Sag Harbor School District Hits the Pause Button

Citing a need for more time to confer with its attorney, the Sag Harbor School Board voted Monday to postpone reviewing a policy that governs the videotaping of meetings.

“The board felt it was important to have access to the attorney for the district, and he was not available to have a discussion with the board until the next meeting,” Chris Tice, the board’s vice president, said. “We need a resolution to allow the board to wait until the next meeting.”

The current policy calls for meetings to be videotaped for later viewing by the public, with public comment periods the exception. Cameras are turned off when members of the public get up to speak.

The controversial issue was decided by a 4-to-3 vote in December and emerged as a topic of debate during the most recent school board elections. At both of those points in time, board members debated whether the district could be held liable for what was said by community members during public comment periods.

The policy mandates an annual review of the videotaping policy itself. According to Monday’s resolution, passed by a 6-to-0 vote, if the board does not change or rescind the policy governing videotaping during its next meeting, then it will continue in effect as currently written.