Lawyers to school board: Don’t do this!
November 14, 2010 by Claire KnightPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Tech Trends
When school board members started fighting about this high tech gaffe, lawyers had to step in. In North Carolina, members of the Wake County school board went to war over a common tech complaint — texting.
Some members of the board who opposed the majority accused other members of texting during meetings — essentially sending private messages during what is supposed to be a public forum for discussion.
Attorney Ann Majestic stepped in, noting “The purpose of the meeting is for the public to listen to and engage in deliberation. To the extent that people are communicating about the deliberative process, that concerns me. The benchmark ought to be that it is transparent.”
Bottom line: Board members texting during board meetings might seem the equivalent of students texting during tests — cheating.
Do you think it’s OK for board members to text during meetings? Sound off below.
Tags: Legal News, School board, texting
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November 12th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Absolutely not. It is disrespectful to those who may be speaking, and brings on the potential for individuals to miss out on key information. Just as in the classroom, save it for after the meeting, when you are on your own time.
November 12th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Absolutely Not. I can’t believe anyone in this position would even think of it. It is also obvious that these board members, who presumably also are parents, are not qualified to teach their children, respect for others and general rules of civility.
November 12th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Of course not. You’re Mama would not approve. Sit Up! Pay attention! Stop playing with the toys. Try hard to Focus.
November 12th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
“You’re” [sic] Moma wouldn’t approve if after all that money she spent on your education…you cannot spell “your”.
November 12th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
You are Mamma would not approve of you are random capital letters.
November 12th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Of Course NOT!
But what does that have to do with what they’re going to do anyway?
They already roll their eyes when one of the “Great Unwashed” tries to address them with a sincere concern.
(Oblig. double-check of spelling of “they’re” and capitalization’s randomness status…)
November 12th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
I cast no aspersions at the perpetrator above; we all make mistakes. But most surely some recipients of the D. Ed. would say something like this, or worse. Look at the email messages sent at many schools and you will find truly appalling mistakes by folks with degrees, consequently making degrees embarrassingly questionable. I’ve seen even more egregious errors than this coming from, among others, a Director of Curriculum who possesses a D. Ed. When school board members vote to hire and then refuse to fire folks like this, maybe they are texting one of their “handlers” to make sure they vote for the right friend of a friend. Shame on us for electing these kinds of people to our boards and shame on them when they say they represent us while they are primarily engaged in behind-the-scenes games.
November 12th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Please stay on topic and not correct each others spelling and grammatical errors. I see nothing wrong with it. It is, after all, a a PUBLIC forum. What are they going to report to others that would not be considered public knowledge at a meeting.
November 12th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
If we are ever going to try to teach students any cyber-courtesy we need to practice it ourselves.
November 12th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I think that some the previous commenters may be missing a point here: it’s not the texting itself (however rude and distracting it may be) that is at issue, but the fact that the members of a particular faction on the board are texting *each other* during the meeting, presumably to make private comments to one another which will affect the decisions made without letting on just what they are saying to each other. During an allegedly public discussion forum, this may be construed as talking behind the backs of the others present, potentially spreading innuendo/gossip/falsehoods or whatever which the opposition will not be in a position to rebut or correct, as the opposition will not know what is being discussed within that faction. The concerns of the attorney about the transparency of the process of public deliberation are valid. How can a group deliberate together and come to an informed decision if some of the information used in making that decision is withheld from some members of the group?
Texting their kids at home to make sure they’re doing their homework or arranging car pool schedules or after-board-meeting barhopping may be a problem, too, but it is not the one which is being complained about here.
November 12th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Ack. The fourth word of my previous comment (“some”) should have been followed by the word “of”, of course. How did my typing fingers not know that?
November 12th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
No. It is a public meeting, therefore it is recorded and anything that is said is a matter of public record. Any side conversations that are not recorded should not take place, other than a closed meeting concerning personnel issues or other issues that can require a closed session, such as deciding legal strategy on a lawsuit or legal claim. Even then, those are recorded, though distribution is limited. A text message is not recorded in the sense that it is not part of the public record. There are case decisions that an official’s private phone records can be subpoenaed if there is any possibility that the calls/texts were related to official business.
Also, why do some feel it necessary to correct someone’s typos and not stay on topic? It is counterproductive to a good discussion.
