Broad Support Heard for Keeping Taconic High's WTBR-FM
 The School Committee has held off on closing WTBR until two required boards overseeing the station can be revived and provide recommendations. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Superintendent Jason "Jake" McCandless said the School Department will soon begin a three-month process of evaluating WTBR-FM, following an outpouring of public support for the station.
In a report presented to the School Committee on Wednesday, McCandless quantified a series of concerns and the next steps he intends to take in examining the school district's operation of the 40-year-old radio station operated out of Taconic High School.
"We really have to fish or cut bait," said McCandless of the program, which he believes may be a liability to the school system as currently run. "If we're going to do it, we have to do it right."
In addition to more than a thousand signatures gathered on traditional and online petitions in defense of keeping the nonprofit educational station, a crowd of about 15 student alumni and other community members opposed to the losing of WTBR addressed the committee Wednesday.
Billy Madewell IV, a 2011 Taconic alumni who currently works for Vox Communications as well as being an announcer for the Pittsfield Suns, touted a list of local radio and communications personalities who have been mentored by the station. He also praised the impact this educational program has had on students with disabilities.
"WTBR has gone beyond the spectrum of accomplishing its task," said Madewell.
Shane Reed, another former student still involved with the station, said that the program had helped him "enormously," in everything from dealing with anger issues to cultivating his love of music.
"I've been wanting to do radio since I first laid eyes on the station," said Reed. "To see it go to waste would just kill me."
"It would be a great shame to let this community resource go to waste," agreed student Andrew Baillargeon, who said the station had helped him cultivate an interest in media and journalism.
In addition to the role it has served for former students, many extolled the benefit of the station to the community overall, for its unique musical format as well as the local news and informational benefit of its popular morning show, "Good Morning Pittsfield."
Megan Whilden, who played a role in helping revive programming at the station several years ago while working as the city's director of community development, extolled the importance of the station to community media access, and offered to help the school department explore solutions to better fund and support the station, potentially through partnership with other organizations.
"I think Pittsfield is very lucky to have WTBR," said Whilden "I am hoping that the School Committee will not rush into a decision regarding the radio station."
"I can't begin to tell you all the great things WTBR has accomplished for the community in just the past five years," said Shane Gaetani, an adult volunteer at the station.
"I think we've heard tonight what an asset the station is to students," said Edward Bride, who has been a recurring guest on "Good Morning Pittsfield." "It would be a cultural tragedy if this asset were to be lost to the community."
That one-hour portion of the station's programming, which otherwise consists of classic rock but also boasts a popular polka show, is of particular concern in the discussion surrounding WTBR's future.
"I don't believe there is a place on the radio station for a politician to advance his career," said James Gleason, a Taconic alum who said he has also called the superintendent on two recent occasions to complain that the program, hosted by City Councilor John Krol, had featured organizers of beer-related charity events.
"I know that there have been complaints, about the lack of leadership," said Kathy Lloyd, of Pittsfield. "I also know that the current administration at City Hall are not fans of the 'Good Morning Pittsfield' show, but I think freedom of speech and not politics should reign in this discussion."
McCandless said he personally liked the show, and the station overall, but said it does raise concerns, ranging from security considerations surrounding show guests to FCC liabilities arising from any of its live programs. Several years ago, the district paid $5,000 in fines, close to the total of the station's annual budget funding, due to a Federal Communications Commission violation.
"This is a federally governed entity," said McCandless, who as superintendent is the licensee for the station's educational nonprofit license. "It's not something we can engage in as a kind of hobby."
"We know that there's an incredible emotional investment in WTBR, and that's great," said Mayor Daniel Bianchi, who said he, too, has concerns about both safety and liability concerns. "My big concern is the safety of the students."
Bianchi also voiced concerns that space for the station would not be funded by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which will pay for an indeterminate majority (estimates range from 65 to 75 percent) of the total cost of building the planned new Taconic building, and any space for the station would need to be paid for entirely by the city's portion.
McCandless said issues around WTBR have occupied the attention of "eight or nine" superintendents in the past, and worried that the station's ongoing needs may be taking away from things that benefit a larger number of students.
"It seems like it's much more about the adults in the community than the population we're here to serve," McCandless told the committee. "I really think we need to get back to the educational aspects of this.
"I would love to be the superintendent that could actually get a way for WTBR to be consistently high quality and sustainable ... It's not a good use of our time to be plowing the same field over and over and over again."
The superintendent advised that the next step in examining what to do about WTBR is to first institute already existing School Department policy, dictating that the station must have a "station board" as well as an "advisory board," which have not been in place for years. While the policy dictates they should exist, it in no way defines them or outlines their membership needs and terms, and that is the first thing the committee will be asked to vote on at its next meeting on October 14.
The school administration will begin populating these committees with volunteers, and hopes to have them approved by the School Committee by late November. They will begin to meet to examine the School Department's issues and concerns, and produce a preliminary report by mid-January.
"Run it right, then make a determination," said committee co-Chairman Daniel Elias, endorsing the idea of establishing appropriate management of the station to see if it could be salvaged before looking at the possibility of terminating it.
"It's not too late to do it right," agreed fellow committee member Anthony Riello.
"We're looking for oversight, we're looking for vision, we're looking for direction," added Chairwoman Katherine Yon.
McCandless said if the School Department cannot manage to find a way to manage the station internally, it can also pursue the potential of partnerships with other commercial or community organizations to accomplish this.
"I don't know how this is going to end," he concluded.
Tags: FCC, radio, Taconic High, WTBR,
