Trustees Want Their Meetings Televised : Schools: Thousand Oaks board members say they lack funding to cover the estimated $50,000 annual cost.

Thousand Oaks school board members want their meetings televised on a local cable channel to increase community awareness of the school district’s activities, trustees said Friday.

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But to do so, the Conejo Valley Unified School District must find a way to pay the estimated $50,000 annual price tag.

“It needs to be investigated,” said board President Dolores Didio, who suggested the idea during Thursday’s meeting.

Proposals to televise school board meetings, which are held twice a month, have been raised periodically in past years but were usually scrapped because of cost, Didio said.

The idea resurfaced recently during the school board election campaign, when parents and candidates criticized trustees for not communicating with residents.

“It has been pursued and dropped,” Didio said. “Maybe it is time.”

Trustees said the key to making the proposal a reality is finding funding sources such as grants, contributions from local businesses or a cable company willing to produce the meeting broadcasts for free.

“I think a study is what we should begin with,” trustee Richard Newman said, explaining that the board needs to evaluate community interest and alternative funding before making any decisions.

Newman said live televised meetings would inform the community, but he said he was not willing to take money away from classroom programs to do it.

School officials estimate it would cost about $50,000 to buy and install cameras and videotape equipment to televise the meetings. In addition, the district would have to pay annual maintenance costs.

“At this stage in the game, any money we take away from the classroom isn’t well-spent,” Newman said.

Community interest in televised school board meetings has been mixed. A recent survey of Conejo Valley families found that only 40.9% would be interested in viewing board meetings on local television.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said parent Mary Beth Eisenhard. “It makes it more accessible. . . . TV is the way into our homes.”

Simi Valley school board meetings are regularly broadcast live on cable television, and Moorpark school board meetings are occasionally televised.

Parent Robin Westmiller, who was a school board candidate this fall, has pushed for televised meetings in Thousand Oaks.

“This is something the community needs,” she said. “Parents can’t get out at night to go to a meeting. They are taking care of their kids.”

Newly elected board member Elaine McKearn, who will take the fifth seat on the board in December, said she opposes spending district money to televise meetings, but agrees that it would educate parents.

“It’s a good idea, but I wonder about the cost,” she said. McKearn suggested that trustees seek volunteers, possibly even students, to record the meetings on videotape for rebroadcast on a local cable channel.

Didio agreed, but said she was optimistic that money could be found to broadcast the meetings live. “If you really want something to happen,” she said, “you can find ways to make it happen.”