Let's move on; Dist. 158 board needs to ensure it's recording meetings

It seems like the controversy over Huntley Unit District 158's Nov. 13 school board meeting will drag on forever.

In a story I wrote last month about the failure of four recording systems at the meeting, I wrote that according to Superintendent John Burkey, board Secretary Kim Skaja pressed the record button for the DVD system.

Actually, Burkey said, she pressed the button twice, causing the open-session recording to stop after just half an hour.

After reading the story, Skaja contacted me to tell me that it wasn't her but Burkey's secretary, Naomi Fettes who pressed the button.

Unfortunately, the statement, which is now in question, made it into at least one other news source and may come up at this week's board meeting (my deadline falls before the meeting).

I'm not sure if the portion that was recorded would clear this up, showing either Skaja or Fettes pressing the button, but I plan to watch the DVD to see if there's anything I can glean from it.

Fettes declined to comment about the meeting, directing me to Burkey.

Burkey declined to give me an answer, but you can judge his response for yourself.

"I know the answer, but I'm not going to put an employee out there in public," Burkey said.

He did say it was not Skaja.

That certainly helps, although it would be nice to have visual evidence or at least confirmation of who actually pressed the button.

I don't think the answer is particularly important, considering the other recording failures at the meeting and barring evidence of intent (I'd be shocked if anyone could provide this).

I believe, however, that I owe Skaja the courtesy of noting her objection -- especially considering others may seize on the issue and because I didn't have the courtesy to call her for comment when the original story ran.