Any school board knows that when the decision is made to close a school, it often involves a heated debate and a potentially explosive board meeting. That’s exactly what happened in early August at an East Aurora School Board meeting in suburban Chicago. The emotion-filled meeting demonstrated the need for an accurate voting system and method to structure public debate.
The Beacon News reported that after weeks of examining the success of the 1-year-old Magnet Academy, the school board had planned to put the school’s future to a vote during the Aug. 3 meeting. But that vote never occurred. Instead, dozens of passionate parents, school administrators and teachers filled the meeting room and flooded out into the hallway to fight to keep the school for gifted students alive.
School administrators arrived armed with a PowerPoint presentation to argue their case for retaining the program. Parents, some in tears, voiced their frustration that the decision was coming just weeks before the beginning of the school year. Some even said they weren’t aware of the potential plans to close the school until the day of the board meeting, The Fox Valley Villages Sun reported.
After 3 hours of back-and-forth debate, board members decided not to put the school’s future to a vote. Instead, they voted unanimously to continue discussion on the topic at a later meeting.
School Board Meetings: Structure the Debate
There’s no denying that the discussion to close a school elicits a deep emotional response. For parents, it involves the well-being and future of their children. For teachers and administrators, it could mean an end to their livelihood.
But it’s difficult to make an informed, confident decision on a critical issue when emotions are high and voices are loud. To be most effective, events like school board meetings must devise a voting system or plan to:
- Remove as much emotion as possible to achieve a consensus. This is particularly true with a subject as sensitive as a school closing.
- Gain open and honest feedback from all parties. Both board members and attendees must avoid group mentality, where the strongest opinion becomes the opinion for all. Offer everyone an equal opportunity to voice their opinion. The loudest are heard first, but all opinions deserve to be voiced.
- Structure the debate and discussion in an orderly fashion. When meetings turn into screaming matches, it’s tough to make progress.
- Allow for anonymous voting when necessary. Voting should be instantaneous and accurate as well.
Wireless audience response systems are a simple and effective way to structure the debate. These products can provide microphone queuing for more democratic Q&A sessions. Some can allow moderators to gauge audience reaction at any given moment. Products can also ensure every audience member’s voice counts by allowing them to vote secretly, without pressure from peers.
Perhaps with tools like these, the East Aurora School Board meeting could have gathered opinions in a more timely, efficient and organized manner in order to advance toward a decision.
How do you think school board meetings could be improved by structuring the debate?
