Vallecitos District deliberates recording board meetings

The Vallecitos School District (VSD) governing board has been asked by some Rainbow residents to record its board meetings, and they deliberated over their options at their Jan. 10 meeting.

According to board president Michael Darnley, the board has discussed their options with a legal analyst in regards to the practice of recording the public governing board meetings. Currently, the board has minutes taken, and the minutes are made available by request.

"About 76 percent of the 38 San Diego school districts do some sort of video or audio recordings," said Darnley. "That is not required by the Brown Act."

"There may be a slight difference between the two types of records, which could become a legal issue if someone were to decide to pick apart our records to see exactly what was said," said VSD superintendent David Jones. "We were advised to stop recording for this very reason. Our response is still that we are doing what is required by the Brown Act, and we stopped the practice."

However, in recent months, Bill Harding, a Rainbow resident, spearheaded a group of residents who were interested in having the board meetings recorded once again. Harding had even stated that he would record the meetings for the board and donate materials, free of charge. Darnley asked that Harding delay the recording so that the board could have a discussion about recordings before actions could be taken.

According to an email Harding sent to Darnley, "The issue is transparency, and the VSD board is either for it or against. The need to debate this is disappointing, especially when the solution is obvious, inexpensive and easy."

Harding feels that there are three aspects of transparency that could be applied: recording, widespread and immediate availability of the recording, and careful preservation of the archived recordings.

Paul Georgantas, who was re-elected to the VSD board at the meeting, said he had no issue with the recording of the meetings.

"This is a common practice in the public sector, and it lends to credibility," said Georgantas. "Notes don't pick up everything, and I have no fear about sharing what happens during the meeting."

While the other board members did not voice fear or concerns about the recording of future meetings, they did raise questions about discrepancies that may occur between board meeting notes and video/audio recordings.

Darnley stated that the public has a right to a verbatim record, though, if it is so desired.

"We can't stop someone from showing up with a recorder," he said. "Instead of having someone do that, why not have control of that instead?"

Board member Rae Lynn Heilbronn raised concerns in regards to storing the data.

"Once we open this can of worms, we are liable for those records," she said, noting that a server could crash and erase possible recordings. "People can come to our meetings; nothing is hidden."

Darnley responded to this concern by saying potential fear of data loss is not sufficient reason for not recording the meetings, but Heilbronn reminded the board that no two people will interpret recordings in the same way.

"Sharing the recording is pretty easy to do, and the recordings can then be posted on our website," said Darnley.

VSD vice president Michelle LaLonde stated that people coming to record the meetings might actually interact with the board in regards to school issues.

"That's a great lure," agreed Jones. "They could even provide a positive contribution."

Harding, disappointed at the lack of action at the board meeting, said "transparency in local government is not a debate."

"I'm saddened, too, because it appears that the VSD board has chosen to do only what is legally required of it and little, if anything, else," said Harding in an email to Darnley. "That is not an ethical standard that sets a good example for Vallecitos students or our community."

"I'm sorry some members of the VSD board think it's 'nit-picking' to maintain a high ethical standard − one that goes beyond the minimum any law might require," he continued. "Local volunteers will ensure that future VSD Open Sessions and Public Hearings are videotaped, placed on a website for public access and archived for public review."

Heilbronn requested that the board find out about the storage of recordings, and the liability of the district for loss of data.

"If we are going to do this, we do it by the book," she said, but added, "I feel like we are being bullied."

Jones stated that he would research the liability of the district for the data storage, and would return to the board with a response.