DISTRICT 5 REP SEEKS GREATER TRANSPARENCY
A Nottoway School Board member’s effort to provide the public more transparency — by posting recordings of worksession online — ran into opposition at Thursday night’s regular meeting.
District 5 rep Michele Duncan asked that an upcoming joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors be held in the General District Courtroom, where Supervisors record their meetings. (That worksession is currently set for 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 2nd in the high school mini-auditorium.)
“It doesn’t need to be recorded live,” Mrs. Duncan said, “but if it’s recorded, individuals can review it later. It promotes transparency.”
Mrs. Duncan added that School Board worksessions, which are held at the School Board Central Office, also should be recorded. “We’ve all said that we want transparency within our schools and to our public. It increases our own accountability. It improves accessibility for those who want to attend but cannot attend, or maybe there’s a question later and you want to go back and review it and get a better understanding. It creates an accurate public record.”
Mrs. Duncan said that additionally, recording worksessions and joint meetings with Supervisors “encourages civic engagement and has the potential to build community trust.”
Board member Bill Outlaw asked Clerk Charlotte Wood if worksessions are voice recorded.
Clerk Wood replied yes but added that after a worksession’s minutes are approved, the recording is deleted.
Mrs. Duncan said deleting recordings prevents the Board and public from going back and hearing exactly what was said and by whom. She cited as an example a discrepancy at Thursday night’s meeting between what Outlaw recalls hearing about a proposed policy change and how that proposed amendment was presented by staff to the Board.
All School Board regular meetings are held in the high school mini-auditorium and are recorded live on YouTube. Division Supt. Dr. Marcia Martin said such capabilities don’t currently exist at the School Board office. As far as the March 2nd worksession with Supervisors, the mini-auditorium’s table, and microphones aren’t configured to accommodate proper recording of both bodies, she said. “It requires a lot of set-up on our end to get it up and running.” Dr. Martin also reminded officials that Supervisors specifically asked for the joint worksession to be held in the high school mini-auditorium.
Outlaw asked Mrs. Duncan, “Do you feel we’re trying to hide things from the public?”
“No, I don’t,” Mrs. Duncan replied. “But I feel like it could be advantageous. She said that recording worksessions not only would be serving the public but also would let officials revisit various points raised in those worksession. “We could go back and view it. We could digest it more.”
School Board member Charles Wilson agreed. “The public sometimes thinks we’re hiding things from them. I know we don’t, but the public thinks that.”
“Well, where is the ‘public?’” asked Outlaw. “Except when we’re presenting awards, where is the public?”
Mrs. Duncan said that by recording worksessions, the public would be able to view and listen to those recordings at their own leisure. “I’m just from the stance of TOTAL TRANSPARENCY. I feel it is something important and valuable for our community.”
Chairman Damien Rowe said the Board will take Mrs. Duncan’s suggestions “under advisement, and it’s something we can continue to study.”
Loading Comments