District trying to boost TV presence

Deirdre Newman

Eleven days.

That’s how long Newport Beach residents have to wait to see a

broadcast of the last school board meeting.

That’s because the district does not have a dedicated educational

public access channel in the city, as it does in Costa Mesa.

Tonight, trustees will discuss how to increase the district’s TV

presence in Newport Beach.

To do so, Steve Glyer, director of educational technology, will

suggest obtaining a dedicated access channel from Adelphia Systems

and Cox Communications. Currently, Newport Beach is working on a

franchise agreement with the two companies.

“With that access, we would be able to do real-time broadcasts of

board meetings and share educational information to the community as

a whole,” Glyer said.

New trustee Tom Egan brought up the lack of access in Newport

Beach during the last board meeting. To get the meetings broadcast in

Newport Beach now, a district employee has to bring a tape to

Adelphia in Santa Ana six days after the meeting. It is shown the

next Saturday.

And at that point, it isn’t exactly “news” anymore.

“There’s something about reruns that people say, ‘It’s old news,’”

said trustee Serene Stokes, who represents Corona del Mar. “Hearing

it live seems to people to be more current.”

Stokes said broadcasting the meetings live would also give working

parents more time to plan to attend school-related activities.

In addition to lobbying for a public access channel, the district

is asking that broadband be installed at the nine Newport Beach

schools that are not wired for cable.

Glyer will represent the district at the Newport Beach City

Council meeting Thursday when officials are expected to examine an

85-page report on the franchise agreement, he said.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].