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Vote for publication of minutes

By Staff | Jun 5, 2009

Rugby and Wolford school districts will conduct their annual elections this month.

In addition to the election of school board members, voters will again be asked to decide whether or not to vote for the publication of school board proceedings in the official county newspaper – The Pierce County Tribune.

We encourage residents to take time to vote this week, and we encourage voters to continue to support the publication of school board minutes in The Tribune.

This will ensure every motion, every bill and every detail of how our local school officials use our tax dollars to operate our school system is visible each month in the newspaper.

Yes, school districts incur a cost to publish these proceedings, and yes, the newspaper receives the benefit.

However, that’s a reasonable price to pay to make sure all residents have easy and convenient access to information about the latest workings of the Rugby School District.

The Tribune, like many newspapers, covers regular school board meetings and also devotes additional space in its pages to better describe and explain news items and other issues affecting Rugby’s district.

However, due to time and limited staff, covering Wolford’s meetings regularly is simply not possible.

Therefore, publishing these items in the public notices section as well as a recap of the monthly school board minutes enables readers to get a complete review of the district’s proceedings.

It seems straightforward that public officials would feel comfortable having information relating to any tax-funded entity be a matter of open record. It’s a way to eliminate any shadow of doubt about how our elected officials are conducting business and how our tax dollars are being used.

Plus, it creates greater trust between the public and those they elect to serve them.

Please remember to vote this week in school elections, and we ask that you vote to support the publication of minutes.