Show Time for School Trustees

The Constitution might not call for public bodies to broadcast their meetings on cable TV but that doesn’t mean the Founding Fathers wouldn’t have thought it a capital idea.

Anything that helps concerned citizens keep an eagle eye on their elected representatives--and tax dollars--can only be good for democracy. So we support the grass-roots effort to persuade the Conejo Valley Unified School District trustees to put their twice-a-month sessions on the air.

Parents and other school board watchers have been calling for this step for years. The calls got louder after the school board switched its meeting night from Thursday to Tuesday--in direct conflict with the popular Thousand Oaks City Council meetings.

In the latest episode, a group of parents has vowed to begin videotaping the meetings and airing the footage themselves. That one seems to have gotten the trustees’ attention.

One reason the school board has dawdled is concern that cameras might encourage showboating from the public, if not from the trustees themselves.

Indeed, this happens frequently at City Council meetings and one of the biggest hams--given to bringing props to enliven her dressing-down of council members--happens to be leading the threatened video ambush of the school board. Frustration with this sideshow led now-Mayor Mike Markey last year to briefly suggest unplugging the camera during the public comment period. Markey was quickly made to see that the benefit of public airing of legitimate concerns outweighs the sting of a little excess by overzealous critics. We trust the school board will see that too.

A larger concern is money. Although free broadcast time has been offered by the city’s cable franchise, wiring the trustees’ meeting room with cameras and lights would cost from $50,000 to $100,000, school officials say. Other options: The trustees could shift their meetings to a camera-ready boardroom at the Civic Arts Plaza. Or they could hire city staff to tape their meetings, again at a price.

We like the suggestion of trustee Dorothy Beaubien to have students from the Westlake High School video class do the camera work and editing, giving them hands-on experience while keeping costs to a minimum.

However they choose to do it, it is time for the Conejo Valley Unified School District to get on the air, as school boards in Camarillo, Oxnard, Simi Valley and Ventura have already done.

In some cities few residents pay much attention to the doings of either their city council or their school board, and that’s a shame. In contrast, Thousand Oaks has a proud history of civic involvement and vigorous support of its schools. Airing the proceedings of both boards would further encourage this commendable tradition.

So Conejo Valley trustees, it’s time to get ready for your close-up.