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More from Tamara Shamburger about televising comments to the School Board.

Other boards “put staff and students first” by limiting their webcasts, she said.
Tamara Shamburger, shown in 2016, is chairwoman of the Hillsborough County School Board.
Tamara Shamburger, shown in 2016, is chairwoman of the Hillsborough County School Board. [ Campaign photo ]
Published Sept. 11, 2019

Even after Tuesday’s unanimous vote to restore public comment to the Hillsborough County School Board meeting webcasts, chairwoman Tamara Shamburger continues to maintain that her cameras-off approach was more responsible.

Shamburger went on Facebook Wednesday to praise the Pasco County School Board, which is including only some public comments in its new board meeting videos on YouTube. Those that concern agenda items are included. Those that do not are a part of the audio recording, but not the video.

“I respect the Pasco County School Board and others like it for having the courage to put staff and students first by conducting professional business meetings and creating a space where students, their families, staff, and the public can engage the Board around sensitive issues without having a fear of retaliation or their personal information being blasted and cemented across the internet,” Shamburger wrote on her Facebook page.

“When we shift our mindset, we shift the narrative.”

Shamburger also referred to the arrangement in a text to the Tampa Bay Times. “Maybe you can better understand my comments with Pasco’s same exact rationale,” she wrote.