, he said he would hold community meetings in the fall, but that never happened.
He told members of the First Monday Republican Lunch Group on Monday that he delayed holding the meetings until after the general election in November, when four school board seats were up for a vote.
About 50 people took part in the meeting at Aunt Chiladas on Hilton Head. School board members Edwards, David Chase of Sun City Hilton Head and Richard Tritschler, who represents Lady's Island, attended the meeting.
When school board members heard about Richardson's idea last spring, some immediately raised concerns that the plan would reduce minority representation on the board. Five of the board's 11 members are minorities.
Richardson said the reaction from some board members was powerful and in some cases "inflammatory," so he put off the community meetings until after the November general election.
He said he didn't want the racial tension the plan set off with some board members to harm the chances of other board members up for election.
When club members asked Richardson how they could help, he suggested organizing meetings to get community feedback.
Richardson said he "would support the plan in a minute," but he wants the community to be behind it. The Beaufort County Legislative Delegation could get the plan through the General Assembly without community input, he said, "but I don't want ill will two or three years down the road."
The plan could also be put be put before voters in a countywide referendum, he said.