Jen Anderson "As we urge the Rocky Point school board to reconsider its decision, we encourage other school boards to consider the new policy a cautionary tale - of how not to react when confronted with public comments - and to listen to those who elected them" Jen Anderson EDITORIAL Going overboard with restrictions One exemption to New York State’s Freedom of Information Law is that of personnel decisions: Elected bodies need not disclose matters dis- cussed in executive session that affect an individ- ual staff member’s employment, although they must vote publicly on the results of those discus- sions. The exemption appropriately balances a public system employee’s privacy with the com- munity’s right to know the outcome of delibera- tions. It also has the effect of protecting a public body from litigation. We see this exemption, in addition to privacy laws that protect minors and anti-defamation laws, as sufficient to reasonably safeguard the reputations of employees as well as the legal interests of school boards and districts. It is cause for concern, therefore, to see a recent attempt by a school board to restrict public comment beyond what is fair and reasonable. A month after a crowd showed up to a Rocky Point school board meeting to express their support of one administrator and their criticism of another, the board adopted a policy barring any speaker from the public from mentioning a school dis- trict employee by name or by title. In as much as public school board members are elected to represent the community’s interests as well as those of employees, blanket censorship goes against the very notion of a democracy in which freedom of expression is prized. Save for speech that slanders, threatens or compromises public safety, people should feel they can speak freely to their elected officials. For more than two centuries in this country, the public forum has been the most effective means of ensuring that they can. A community member’s discussion of an employee’s performance, while not always easy to hear, does not necessarily amount to slander. What’s more, school boards and districts are not responsible for the statements that non-staff and non-board members make. By prohibiting all mention of the people whom we expect to be held accountable, a school board severely curtails the public’s chance to air concerns, ask questions, extend commendations, make requests and, yes, even offer constructive criticism — in essence, stifling conversation. Public comment sessions represent good-faith efforts on the part of elected officials to encourage dialogue and receive valu- able input. Approaches that control the public’s communication to avoid controversy rather than ones that handle isolated problems as they arise give the impression that the board does not want to hear what the community has to say. As we urge the Rocky Point school board to reconsider its decision, we encourage other school boards to consider the new policy a cau- tionary tale — of how not to react when con- fronted with public comments — and to listen to those who elected them. EDITORIAL from The Village Times Beacon Record Newspapers
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 02:57:04 +0000
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