During the Feb. 25 board of education meeting, Margaret Murphy of Franklin Square, president of Concerned Parents of the Sewanhaka Central High School District, Inc., formally introduced her organization. She also raised concerns regarding what she described as censorship of opposing opinions voiced by audience members.

Concerned Parents of the Sewanhaka Central High School District, Inc. is a parent-based organization advocating parental involvement in decisions made affecting the educational system.

The organization was formed partly on the belief "that a parent's lack of involvement arises, not out of an intrinsic indifference to their children's education, but rather from a realistic perception that parents have no real power to influence decisions of the educational system in a meaningful way," Murphy said. Concerned Parents hopes to change this perception by creating an atmosphere in which parents are encouraged to vocalize their concerns regarding the state of their children's education.

The support of the school board on this pressing issue would encourage parents of the four school districts to organize under the banner of Concerned Parents where they can voice their concerns as a unit rather than four separate entities. "We would like to be looked upon by the board as a positive organization," Sandra Smith, Concerned Parents vice president, said.

The board's reluctance to include voices of dissent in their meeting minutes stifles the democratic process and discourages community members from believing their concerns are taken seriously, Murphy said, adding that while dissenting opinions are often overlooked in meeting minutes, "a written statement from another community member has been included."

She continued by reminding the school board of its past policies. "The past practice of the district was to include statements from community members in keeping with the spirit of the Open Meeting Law and the district's own policy on community involvement," she noted.

Sewanhaka School Board President Archie Cheng however said that the Open Meeting Law was not violated and that the right to speak at a board of education meeting is granted by the board.

The law states in Section 106 that meeting minutes should "consist of a record or summary of all motions, proposals, resolutions and any other matter formally voted upon and the vote thereon." Written statements from community members do not have to be included in the meeting minutes, however once a public body allows the audience to speak at a meeting, all members who choose to speak should be treated in a like matter.

"Without including statements of dissent, the board of education is indulging in censorship and the minutes are reduced to propaganda of consent," Murphy claimed, adding that "violation of the Open Meeting Law denying parents a voice in an educational policy and censoring the minutes are travesties of democracy."

Murphy asked the board "as a continued expression of good faith and belief in the democratic process," to include all written statements from community members in the minutes.