School board to vote on Skype policy
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 13, 2015 1:50 AM
The Wayne County Board of Education could approve a policy Monday the would essentially do away with a board member's ability to Skype in to a meeting -- a move made partly in response to the attendance method used heavily by District 2 representative Dwight Cannon.
But at the recent policy meeting, Cannon wholeheartedly endorsed the proposal, attributing his own issues to meetings being called on short notice.
"I'm not fighting this. But please don't make it an attack, because you don't know who's going to need it in this day and age," he said of the technology.
Suggesting he became the "categorical catalyst" for the policy, he took issue with how it took on a personal slant.
"Don't just attack one policy because one person decides that their job is important to them -- enough to take care of that job when he makes a commitment," he said. "And I'm not going to apologize for telling people I'll be in a place. But I understand. I've been on this board two years. We didn't have this problem the first two years. Nobody questioned it. You know why? But we have been very busy this year. So I'm not taking it personally."
Cannon said between the retirement of the schools' superintendent and the process of hiring a new leader, as well as the completion of two new schools, he understands the challenge of setting up meetings to accommodate everyone's schedule and the need for such a policy.
"I'm not against it," he said. "I'm not going to fight against it. I'm proud. My legacy on the school board will probably be that this is the gentleman, the reason we have the electronic device policy."
Allison Pridgen, executive director of administrative services, had crafted a policy with assistance from the state Department of Public Instruction and School Board Association, she said. Unlike many of the policies imposed upon school districts, there is not one currently in place on this particular topic, she said.
"They were able to share some counties outside of the state that had some policies," she said. "They were able to pull some bits and pieces of the best parts of different policies from different states, but thus far there is no other (school district) in North Carolina that has this policy."
The revamped policy being introduced at Monday's board meeting, she said, "prohibits electronic telephonic participation at regularly scheduled board meetings, special called board meetings, work sessions and closed sessions."
It did not address the aforementioned committee meetings Cannon said have been problematic for him, especially now that he has added another responsibility, seeking election to a higher office within his church denomination.
Policy Committee Chairman Rick Pridgen told the committee, which also included board member Jennifer Strickland, that he personally had no problem doing away with the Skyping or FaceTime.
"The majority of the board feels that we should do away with it completely and not allow it," he said, noting that it is something he has opted not to do simply because it is "very aggravating."
Not only is it difficult for those in the meeting to hear the absent member Skyping in, and vice versa, but it proves disruptive.
Mrs. Strickland said she had Skyped in while attending a national board meeting and "wanted to make it work," but experienced all the things Pridgen had mentioned.
The superintendent, Dr. Mike Dunsmore, had a rudimentary take on the proposal.
"I would recommend we just scrap the policy rather than handcuff us, then I would hope that we would look at it on a case-by-case basis rather than putting something in place that's going to back us into a corner for future boards," he said.
Cannon said he thought the move would benefit everyone involved.
"I think to satisfy our colleagues, let's let the public know because the paper, the media did exactly what they were supposed to do, make that situation known," he said. "But my thing is, let them see us doing something about it."
He added that in an emergency, or if a member is absent, he or she simply will not be able to participate in the proceedings.
"I think that would, I don't want to say placate, but I think it will help," Cannon said. "To just not deal with it is worse. We've got to deal with it. We've got to let our board know that this policy committee is serious about it.
"Let's don't handcuff us, I like that word, Dr. Dunsmore, but let's also let them know that absolutely not, let's put the hammer down on no official school board meetings, including work sessions that are called."