0168.      RECORDING BOARD MEETINGS
 
All Board of Education meetings are digitally recorded and a link is provided for public viewing on our district website.

The Board of Education directs the creation and maintenance of an official record of the formal proceedings of the Board and will permit the unofficial recording of Board meetings in accordance with this Bylaw.
 
Minutes
 
The Board shall keep reasonably comprehensible minutes of all its meetings showing the time and place, the members present, the subject considered, the actions taken, the vote of each member, information sufficient to explain the actions taken, and any other information required to be shown in the minutes by law.
 
Minutes of public meetings shall be public records signed by the Board Secretary and filed in the Board Secretary's office in a minute book as the permanent record of the acts of this Board.  

Minutes of executive meetings shall be filed in the Board Secretary's office in a place separate from the minute book until the time, if any, when the proceedings may be made public.  At that time, the minutes shall be public records and shall be filed in the regular minute book.
 
The Board Secretary shall provide each Board member with a copy of the minutes prior to Board approval.

At the Board’s discretion the Board Secretary may also record committee meetings for consultative and deliberative purposes only. 

Electronic Recording

The Board shall make a video recording of each Board meeting.

Recording by the Public
 
A member of the public may record the proceedings of a public meeting of the Board provided the audio or video recording process complies with reasonable guidelines as outlined in this Bylaw.  These guidelines are adopted to ensure the recording of the public meeting does not interrupt the proceedings, inhibit the conduct of the meeting, or distract Board members or other observers present at the meeting.
 
The Board will permit the use of audio or video recording devices by members of the public to record public meetings.

Prior notice to audio or video record a public meeting is not required provided the person operates the recording device while sitting in the area designated by the Board for public seating.  The recording of a meeting from this area shall not obstruct or distract any member of the public from observing and listening to the proceedings of the meeting.  If the recording is obstructing the view or is distracting to members of the public, the presiding officer or designee will require the person recording the meeting to relocate to another area of the meeting room.

In the event a member of the public wants or needs to audio or video record a public meeting from an area other than the area designated for public seating, the person shall provide notice of such request to the Board Secretary two business days in advance of the meeting.  The Board Secretary or designee shall review the recording guidelines outlined in this Bylaw with the person requesting to record the meeting.  

Any member of the public wanting to use a recording device from an area other than the area designated for public seating must be located and operated from inconspicuous locations in the meeting room as determined by the presiding officer or designee. Prior to the meeting, the presiding officer or designee will determine the location of each recording device so each recording device can record the meeting with an unobstructed view and each audio recording device can record a meeting so the speakers and meeting proceedings can be properly recorded.  the location of any recording device operated from an area other than the area designated for public seating will be in an area of the meeting room that is not distracting or obtrusive to Board members, members of the public, or orderly operation of the meeting.  Any recording device used outside the area designated for public seating shall be located within a similar distance from the board as the public seating area.  The presiding officer or
designee shall determine when the number of recording devices used outside the area designated for public seating interferes with the conduct of a Board meeting and may order that an interfering recording device be removed or relocated.  Additional lighting shall not be used unless approved by the presiding officer or designee prior to the meeting.  All recording devices and any related equipment must be battery operated or operational without the use of district electricity as the district will not permit such equipment to be connected to the school district’s electrical service.

The presiding officer or designee shall determine if a recording device interferes with the conduct of a Board meeting and may order that an interfering device be relocated. 

N.J.S.A. 10:4-14

Date Adopted:  4/18/77
Date Revised:    3/31/78, 3/18/91, 7/18/11, 12/19/11, 9/24/12, 10/18/16, 6/16/20