Covering school board meetings is a necessary evil

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    There’s a vacancy on my home district school board, which — thankfully — isn’t in the Piscataquis Observer market. So I’ve been asked by a few people if I’d like to fill in until the March 2015 town meeting.

    My answer is a resounding “no.” It isn’t that I’m not willing to serve my community, but school board meetings are hard enough to cover from the outside. I’d hate to see what it’s like from the other side of the table.
    I try to attend most school board meetings in my coverage area, barring a scheduling conflict. But it’s not an easy task.
    At times, I suspect that some superintendents and school boards would prefer that no one show up to watch the proceedings.
    In most cases, I’m the only one in the audience who isn’t employed by or related to someone in the district.
    School board meetings are usually held in a large hall with lousy acoustics. The seats are far away from the tables where the board sits. Many board members have soft voices or mumble, so it’s difficult to hear.
    At one recent meeting, the board had their nameplates turned away from the audience so that the chair — who was taking minutes — could see them better. I thought it was rather amusing, since she obviously knew who was speaking — but the audience, which included new employees, didn’t.
    Another school district provides a microphone for the audience. But the board’s discussion is often lost in the drone of the air conditioning or heating system. Without my digital recorder, I’d be lost.
    A lot of paperwork is passed around at board meetings including administrators’ reports. Sometimes I get a strange look when I ask for copies. My usual response is: “If you want to make sure my article is 100 percent accurate, then I need the supporting documents on everything brought up tonight.”
    School budgets represent more than half of the average property tax bill. But while it’s easy to calculate how much it costs to buy a new plow truck, put a new roof on the town hall and add another police officer to the municipal budget, it’s difficult — at best  to understand school budgets.
    About 80 percent of a school budget is for personnel while the other 20 percent keeps the buildings heated, driveways plowed and equipment up to date.
    Some programs are paid with state and federal funds. The formulas are complicated. Sometimes I don’t think the Maine Legislature reads half the bills they pass.
    In any case, I’m committed to covering school board meetings to show how your tax dollars are being spent and also to showcase the good things happening in your district.
    I don’t expect any school board to change their habits just for me. But if they decide to make their meetings “user-friendly,” they might even get more people to show up.
    Mike Lange is a staff writer with the Piscataquis Observer. His opinions are his own and don’t necessarily reflect those of this newspaper.