Commack BOE Prohibits Community From Contacting Individual Board Members

At last week's May 8 school board meeting the Board voted (4 to 1) to approve the first reading of new Board Policy #1501 which provides that “Individuals are not able to communicate about District matters with any individual Board member utilizing any other e-mail account” – except the joint board email account of boe@commack.k12.ny.us  In short, members of the Commack community cannot email a board member individually about any district related matter. See video starting at at 20:49 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JglGoGtw6Ss

This policy is absurd, because in theory it means a person cannot e-mail an individual board member they may know or trust to advise them of an issue that is confidential/personal in nature, or even about allegations that another board member is doing something illegal, without the other board members knowing.  It is as obstructive to the free and open sharing of information with the community as the their decision to only videotape and allow the presentation or informational portions of board meetings to be posted on the District website, but not the discussion and Q&A portions.

Unfortunately, I was the sole “No” vote to this misguided policy.  I dissented to this policy because I believe that the Commack community should not be restricted from contacting individual board members about issues important to them.  As school board members we are all elected officials and the community should be entitled to contact us anyway they so choose, that means individually or collectively.  In fact, I had suggested, in addition to just having the joint Board email, that each board members individual district email address be posted online so that the community would have direct access to each of us. That suggestion however never made it onto a Board meeting agenda.

In contrast to Commack, other school districts provide their community with the ability to access board members individually by email, and at least one district (Kings Park) provides a contact phone number for each board member.

See: http://www.halfhollowhills.k12.ny.us/page.cfm?p=976730

http://www.babylon.k12.ny.us/boardofeducation/default.aspx

http://www.syossetschools.org/boardofeducation/default.aspx

http://www.deerparkschools.org/boardofeducation/default.aspx

http://www.eischools.org/boardofeducation/default.aspx

Anyone in the Commack community that disagrees with this policy should let the District know by emailing the boe@commack.k12.ny.us

It is rather disturbing that my fellow board members believe in stifling the community’s ability to individually contact us.  It is a concept I simply cannot comprehend.  In my view, this is not only narrow minded and short sighted thinking, but also goes against the democratic ideology of having openness and transparency in government.  I suppose the next new policy will be aimed at the First Amendment and seek to preclude Board members from expressing or sharing their personal views with the community on the Patch…