Resident urges stronger community engagement; board members debate email access and livestreaming
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Summary
During public comments resident Angie Finlayson urged the board to improve community engagement and responsiveness. Board members discussed how board emails are handled, the nonworking livestream and whether board members should receive copies of emails submitted to the board address.
At the Aug. 5 meeting a resident urged the Horseheads Central School District Board of Education to improve outreach and responsiveness to community members.
“My name is Angie Finlayson,” the resident told the board. She said district policy documents emphasize community involvement but that, in her view, “actions speak louder than words” and that the board’s current outreach practices lead to community disengagement. She asked whether the board intended to continue “doing the bare minimum to engage your stakeholders.”
Finlayson said she had emailed the board and that some messages had not received responses; she thanked a board member named Dan for responding to a specific inquiry about the retreat but said other messages had not been answered. The public-comment remarks called for clearer, more visible communication about agenda items and district decisions so community members can participate before decisions are made.
Board members and the board president responded in the meeting’s member-comments section. Board President said the board will explore options for allowing members to see sent board emails and will work with district administration on a feasible proposal that respects open-meeting rules and public-records obligations. The president said current practice forwards messages sent to the board address to the board president and that the board will return with a proposal at a future meeting.
Board members also noted that the district livestream was not working earlier in the meeting; one member apologized to community viewers and said video was still being recorded.
No formal policy change was made at the Aug. 5 meeting; the board agreed to return with a proposal for discussion about how to handle emails to the board address and how to improve community communications.