A School Board meeting Podcast experiment

NOTE: This message is not an official communication of the Albemarle County School Board.

This weblog entry contains an experimental Podcast of an Albemarle County School Board meeting.  I recorded the meeting on October 27, 2005 with the help of some equipment from Sean Tubbs at Charlottesville Podcasting.  I do not plan to create additional Podcasts of the meetings I am participating in, but I hope this will serve as an example that might motivate others in the community to help us get our public meetings available on the Internet.  While the City of Charlottesville is able to broadcast their School Board meetings on local cable TV, the County of Albemarle has no similar capability.  Podcasting, whether done officially by the School Board or by interested citizens or students, would be a great public service project.

If you think this would be a valuable service, leave a comment and share your thoughts.

I also want to thank my colleagues on the School Board and staff for their participation in this experiment.  I appreciate their support!

Brian Wheeler

To listen... Download the 2 files linked below.  I didn't break the audio down into separate agenda items, but that could easily be done in future Podcasts so one could listen to just the item of interest and keep the files as small as possible.

File 1: Download ACPS-SBMtg20051027-Part1.MP3

• 0:00 to 0:36 Intro by Brian Wheeler
• 0:36 to 2:53 Call to Order, Pledge of Allegiance, Moment of Silence
  Certify Closed Meeting, Approve Agenda, Approve Consent Agenda
• 2:53 to 12:04 Announcements
  Mileage reimbursement rates increased to 48.5 cents
  Graduation dates for 2006
  High School 1st Semester Exams now all before Winter Break
  Redistricting implementation activities underway
  Public Comment (None)
• 12:04 to 32:41 School Board and Superintendent Business
  Superintendent interviews underway during next 15 days.
  Discussion of advertising for openings on Health Advisory Board and Long Range Planning Committee
  Mention that this meeting is being recorded for an experimental Podcast
  Discussion of Deputy School Board Clerk position opening
• 32:41 to 52:12 Driver’s Education Recommendations from Richard Wharam

File 2: Download ACPS-SBMtg20051027-Part2.MP3

• 0:00 to 0:36 Intro by Brian Wheeler
• 0:00 to 27:44 School Health Advisory Board Report from Diane Behrens and Suzanne Coffey
• 27:44 to 1:01:59 Equity and Diversity Report from Charlene Green
• Not recorded--Break
• 1:02:00 to 1:18:54 Financial Reports Quarterly Update from Jackson Zimmerman
  Discussion of Budget Calendar and Budget Development Process
• 1:18:54 to 1:34:37 Policy Review and Revision
  VSBA Policies and Resolutions
  Other Business by Board Members/Superintendent

Comments

[bawheeler]

Since I recorded this meeting, some interesting issues have been discussed by my School Board colleagues.
1. Is this legal? [It is, anyone can record a public meeting]
2. Could the public be confused that this was an official recording of the meeting? [I put disclaimers in the audio file and on the weblog entry. The only official record of a meeting is the approved minutes. I also pointed out we could be aggressive recording meetings ourselves, making them available to the public, to ensure quality control]
3. If someone was to regularly do this, could things be edited and taken out of context? [Certainly, but that is possible today with the media recording our meetings]
4. Could my voice be captured and digitally changed to say something else? [I told my colleagues anything was possible with someone motivated to do so and equipped with the proper software, but would anyone bother? I also pointed out that anyone could do that today by capturing the audio from a City Council or City School Board meeting today off of the Cable TV broadcast]
5. If this was done regularly, would our meetings run longer because all School Board members will be posturing and trying to sound good on the broadcast? [I don't know... I wonder what the experience has been in the City of Charlottesville]
6. What exactly is a Podcast and what if I don't have an iPod. [I shared a one page Podcast 101 with the School Board]

[Gary Grant]

The more public access to the public information, public comments, and the public actions by members of public bodies the better! Congratulations and thanks, Brian! The governed deserve much more of this from those who govern. How about also routinely posting on the Division website all e-mails and all memos sent to or from any staff member or Board member to two or more other Board members?
Gary Grant
P.S. By the way, all public actions include the actual personnel actions by name of employee approved by the Board not a generic approval of "the list of Personnel Actions for such-and-such date."

[bawheeler]

Gary - Thanks for the feedback. While our School Board emails are also public records and subject to Freedom of Information Act requests, I don't think I am personally ready to start managing the sharing of all that info on a regular basis. I think it would also have a chilling effect on some of the productive communications we have with staff and board members. Something to consider. Are you aware of any elected body that follows that practice?

I am pleased that since I joined the Board we have expanded the materials available via the website and email, including all
reports to school board and our school board news by email. I think this has made a lot more information available to the public and I think Podcasts, with individual recordings for each agenda item, will greatly improve access to our meeting activities. Brian Wheeler