In a discussion about board meeting minutes, the Fayette County Board of Education Monday agreed to pursue putting an audio transcript of board meetings on the Internet.

Board member Bob Todd brought up the issue. He said he was concerned that some important aspects of board discussions were not reflected in the official board minutes. The names of those voting up or down on a particular issue are not always reflected in the minutes, Todd said.

“I’m not interested in copious minutes, never-ending minutes,” Todd said. “I would like to see from discussions on major issues a listing or pros and cons. And if a vote is not unanimous, those votes so listed. If that detail is not there, it would be hard to determine what happened. I don’t want any more or any less than that.”

Chairman Terri Smith responded, saying that she had concerns about providing summaries.

“Who would do them? If it includes paraphrasing, I would prefer a transcript,” Smith said. “It’s too subjective for someone writing a summary.”

Board member Janet Smola weighed in, saying at first that the idea of not always indicating which board members voted yea or nay on an issue came from the Georgia School Board Association. The rationale, said Smola, was that once a vote was taken all board members should get behind the decision. Nonetheless, Smola said, she did not have a problem with listing the names and votes of board members.

“We already have the meetings on tape,” Smola added.

Board members discussed an example of what Todd had referenced. In one section of previous meeting minutes, the names of several, but not all, board members were listed on that vote. Superintendent John DeCotis agreed that the name of one board member had been implied, but not stated.

The discussion continued, with Smith saying that if one person’s comments were included in the minutes, all comments should be.

“I just want to have a written record, not just an audio record” Todd said, apparently in response to Smola’s comment that an audio recording is made of each meeting. “Can you go right to a section? Are they tabbed without having to listen to the whole tape?”

Further discussion on the matter included the idea that a summary of all board members comments, not just those of one or two members, should be provided.

On the idea of providing a summary of board discussions, votes and the rationale for a vote, Smola questioned how the person writing the minutes would approach the task.

“An administrative assistant will have to decide which of my arguments I used for my vote,” Smola said, then posing a question that could help resolve the issue. “Can we turn it into a DVD and upload it to a website?”

The discussion ended at that point, with board members agreeing to pursue having an audio recording of meetings on the Internet.

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