By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Bowling Green Board of Education is making some changes for the new year – new officers, new meeting time, and a new effort to make the meetings accessible to people who can’t attend.
The board met for its annual organizational meeting Thursday evening.
Ginny Stewart was elected president, and Bill Clifford was voted in as vice president. The other members are Jill Carr, Norm Geer and Paul Walker.
The monthly board meetings will continue to be held on the third Tuesday of each month, in the lobby of the Performing Arts Center.
The regular meeting time, however, will change.
“It was discussed at our previous board meeting, if we want to change our meeting time,” Stewart said.
The majority of the board and school staff prefer the earlier meeting time of 5 p.m. as more convenient for staff who get to work as early as 7 a.m. However, the meeting time was changed to 6 p.m. this fall after citizens said the 5 p.m. time made it difficult for working people to attend.
So Carr suggested a compromise of 5:30 p.m. Both she and Walker said there was no noticeable increase in meeting attendees when the time was changed to 6 p.m. to accommodate the public.
The board voted to adopt the compromise of 5:30 p.m. for meetings this year.
Clifford suggested that the board consider videotaping meetings for those unable to attend.
“If people can’t make it at 5:30, they can view the meeting at a later time,” he said.
The meetings could either be shown on a live stream on Facebook, or a delayed feed on the district’s website. The school district’s task force meetings are videotaped for those who want to view them later.
“It’s just another opportunity for the public,” Clifford said.
The board agreed and asked Superintendent Francis Scruci to arrange for the taping.
The school board will meet again this Saturday at 9 a.m. for a work session, in the district’s administrative office on Clough Street.
Scruci said the board will be reviewing the current status of levies in the district, and discuss when the school district needs to be back on the ballot. The public may attend the meeting, but no public participation will be allowed. The board is not expected to take any action.
