Downers Grove Grade School District 58 board members are attempting to get on the same page when it comes to communication.

Given the increased reliance on e-mail, school officials thought they should include language in their board policy. Communication in any form, written or electronic, to the board or individual board members are to be shared with the superintendent and all board members, according to the proposal.

The School Board also is looking to tighten up its internal communications. Instead of “discouraging” board members from talking or communicating district business between more than two individual board members, the new policy would prohibit such conduct.

Board members spent nearly 45 minutes at Monday’s meeting discussing and clarifying the details of each proposal.

Board Vice President Marshall Schmitt said people need to understand if they send an e-mail to a board member, there is an obligation to share that with other officials.

 “I think what’s really important is that the way in which the public chooses to correspond with you, to communicate with you, determines the rules by which you can respond to them,” Superintendent Dale Martin said.

Schmitt also reminded the board this policy is not intended to create discretion on the part of the board members to decide what the other officials should see or not see. Any e-mail or written communication sent to a board member will be forwarded by the secretary to the rest of the board.

Board member Mary Ellen Young said she and her colleagues struggled to find the right language, especially in light the district is trying to be more receptive to community input. She agrees with the proposal, but feels people need to be informed of the changes beforehand.

The board dissected the policies, covering various forms of communication from phone calls to chat rooms and blogs. These policies do not include phone calls, Schmitt said, because there is some discretion with phone calls.

Blogs, on the other hand, can create a variety of problems because of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. As board President Tom Cunningham pointed out, if a board member comments on a blog related to board business, it automatically forecloses the opportunity for anyone else to comment because it would violate the terms of the new policy.

The proposed language was amended to prohibit officials from using “blogs or chat rooms, to conduct any discussion of board business between more that two individual board members.”

“This makes us as a board much more transparent, which is exactly what we wanted to do,” said board member Claire Jaros.

The two policies will be voted on at the district’s next meeting scheduled for Monday, July 9.