On the heels of our piece last week on the decline in openness from public officials, we learn from the Times Record News that the Wichita Falls Independent School District board is considering a policy under which members of the board would speak to the media only in specific cases.

  Board president Reginald Blow told Texas Watchdog that the panel is simply “revising a policy that has been around for years. ... The president has always spoken for the board, and we have a public information office.”

In the current communications policy for the board, there is this provision:

"Individual Board members should feel free to express their opinions in response to media inquiries, but with discretion-avoiding the appearance of debating an issue through the media, and should avoid criticism of prior action taken by the Board."

The new guidelines would tighten this considerably, as well as add to another current policy. Part of the new proposal follows this flow chart.

Blow, who is also publisher of the North Texas Journal, said the changes "are being made to make us more responsible."

He restated what he told the Wichita Falls newspaper, allowing that each board member may speak to issues germane to his or her district.

But Blow also acknowledged that this proposed policy, whether it is an advanced version of current practice or not, could hamper timely and accurate reporting on issues.

“I’m not a dictator. This policy has been around for 40 years, so it’s nothing new,” Blow said. Renae Murphy in the district's public information office said she did not know which policy Blow was referencing but said that the last time the communications component of the district's procedures was altered was in 2006.

As we read through the district's website, it appears openness and open meetings are taken seriously. And the district does a good job of putting its policies and records online.

The first sentence of the Times Record News story, though, may say it all:

"It may be harder for journalists to get a straight answer out of Wichita Falls Independent School District board members after a new draft of the communications policy is finalized in August.”

Contact Steve Miller at 832-303-9420 or stevemiller@texaswatchdog.org.

Photo of woman by flickr user lewishamdreamer, used via a Creative Commons license.