Board weighs the potential of ILSB TV

By Otis on June 19, 2008 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Meredith News June 19th, 2008

SARAH SCHMIDT

MEREDITH — Third time could be the charm for the Inter-Lakes School Board meetings to be broadcast on publiccable access - if the board agrees on it as a good use of time and money. At earlier meetings this year, several parents have requested that the meetings be taped and broadcast on Lakes Region Public Access. Parent Steve Merrill advocated this practice at last week’s meeting. “It’s critically important that the board adopts a policy to promote open and transparent government,” said Merrill. “It’s long overdue, and it puts it in a forum where all can see what’s going on. It’s important the community can access the board.”....

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School Board Chair Jack Carty pointed out that the channel would only be available to those with cable access, something that residents of Sandwich and in parts of Center Harbor don’t have. Merrill countered that putting the meetings on cable would allow more people to view it. “The meetings are presently covered by three different newspapers, the minutes are posted on the district Web site in accordance with the law,” said Carty. “We have a total of four sources for people to see meetings. We post meetings that are open to the public, and there are no artificial constraints on public speakers.” School board member Carl Johnson said that when he turns to the public access channel, he often can’t understand what is said and turns it off. Board member Richard Hanson said that he has no problem with putting the meetings on cable but would like to see a cost-benefit analysis, to see if the cameras and editing work could be accomplished inexpensively. Student representative Robert Drenkhahn suggested that the board explore the option of asking audiovisual students to tape and prepare the meetings for public broadcast. Former School Board member Diane Drenkhahn remembered that the board had considered this same question twice before in the last 12 years and discarded the idea, preferring to use the money for education. Instead, Drenkhahn suggested that they use a timeslot on public access to promote the schools, with scenes from athletic games and school performances. “I’m living in Sandwich and have no cable,”said board member Howard Cunningham. “I have no objection to being televised. People would quickly learn that it’s impossible to hide anything. There are practical considerations - I would not want cameras taking up space from people who want to attend. I just don’t know what there is to be gained. I like the highlights approach of more general interest. Other than that, we’re Friday-night boring.” Board member Dan Cunningham said that he didn’t see the need for the meetings to be televised, pointing out that people watching at home would see the meeting after the fact and would not be able to take part in the proceedings. Robert Drenkhahn pointed out that people might have other commitments, or that the rising cost of gas might deter a trip to Meredith. Carty said that he was hearing a lot of “firm maybes” from the board.Taking a vote to determine whether or not to research the issue further, five were in favor, with one opposed, Dan Cunningham, and one abstention, Carty.

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