On the first two Tuesdays of every month, members of the school board host a public meeting in the middle school library to discuss the various affairs that either need to be approved or examined. Though these meetings are public, a vast majority of the seats in the audience are not filled, save for the few occupied by the press covering the news. This picture happens quite often, as community members rarely show up, unless the happenings pertain specifically to them or their children.

One such case of this was at the school board operations meeting that had been scheduled for Jan. 30. The school board held a special operations meeting that was open to the public to talk about plans for replacing the windows and the doors of the high school. The windows had been installed inadequately when they had been put in, and new plans needed to be made in order to replace them. This matter is important to parents, as it will affect their students and how they learn in the classroom. However, only two people were in attendance at this meeting. How will people ever learn about what happens if they don’t go to the meetings?

One option is for the members of the community to access the documents via the school board page on the school website. All documents and information that was discussed at the meeting has to be made available for the public to see, as is required by Pennsylvania’s Open Records Act, which is also known as the Sunshine Act.

Even though the information about what went on at the meeting is available online, the people of the public are missing out on the discussion about the various items on the agenda and what the opinions of those on the school board. Along with this, members of the community do not have the chance to voice their concerns over issues during the public comment session if they do not go to the meetings during the month. So what needs to be done in order to motivate people to come to the school board meetings?

“When people are better informed, they typically engage more often, to either learn more, or share their input. Our administration has hosted “coffee talks” in the last couple of years, to invite the community in to a more casual setting. Also, the district recently launched a brand new website with a more user-friendly interface, allowing users to find their desired information more quickly,” School Board Member Alan Colorito said.

Though there have been efforts in the past to inform people of the school board meetings, not very many members of the community ever show up to the meetings. This may just be because people choose to be ignorant and not involve themselves, people are not comfortable being present at meetings, or simply do not know about the meetings.

“I believe the motivation can increase, but that it’s a shared responsibility. The district can continue down its path by utilizing, and possibly enhancing, the various forms of communication it’s utilizing today, and the community can feel more comfortable participating as a result of leveraging all of the information at its fingertips,” Colorito said.