| Purpose
The purpose of the school district's educational cable television
channel is to broaden its ability to create and transmit instructional
software throughout the school system in general and the community-at-large.
Furthermore, the facilities of the educational cable channel shall
be used to develop and transmit to subscriber residents programs that
inform the public of and involve them in the goals and services of
the district's public schools.
Authority
The Board will determine which of its official actions have
such community impact and interest to warrant special cable programming.
It will also arrange for release to the media information on such
matters of importance. Matters of a routine nature may be released
by the Superintendent as they have been recorded in the minutes of
the Board meeting and upon request of media representatives. All other
programming, of an instructional nature, and/or dealing with accomplishments
of the pupils and staff of the district, may be approved at the discretion
of the Superintendent or designee.
Responsibility
The Board shall provide parents or guardians and other district
residents opportunities for information and orientation regarding
local school procedures, and will utilize its educational channel,
insofar as practical, to achieve the following objectives:
- To explain the programs, achievements, and needs of the schools
to:
| a. |
Parents |
| b. |
Township officials and other community leaders. |
| c. |
Local business and industry. |
| d. |
Community organizations. |
| e. |
Special interest groups |
| f. |
The community-at-large. |
- Through the communication interact system, to determine:
| a. |
What residents expect from their schools. |
| b. |
What residents think about the accomplishments of their
schools. |
| c. |
What residents would like to know about their schools that
they don't presently know. |
| d. |
Which particular areas of the school program need further
clarification or explanation. |
- To operate, insofar as required, in public session, as speedily
and efficiently as circumstances permit, and with public participation
as well as tape-delayed, unedited cablecasts of public sessions
being provided to subscriber residents at various times during the
week following the session.
- To inform teaching staff personnel that community opinion depends
upon the daily life of the school, and that they should seek the
following objectives as programming opportunity permits in their
respective fields of services:
| a. |
To utilize educational cable programming to
acquaint citizens with the work of the schools. |
| b. |
To utilize educational cable programming to demonstrate
pupil accomplishments, thereby maintaining positive pupil
relations so as to enlist the cooperation of the home. |
Delegation of Responsibility
The Superintendent shall direct the production of or
acquisition of instructional programming to the transmitted via cable
to schools within the district and to the homes of subscriber residents,
and the expansion of educational cable usage to include:
- Closed-circuit programming of supportive video software within
individual schools.
- Cablecasting of district-produced or supportive software licensed
for district use from one central transmission center to all schools
and the homes of subscriber residents.
- Amalgamation of computerized programming and computer technology
with educational cable transmission.
- Expanded learning experiences, via cable, to allow for classroom
instruction in-the-home.
- As technology develops, to supplement existing interact communications
system to allow for responder potential from cable reception points.
- To develop pilot programming in all areas, and then attempt to
secure supportive funding from agencies and foundations to underwrite
such programming, so long as it complies with the policies of the
Board.
Similarly, the responsible district administrator shall direct an
information program designed to acquaint the subscriber residents
with the achievements and the needs of the schools, including as a
minimum:
- Cable television programs of school information.
- A video bulletin board, operating twenty-four hours per day, including
data about school programs and events.
- Cable television programs of pupil performances.
- Emergency procedures programming, to deal with school closings,
delayed openings, early dismissals and civil emergencies.
- Public meetings of the Board of School Directors, cablecast on
a delayed-tape basis.
- Regular updates on programs and policies, as presented by the
Superintendent.
Guidelines
The responsible district administrator shall be guided in
the production, acquisition, and cablecast of educational/informational
programming by these rules:
- The school cable channel will cablecast only those programs which
it has produced or for which the school district has been licensed
to cablecast.
- All originally produced material of an educational or informational
nature shall be handled with good taste and respect the rights of
individual privacy in the development of these productions.
- Operation of cable production and cable transmission equipment
for the school district's educational channel shall be limited to
those employees designated by the Superintendent and the Board as
qualified to handle such responsibility.
- However, every opportunity to provide pupils of the school district
to serve not only as passive viewers of school district cable programming,
but to participate as students of the communications process, shall
be developed by the responsible district administrator and those
designated by the Board to assist him.
- The requests of parent-school associations, school related organizations,
and community organizations of a non-commercial structure to use
the video bulletin board shall be reviewed and implemented whenever
possible.
- The school district's operation of its educational cable channel
is not to be confused with the municipal access channel or public
access channel provided by the cable company itself. The school
district may use its facilities, as the occasion arises, to produce
and cablecast programs that feature resident or municipal projects.
However, it is not the responsibility of the Board to use its educational
cable channel to replace the access channels and services provided
by the cable company.
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