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School Board likes new digs
by John Tawa
The Manhattan Beach City Hall's City Council chambers hosted a meeting of the Manhattan Beach School Board last Wednesday, an experiment generally viewed as a success by all concerned.
In December, the school board voted to televise its meetings for the first time in history. However, it couldn't decide whether to wire its cramped boardroom for the cablecasts or to conduct its business from the already-wired city council chambers. The board decided to hold two meetings at City Hall to get a feel for the atmosphere and help decide whether to move on a permanent basis.
"I thought it was great and I'm judging that by the number of people in attendance," said school board president Lynette Campbell. "The city couldn't have been nicer. They made it feel like a school board meeting."
"I thought the meeting flowed well," added superintendent Jerry Davis. "But it's a different environment; it's a business environment."
Campbell said she could see the board holding meetings there on a permanent basis.
"I liked the space," she said. "It was much larger than the board room. It made recognitions easier, which may allow us to recognize more students."
"It felt warm and maybe it's the people and not the atmosphere that's responsible for that."
Campbell said there were few drawbacks to the change in venue.
"It felt weird to have Jerry [Davis] and [deputy superintendent] Scott [Smith] below us," said Campbell, pointing to the biggest problem she perceived. "I'd like to see them on the same level, as well as the assistant superintendents because we are all part of the same team."
"Probably the biggest impact is on the support staff who have to get things over to the city council chambers," added Davis.
The school board will be back at City Hall on Wednesday for its Feb. 2 meeting, before deciding whether to make the council chambers its permanent home. The meeting, which is open to the public, begins at 6:30 p.m. It will be televised live on channel 8. ER