By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — A measure that may lead to the videotaping of school board meetings — by the school board and the public — has been introduced by the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Board of Education.
The proposed by-law — “Recording Board Meetings” — that was introduced Tuesday night states that the school board “shall make a video tape recording of each Board meeting” as an aid in preparing the minutes “and as a record available to the public for viewing.”
The school board already tape records its meetings as an aid in preparing the meeting minutes, but that audio tape is not available to the public.
Final action on the proposed by-law would likely take place in June. The board’s Administration and Facilities Committee will consider feedback from the rest of the school board members in the meantime, said Michele Kaish, the school board vice president who also chairs the committee.
“I want to note that should there be (school board) support for video recording the meetings, given all the logistics that we still need to work out, the committee believes the earliest we could begin recording meetings would be September,” Ms. Kaish said.
Residents have been asking the school board to videotape the meetings since January, noting that recording the meetings would help with communications issues. It would also allow parents and residents to find out what took place at a meeting, if they could not attend because of work or other scheduling conflicts.
The school board recorded its March 8 meeting as an experiment.
The proposed by-law also permits members of the public to record the meetings — by either audio tape or video-tape — as long as they comply with guidelines. Advance notice to the school board is not required, provided that the person records the meeting while sitting in the audience.
If a member of the public wants to record the meeting from another area in the meeting room, the details would be worked out in advance of the meeting by the school board president or a designee. All recording equipment must be battery-operated and may not be connected to an electrical outlet.
Ms. Kaish also said that if the school board agrees to allow the meetings to be videotaped, it would be done using the least expensive method — one video camera on a tripod. It could cost several thousand dollars to purchase a camera and a computer hard drive, plus reconfiguring the microphones used by the public so the camera could pick up what is said.
The additional expenses do not stop with the purchase of a camera and related equipment, Ms. Kaish said. The school board’s attorney recommended that if the meetings are videotaped, the tapes should be maintained indefinitely and there is an additional expense to do that, she said.
Resident Peter Syrek told the school board that he favors video-taping the meetings. He dismissed objections that speakers would “grand-stand” in front of the camera, adding that “it (already) happens” without video recordings.
And as for speakers and their agendas, Mr. Syrek said that everyone has an agenda — their children. It is not up to the school board to decide whether someone is grand-standing or has an agenda. Taxpayers have the right to “speak our minds,” he said.
