My first attendance at a Douglas County Board of Education Meeting

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Well, last night's Douglas School Board of Education public meeting was, for me, an experience, a rich learning experience.

I arrived early for the proposed start time of 7 p.m. The room was already packed and I waited patiently until, finally, being given a seat by the security officer in the front row at around 7:20 p.m.

The first item on the agenda was an open forum. A number of people from the community (about a dozen, I think) had asked to speak. Each person was given three minutes. The audience was told that there would be no response from the Board to any of the speakers and that clapping was inappropriate,

 The first person’s name was called and she came to the front of the room and stood by a small podium on which there was a small microphone. She faced the Board (sitting in a semi-circle) with her back towards the audience. The room went very quite as she introduced herself, thanked the Board for giving her the opportunity to speak, and then read quietly but firmly from her notes.

• I listened carefully in turn to each of the speakers.

•            I noted that each spoke from notes – notes, I assume, carefully considered to make full use of the allotted time and carefully considered to be direct and unambiguous.

• ·       I was struck by the quality of the writing in all but two of the presentations.

• ·       I was particularly struck that each speaker had a strong, factually-based case to make against either the Board or the Superintendent, or both. The issues were common to all but two of the presentations - professional concerns of teachers, and the alleged misuse of budgets.

• ·       I noted that each person, bar one, was very composed and appeared unafraid to make eye contact when talking about one particular board member - or the Superintendent.

• ·       Not one speaker, at any time, complimented the Board or the Superintendent.

• ·       I was struck by the fixed smile on one particular Board member's face, the non-committal stare of others.

• ·       I was fascinated by, and in awe of, each speaker's determined facial expression and strong, celebratory body language when s/he left the podium.

Overall, I was concerned that the entire dramatic effect and impact of each presentation was impaired, for the very interested audience, by the positioning of the podium.

Surely the audience has a right, a need, in fact, to see the face of the speaker? Shouldn't  the podium be placed to the right of the audience, close to the big screen mounted high on the wall, so that the speaker faces both audience and Board.

I came away thinking, was this Board meeting typical?

I emailed the Board and asked that very same question. But, to date, I haven't received a reply.

I look forward to my next meeting. Then I shall find out.