November 13th, 2010 at 3:40 am
No, I would have never thought that any school employee would do that in a meeting. I like what Terri Main says about modeling cyber-courtesy. As a school administrator, I would be upset to see educators and school board officials texting during a meeting. Put the cell phones away during the meeting! Let’s all exercise some common sense here.
November 13th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
ABSOLUTELY NOT!! As with all cases of texting while conversing with another person, texting while sitting in front of a speaker during a presentation, during a meeting or evne a movie, it is just plain rude. When you text you are not giving your full attention to anything else. If board members need to discuss something privately they need to do that in a closed session, not the public forum.
November 13th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
OT: D.Ed.? LOL, maybe you all mean Ed.D.? Some of you really ought to get over yourselves with your perfect grammar. Ever heard of ESL or LEP? Dyslexia? Other learning impairments? All of which can effect spelling, etc. bug have no bearing on knowledge or IQ. Let me guess, English teachers? How about trying to support written communication instead of belittling someone for a simple mistake.
As far as texting during a meeting? They just opened themselves and the school district up to a lawsuit.
November 13th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
*bug=but
Better fix my typo before the grammar Nazis run me off to Dachau.
November 14th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
We won’t run you in this time, Ph.D. (English teacher/assistant principal)! You’re forgiven!
November 15th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
I believe it is shameful for board members to behave in this manner. We as parents and educators try to instill in our children the need to be honest and respectful. So, to have an elected board member behave in this way is an insult to the entire school district. This is a public forum and to withhold comments from the public (texting between board members) which may otherwise impact decision making among the board, is like Ph.D stated, opening the school district up to a possible lawsuit.
November 15th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
I am curious as to why this is even a question???? It is not just a matter of respect and ethics but one of common sense. However, considering the mudslinging methods used by our politicians, on both sides of the isle, in this years election cycle- I can not say that I am surprised that these folks think that this method of communicating is OK.
November 15th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
This ship sailed long ago. My hometown city council members had intercom telephones at their desks, enabling the same kind of side conversations.
Personal electronics, for better or worse, supplement handwritten note-taking. In an era when members of Congress are seen texting during the President’s State of the Union address, it’s probably too much to expect local officials to sit on their, um, thumbs.
November 15th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
No. I suspect that someone could request information about the meeting to include the contents of the text messaging. Same as e-mail under some open meetings law!
This board needs some training to keep themselves out of trouble!
November 17th, 2010 at 6:56 am
Definitely not. This problem could eastily be handled, though, w/o having to involve lawyers! All good meetings are FACILITATED by someone appointed to do so. Thus, the facilitator should have ground rules regarding communication (only one person talks at a time, no sidebars, public attendees must wait for the public comment period, etc.) Turning off cell phones (for calls and texts) should certainly be a guideline/ground rule that everyone must follow.
November 22nd, 2010 at 2:01 pm
there’s nothing wrong with it at all
it’s merely the modern equivalent of “passing notes”
November 22nd, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Tarte and Perkins hit the mark on this question: it’s not a matter of simple courtesy or of disrespect, but of a pending lawsuit for acting in ways contrary to open meetings statutes. Folks, at least read the posts of other bloggers before typing your non-sequiturs. Of COURSE there is something wrong with this practice, the same as passing private notes during an open hearing; it is antithetical to the very purpose of the open meetings statutes. What part of “open” discussion is so hard to understand in this context?
November 22nd, 2010 at 7:16 pm
They have always passed notes during those meetings, which was against the rules. But the second that a technology is involved, then the hammer of justice comes down. If you are going to punish those who used texting to speak privately, make sure you also punish throughout the years those who used old school pencil and paper. It’s the same stuff, just a different medium.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:38 am
I get the point, and agree that legally and morally, that School Board members do not text during a meeting.
What about the audience? Is there any legal reason that the audience cannot text, as long a it is not to the School Board members?
What about using the audience using their Internet access to research some aspect of education being discussed during a meeting?
February 17th, 2012 at 4:37 pm
The only time this would be acceptable in a public meeting is if the council member announced that s/he is sending a text to his/her assistant to retrieve a particular document that may be pertinent to the current discussion. This should not happen regularly and council member should be prepared for the meetings. With today’s fast-paced communications, I could see the usefulness if they had just received a document that dy or had been discussing it from a prior meeting. Transparency must be maintained above all.