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District's sound system a joke

12:00 PM Monday, April 6, 2009

The word "joke" can be defined as an action that is intended to invoke laughter. I define myself as a member of the general public who frequently attends Talawanda school board meetings. The board continuously tolerates the repetition of a joke at its monthly meetings. It's an acoustics joke. The joke has more than one part. First, someone has the responsibility of setting up a loudspeaker system. A microphone is placed off to the side of the board table, an amplification box is placed on the floor and on each side is placed a broadcasting speaker. The joke is that at most of the meetings I have attended none of it works. At the most recent meeting I attended (March 16) there was no amplification coming from any of the equipment. Comments made by the board members were mainly muffled and inaudible. Unless one is a professional speaker who communicates strongly and directly, such as the chief architect hired by the board who gave a 49-minute presentation, the words of others who had reports or presentations to give suffered the same fate as the board comments, muffled and inaudible.

The other part of the joke is that on those rare occasions when there is amplification, the only things that are amplified noticeably are strange communication quirks. A board member will drop a microphone. That drop is communicated all over the room.

After this most recent meeting, I was talking with another audience member who, more so than I, can be classified as one who attends regular Talawanda Board meetings without fail every month. She explained to me that more than once she has complained to individual members of the board about this persistent acoustics problem. She tells me that they listen politely to her and then at the next meeting the acoustics problem is still present. From my observations of the Talawanda Board, that's the board's style.

Talawanda Board, put an end to this joke of a sound system that you presently make use of. Try to do something to improve your communication with the public at your meetings.

Alan Rigling

Hanover Twp.

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