The West Windsor-Plainsboro School Board is expected to begin recording its meetings and make them available to the public within the next month. District officials have announced that recording could start as early as the board’s meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 13.
“We are in the process of setting up the equipment to videotape the meetings, as approved by the board of education,” said Gerri Hutner, school district director of communications. “We hope to begin this on Sept. 13, but I cannot confirm that, as we are awaiting equipment delivery.”
She said the district is in the final stages of installing technical sound equipment, which will facilitate the videotaping. Meetings will be not be broadcast live, but instead will be posted on the district’s website at some point in the days following the meeting.
The school board voted earlier this year to approve a new bylaw regarding the recording of meetings, which stated that the board “may make a video recording of each open public board meeting” to help aid in preparing meeting minutes “and as a record available to the public for viewing.”
The videotaping will coincide with a change in location for school board meetings. Hutner said that as of the Sept. 13 meeting, the board will meet at the new Village School addition at 321 Village Road East. The only exception will be for the meeting on Nov. 8, because the space will be used for election day voting.
Previously, meeting locations alternated yearly between Grover Middle School and Community Middle School. At the reorganization meeting next January, the board will determine the dates and locations of all 2017 meetings.
Board vice president Michele Kaish at the Aug. 23 board meeting said the district determined the Village School addition will have better sound quality and be more comfortable for people attending the meetings. Kaish also said that the cost of installing the equipment is in the ballpark of $10,000 to $20,000.
The changes to the board’s recording policy and location come about a year after the start of last fall’s curriculum controversy, which culminated in standing-room-only meetings and residents filming proceedings with their smartphones. One resident even began operating his own tripod video camera. In March, the district conducted a trial filming.
Prior to last fall, the board had expressed little interest in implementing video recording. Board president Tony Fleres was opponent to the idea, expressing concern that videotaping would invite sound bites and grandstanding by residents. In addition, he has noted that board business is transparent, with minutes and voting records available online.
WW-P is not the only area school district to wrestle with the issue of recording meetings. But while WW-P decided to increase its public outreach, the Hamilton Township School Board went in the other direction.
The school board there voted in March to end a quarter-century tradition of recording its meetings by voting to turn off the cameras. The board acted on a recommendation from interim superintendent Thomas Ficarra, who said the cameras created an atmosphere that invited political grandstanding and personal attacks at the expense of school business. He argued that the recordings did not accurately portray Hamilton and discouraged potential hires from coming to the district.
The vote was met with criticism by residents, including two members of the school board, who decried the decision as a reduction in communication with the public. One resident even started a change.org petition in support of recording. The action did not sway the board, although Ficarra has said that the cameras can be turned back on if, or when, the board feels like reversing its decision.
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