Editorial: Chappaqua Schools Super’s Attempt at Secrecy Benefits No One
Chappaqua school officials, like many of their colleagues across the United States, are rightfully taking a hard look at improving their district’s security measures and procedures since the latest school shooting on Feb. 14 in Parkland, Fla.
It’s a wise choice and no one should fault administrators and trustees for discussing changes to protect hundreds of students, faculty and staff members, even if that price tag could be as high as $7.4 million. Everything must be on the table.
The troubling aspect of the recent brainstorming is the attempt at a quasi-secret process under the guise of protecting the kids and adults who report to the district’s schools each day.
First-year Superintendent Dr. Christine Ackerman, while trying to inform the public of the critically important security considerations, has attempted to shut out a significant segment of the community’s population from knowing what is going on.
First, the district chose not to televise or videotape a two-session forum for parents held by the Board of Education and the administration last Wednesday. The sessions discussed the options and the costs of a possible bond to pay for the security enhancements. A vote could be scheduled for some time in June.
One session was during the day, when most people work, the other in the evening. The apparent explanation from Ackerman was that they couldn’t hold a discussion and answer questions as openly and honestly as they would like if there were outsiders listening in.
Videotaping public meetings – and make no mistake, this was a public meeting with a Board of Education quorum – has become standard operating procedure for most municipal and school boards, although no board is obligated to do so.
The second head-scratching moment was when Ackerman announced at the start of last Wednesday evening’s forum that because there was a newspaper reporter in the audience “it’s going to impact the way we have this discussion with you. It’s one of the reasons why we didn’t tape these meetings because we want to be as honest with you as possible about what’s happening at the high school.”
She then let the parents know that they may not get full explanations to some of their questions and encouraged them to seek her or other officials out after the meeting.
For a prestigious public school district such as Chappaqua, the ineptitude on how to properly handle discussion of a sensitive topic where officials do not want to jeopardize security is shocking.
If they didn’t do it in advance, administrators and the board had a responsibility to get on the same page beforehand and agree on what they view as uncomfortable to discuss in public. If they needed help, there is always the town police, the district’s attorney or other professionals to provide guidance.
If officials were so concerned about sensitive information why wasn’t there security at the meeting?
For those parents who could not attend the meeting how are they going to find out if there is no videotape of the forum?
For those district residents who would have to help pay for a bond how would they know whether the choices that will ultimately be made are wise ones?
Last week’s actions and comments were also foolish because in today’s digital world anyone could have audiotaped or videotaped the meeting with a mobile device or discussed it on the rumor mill that is social media.
It would make more sense for Chappaqua school officials to concentrate on the important issues of making their schools as secure as possible while keeping the public informed. They have a responsibility to accomplish both tasks.
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