Resident 'Offended' by School Board Action

The Strongsville School Board's policy of not broadcasting meetings -- or parts of meetings, as is the case this year -- for two months prior to elections was called into question Thursday night by a resident.

David Puffer, who lives on Idlewood Trail and works for Westlake schools, said the district's policy is "disturbing personally and, quite honestly, professionally."

"This is a public meeting," he told the board.

Strongsville has a long-standing policy to not show board meetings on cable TV for 60 days before an election involving school board candidates.

Earlier this month, the and show most of the meeting -- but not the section where the public is allowed to comment.  Board members said they want to prevent "grandstanding" by candidates.

But to accomplish that, they had to move the public comment portion to the end of the agenda at Thursday's board meeting.

That meant that no one could comment on legislation before the board voted on it.

Puffer said the board needs to allow public comment on legislation before the vote "12 months of the year, not 10."

He also said it was insulting for the board to think residents "don't have the ability to discern what is grandstanding" if it did occur.

Board member Dave Gusman also questioned the change in the agenda before the meeting started, saying it is board policy to allow people to comment before a vote.

Board President Jennifer Sinisgalli said the agenda had already been set for the meeting.

"That's the way the agenda will be tonight," she said.

Sinisgalli added that there are a number of other ways for the public to express opinions on issues, including calling or emailing board members.