Citing fears of misuse, Penns Valley school board rejects plan to record meetings
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- Penns Valley’s school board rejected a plan to record meetings for the public.
- The plan asked the district to purchase roughly $6,000 in new sound equipment.
- Some board members argued recording meetings could lead to abuse and harm.
Despite repeated calls from the community, the Penns Valley Area School District will not record its school board meetings anytime soon.
The district’s school board voted Tuesday against purchasing roughly $6,000 of portable sound equipment and software to record its twice-monthly meetings. Though several board members expressed interest in improving audio quality at board meetings, some argued recording their proceedings could stifle debate among members and reduce community engagement.
Board member Douglas Roth, a vocal critic of recording meetings, said he opposed giving people tools that would allow school officials “to get dragged through the mud” and relive moments from the past.
“You say something today that seems pretty innocent, what we would view as a normal thing, and 10 years from now, someone goes and drags it up and drags you through the mud with it, whether it’s with your employer, whether it’s with the community,” Roth said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of people taking snippets of conversations that people don’t get the full story of what someone is saying to try to smear them. I think as unpaid volunteers, I don’t think we should have to deal with that.”
School board members are elected members of an agency covered by the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, which does not require boards to make audio or video recordings of public meetings available, though many choose to. The law only requires written minutes of all open meetings.
Daniel Pick, another board member, agreed with Roth and said the board’s ability to govern could be negatively impacted by recording meetings. He argued board members might not speak their minds on issues due to fear of public backlash or misconstrued information.
“We say the wrong things at times in these meetings and correct ourselves, but as soon as that snippet gets cut and put on social media, it can be abused quickly,” Pick said.
Nearly every Centre County school district streams its board meetings online, but only the Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District independently records and archives them on YouTube. State College and Bellefonte’s districts have their meetings recorded and archived through C-NET. The Bald Eagle Area School District does not offer virtual attendance or meeting recordings.
Last August, Penns Valley’s school board voted against approving an agreement with C-NET to record its board meetings. The motion, which sought to finalize an annual $23,270 contract with additional closed captioning fees, failed 2-7.
Scott Etter, the district’s solicitor, said he was not aware of any past legal action or other perceived trouble facing school board members in State College and Bellefonte’s districts as a result of recording meetings.
Community members, including two more this week, have routinely spoken before Penns Valley’s school board and asked its members to consider recording meetings, which usually begin at either 6 or 7 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month.
Gregg Township tax collector Donna Miller, speaking as a private citizen, said recording meetings would help archive proceedings and improve transparency for the public — especially for those who cannot attend weekday meetings. Most meetings have just a handful of guests in attendance.
“Many residents are unable to attend or watch live meetings due to scheduling conflicts, which limits their access to critical information,” Miller said on Tuesday. “By making these meetings available, the board can ensure greater transparency and provide citizens with convenient, first-hand access to its actions versus community hearsay. Expanding access in this way would strengthen public trust, encourage community engagement and demonstrate a clear commitment to fairness and accountability.”
Only board members Daniel Decker and Daniel Hall voted in favor of purchasing the equipment for meeting recordings. The motion failed 2-6 with board member Jessica Shawver absent.
“We’ve had multiple requests to have our meetings recorded, and I think it would serve the community very well,” Hall said.
“What are we afraid of?” he later asked the board.
Improving sound quality
Nearly every board member publicly voiced support for exploring future upgrades to sound equipment to improve board meetings.
Penns Valley’s school board meets inside Penns Valley Elementary and Intermediate School’s library with no microphones or speakers, requiring officials to speak up and project their voices as best as possible. The district broadcasts meetings in real time using a video conferencing device, but it cannot enhance audio from the meeting room.
“It seems like the biggest complaint we have from the community that does watch these meetings is that they can only hear certain individuals when they speak,” said Domer Smeltzer, the board president.
It remains unclear how Penns Valley’s school board may address improvements to audio quality, though board members agreed the plan must be cost-effective. The district’s school board rejected a motion last September that sought to approve the purchase of portable meeting room sound equipment for up to nearly $40,000, citing the steep price tag.
Notably, the equipment proposed for recording board meetings would not have directly improved sound quality, according to Decker, who brought the idea to the board after visiting the Mifflin County School District to observe its proceedings.
Board member Kimberly Domin, who jokingly acknowledged she is often asked to speak up at meetings, said Penns Valley’s board must find a way to improve its meetings for those who attend.
“I know this has been a concern for a long time — not just from those listening online, but those listening in the back of the room,” Domin said. “I think that needs to be addressed. Is it addressed through some type of sound system? Is it addressed through a different setup, as far as the room goes? I don’t know, but I think it needs to be addressed.”
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