Should School Board Meetings Be No-Tech?

High tech or old school?

That's the crux of a debate that has surfaced on the Board of Trustees.

A disagreement arose during the board's Tuesday night meeting over whether electronic devices such as computers and cell phones should be used by trustees during board meetings.

Trustee Janiee Schaefer said she felt this high-tech equipment is sometimes distracting board members from the business at hand.

She stated she didn't see a need for board members to be on the Internet or receiving texts or voice mails on their cell phones during meetings.

"We didn't used to need these things. Now, it seems like we need these things," she said.

Board members do have laptop computers on the podium where they sit. Most of them also bring their cell phones.

Board president Charlie Mensinger said he often uses the Internet during meetings to do research related to meeting topics. He said board members should trust their fellow trustees to use the technology appropriately.

"Doesn't this whole argument get back to whether we trust each other?" said Mensinger.

Board member Ray Rodriguez said he keeps his cell phone on vibrate because he has two daughters with asthma and he needs to know if there is a health emergency at home.

Schaefer, however, was insistent. She and trustee Jan Crocker agreed that perhaps the board's computers should be an in-house set-up with access only to the district website.

A clearly exasperated Mensinger didn't like that idea.

"I am not a child, and I don't like being treated like one," he said.

Mensinger and Schaefer did agree to discuss the matter during the next few weeks to see if they could reach a compromise.

On Wednesday afternoon, Schaefer told Patch the board's handbook requests that electronic devices be put away during meetings.

'"We've had problems in the past and I don't see any acknowledgement of this," she said. "Many people feel that just because something involves an electronic device, it has to be good. That's not always the case."

She said if board members are receiving private messages via the phone or computer during a meeting it hurts the "transparency" of the organization.

Schaefer said she's received an email from Mensinger that gives her hope they can come to some sort of compromise.