Freedom of Speech or a Violation of Trust

During the March 26th Charles County Board of Education (CCBoE) work session a long-smoldering topic flared when Vice-Chair Bobbie Wise complained about the public receiving information on blogs before it's officially announced by the board itself.  To Ms. Wise, using a blog to announce CCBoE decisions is unacceptable and unethical.  Furthermore, Wise wants to establish some sort of punishment for a board member who reports board business on a blog.   

Ms. Wise was referring to the posting of a past blog item which announced the selection of the board’s Chair and Vice-Chair during the recess of that public board meeting.  Board member Jennifer Abell posted this information in a local political blog site, but only after it was announced during the public meeting and therefore already public information.  The timing of the blog update seemed irrelevant to Wise.  Ms. Wise did not respond to The Bay Net’s questions to her about this issue. 

Her objection to board member blogging seems unfounded since Ms. Abell did not post confidential material.  It was simply an announcement of the results, no different from what the Chair announced later.  From an ethical standpoint, the reason for the Vice-Chair’s ire seems not only unclear but also at odds with board members’ campaign promises to be more open with county parents.

CCBoE Attorney Eric Schwartz, at one moment, advised the board that the First Amendment protects Ms. Abell’s freedom of speech.  In the next moment however, Schwartz advised Chairman Wade that one method of punishment would be to “overlook a board member during meetings by not calling on them for comments.”

According to The Bay Net’s observation during CCBoE meetings, Ms. Abell is the only board member who raises her hand and waits to be called on by Chairman Wade before voicing a comment.  Other members simply blurt out their comments in turn.   

Perhaps the most ironic part of this story is that Ms. Abell began blogging after attending a workshop about blogging usefulness at a National School Board Association (NSBA) conference.  Recently, Christina Gordon, NSBA Manager of Communications, invited Ms. Abell to contribute to the NSBA’s official blog Board Buzz.  In fact, Ms. Abell was also just invited to join the panel of presenters for the blogging workshop in next year's NSBA conference.  

.

Are Official Channels of Information Good Enough?

Weir's Blog

 

The Bay Net contacted blogger Diane Weir of Massachusetts, who has been on the School Committee — their local version of school boards — for Westford Public Schools for two years.  Ms. Weir has been blogging since her campaign for office. 

During her first year Weir found herself at odds with fellow board members over continuing her blog to inform the public about board matters and educational information. She claims to have received not only threats of legal action but also to have been aggressively ignored by the former chairperson. 

The new chairperson now encourages open communication with the public, including blogs.  Oddly enough, this chairperson was a former committee member who had threatened legal action against Ms. Weir for her blog. 

Ms. Weir told The Bay Net why she thinks blogs are important: 

“Today's school governance climate is very much bent towards being a team player, defending the department, advocating for school funding. What's lost is the accountability, oversight, and responsiveness to the public.

Blogs can be very threatening to a system that is wary of anyone being "off message". But we weren't elected to serve the schools or the school boards. We were elected to serve the public. Blogs help us do that.”

Perhaps the real question is whether it is unethical for a board member to report independently on the actions of the board?  Or does this friction simply point to a board leadership unwilling to communicate in any method other than official announcements? 

Such leadership might effectively prevent individual voices from speaking on board discussions, education, or any other subject related to the school system.  If Ms. Abell is gagged as suggested, then wouldn’t it follow that all board members would be forbidden to speak publicly about the functioning of the board, or even to express their own opinions? 

Do the official channels of public information from the board serve the citizens of Charles County?  One of Ms. Abell’s blog readers using the name of Kevin, comments here about grant money information she provided,

“Were it not for you I never would have found out about the chess grants. Official channels being cumbersome and slow as they are.”

Unlike the Board of County Commissioners meetings, the CCBoE meetings are not televised on the local public access cable channel.  And, until very recently, members of the public who could not attend CCBoE meetings had to wait more than a month for the minutes from one meeting to be approved at the next and then uploaded to the BoardDocs section of the CCBoE website.   

BoardDocs is cumbersome and difficult to navigate.  It can be confusing and time consuming to search out one little piece of information.  This official procedure made it impossible for the public to know if action items from the previous month were then voted on in the current month and many citizens were left unable to voice their opinions before a vote. 

.

Official Opinions