School Board needs to communicate

It looks like the New Richmond School Board is perplexed on how to respond to information on the blogs.  Blogs are fast and react quickly to newsworthy events.  They truly become the voice of the people and can turn a wannabe reporter into a reporter, editor, and publisher all in one on his own internet blog.  

The problem is that blogs becomes self-edited by the originator.  Information floats out there in cyberspace and the information is either not checked or could be false.  The speed and volume of the information makes it doubly difficult for the school board to react to allegedly false information.

The New Richmond Board wants to act in unison with one voice.  A case in point was Bill Brennan’s letter some weeks ago criticizing the board’s handling of the school superintendent and a construction contract.   It took the board several weeks to answer his charges by discussing it in a regular meeting, and then the letter was signed “New Richmond School Board.”  The implication is that the response was a unanimous decision instead of the five to two vote.  

The board has to get over the idea that it must act in unison.  The Supreme Court lays down the law of the land in five to four split decisions with minority reports written by the dissenters.  The same goes for legislators who make law by spirited debate and split votes.

The board feels it must make a response by preparing a letter by committee and duly voting upon it in open session.  It’s time some leadership is shown and individual members came forward and respond to letters-to-the-editor and blog information immediately.  There is no reason board members can not show their leadership ability and carry meeting debate into the news media.

Then there are closed sessions.  The multiplicity of closed sessions removes the public even further from debates on the issues.  How does the public evaluate individual members’ performance?  Are their arguments logical?  Do they understand the issues?

Take land acquisition: the only argument I’ve heard for going into closed session is to prevent competitors from outbidding.  The public needs to know about location, the pros and cons of its desirability compared to other options, and price.  Any board member who thinks the owner is not looking into fair market value is not thinking.  When a referendum fails, the board is perplexed that the public didn’t get the necessary information to vote for it.  Well duhh.

The New Richmond School Board has the resources to put out information in a timely fashion through the school website.  The October 17th meeting minutes were published a month later in the News.  By then it’s old news.   It could have been published several days after the meeting on the school website.

The problem is that meeting minutes have to be approved by the board which is done at their next regular meeting, then satisfy the News’ deadline.  Why not publish a draft on the website with a disclaimer that it is not official.  The official newspaper version can be published later.   If there is a will, there is a way.  One thing about the unofficial meeting minutes is that the superfluous stuff can be left out.  Who cares who voted to approve the agenda, approve the previous minutes, approve the hiring of teachers, or voted to go into executive session—give highlights only.  

On second thought, the public would be more inclined to read the unofficial minutes if they were printed in the newspaper.  

Bill Brennan’s letters did more to flush out debate by school board members than could possibly be spread by five or six persons in the audience during the board’s regular meetings.  Lester Jones or other board member could easily publish a rejoinder disputing any inaccurate or controversial information that gets into print or on the blog.  We all know that one board member does not represent the official position of the school board as a whole.

The school board had better improve its communications ability and reduce closed sessions before any future referendums or face another defeat.  

Sincerely,


Bob Ziller, 1231 172nd Ave., New Richmond, 715-246-6237,  051224