Message from:
The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020
Email to:SARATOGANY@aol.com
The Real or Perceived Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Student Protection Project

SUPPORT.......NYS Legislation..The Dignity for All Students Act of 2001

LEGISLATIVE ACTION CENTER
(find your NYS Senator and Assemblyperson)
Elected Officials -- Elected Officials
http://capwiz.com/pride/officials/state/?state=NY

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CAPE COD TIMES, April 3, 2001
319 Main St., Hyannis, MA, 02601
(Fax:508-775-7337 ) (E-Mail:letters@capecodonline.com )
( http://www.capecodonline.com )
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/tapingpolicy3.htm

Taping policy found in error
The denial of tape-recording a school council meeting is found in violation of public meeting laws.

By NOELLE BARTON , STAFF WRITER

HARWICH - Paul and Frank Dooley just wanted to get it right.

The brothers came to a Harwich School Council meeting last month about a health curriculum that included a class visit by members of the Cape and Islands Gay and Straight Alliance, and brought a small tape recorder along.

Sitting on a chair in the library March 20, the tape recorder quietly recorded Frank Dooley's speech in protest of the curriculum and was poised to capture the words of curriculum supporters when one man stood with a different kind of protest.
"I think at a public forum, the law requires permission to tape," alliance director Scott Fitzmaurice said quietly to the council.

Others at the meeting sensed the mounting tension and said, "What? We can't hear you."

High school principal Robert Krol, co-chairman of the council, agreed with Fitzmaurice. He asked Dooley to turn off the recorder. Later, he asked Dooley to turn his tape over to the council.

It was the wrong call, Krol admitted yesterday after learning from the school's attorney that state law allows taping at public meetings.

"It has never come up as an issue," Krol said. "I think there's a common courtesy that people should be aware that things are being recorded. If not a point of law, a point of courtesy."

The incident was the latest in the controversy sparked by the class program on tolerance presented to Harwich High School students by three members of the Cape and Islands Gay and Straight Alliance. Although some people argued the classes were appropriate for high school students, others argued that a public school is not the right forum for the lessons.

The class sparked a mixed reaction from parents who attended public meetings Feb. 27 and March 20. The Dooleys were among those protesting the class.

Massachusetts open meeting laws permit the recording of public meetings so long as the activity doesn't interfere with the conduct of the meeting. No notification of the recording is required by law, according to Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Mike Trudeau.

These statutes apply specifically to recording in open public meetings - those conducted in public by bodies appointed or elected by a governmental body, Trudeau said.

Although it is against Massachusetts law to record any conversation without the consent of all parties, the specific law about public meetings allows for recording without notification.

"To tell you the truth, I can't tell you if I was surprised or not," Paul Dooley said last week. "I wasn't hiding it under my armpit or anything. I just had it on the chair right beside me. I didn't know the rules about taping at public meetings."

Dooley, who lives off-Cape, joined his brother at the meeting to protest the curriculum. He said they had no idea the council would decide the issue that night.

"I'm 68 years old now and I don't want to say John Henry or Peter Jones said this when in fact they didn't say it," Paul Dooley said. "I wanted an exact recording of the meeting to see what was said by both sides, and submit a rebuttal at a later time after we had considered all the arguments that had been made. It's easy to misrepresent somebody if you don't know exactly what it is they said."

Tape recorder not returned

Krol said he made it clear that a decision was likely to be made at the March 20 meeting. Since it was the second public meeting on the issue, Krol believed there had been ample time to address the issue.

Krol said he was surprised to learn someone was tape recording the meeting without his prior knowledge. In his experience at other schools, it was expected that people would notify the council at the beginning of the meeting that they would be taping, he said. Yesterday afternoon, he learned that notification was an established courtesy and not a matter of law.

Krol has not returned the tape recorder and Dooley has not sought its return. No formal complaints have been filed with the district attorney's office related to the matter.

Fitzmaurice said members of the gay and lesbian community were the target of an anti-gay campaign by people who secretly tape recorded a gathering last year. The tape was later manipulated to portray gays and lesbians in a negative light, he said.

But that gathering was not a public meeting - even though it was open to the public - because it was not the quorum of an elected board.

"I am particularly cautious of that happening when they haven't asked permission. I may be wrong but I'm covering my butt," Fitzmaurice said. "I'm concerned about the accuracy of information."

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Washington, D.C., said she couldn't remember a time when people were kept from recording public meetings.

"An open meeting is an open meeting," she said. "In this generation, it means radio recording, tape recording and video recording. It's kind of a no-brainer."

FYI
HARWICH NCES
81 OAK ST
HARWICH, MA 02645-2701
County Name:BARNSTABLE
Phone:(508)430-7200

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This message has been distributed as a free informational service for the expressed interest of non-profit research and educational purposes only.

PRIMER WEBSITES

GLSEN --- Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network
www.glsen.org
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
www.lambdalegal.org
Safe Schools Coalition of Washington
www.safeschools-wa.org
The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project Home Page
www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
www.pflag.org
Empire State (NY) Pride Agenda
www.prideagenda.org
GLAAD

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
www.glaad.org
Unity Through Diversity (Long Island)
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Castro/3212/
LIGALY Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth
http://www.ligaly.com/

"The Real or Perceived Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgendered Student Protection Project"
("Being safe at school should not be a radical concept".. Jamie Nabozny)

A project of:
Coalition for Safer Schools of New York State

John Myers
Director of Operations and Programs
PO Box 2345
Malta, NY 12020
(518) 587-0176

Email:saratogany@aol.com

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