The Pleasant Valley School Board on Thursday voted down a proposal to allow members to attend meetings via electronic communications.

The board voted 8-0, with H. Charles Hoffman absent, to reject the policy.This policy was written to allow a board member who was unable to attend a meeting because of illness, travel, schedule conflicts and weather conditions to participate from a remote location through electronic communications.The member would have to submit such a request to the board president at least three days before the meeting, ensure the remote location is quiet and free from background noise and interruptions, and participate in the entire board meeting.If the board member "attends" the meeting through electronic communications, the member must be able to hear everything said, and those attending the meeting must be able to hear everything the absent member says. The board president can terminated the member's attendance through electronic communications if either condition is not occurring.Board Vice President Steve Borger was the first to object to the policy, saying he would not vote for it.President Russ Gould said that he thought as an elected official, a board member should be physically present at the board meetings.When the vote was taken, all eight present members voted no.The board voted 8-0 to table the policies on Meetings and Board Governance Standards/Code of Conduct until they could do further perusal.Superintendent Carole Geary said all the schools in the district gave somber observance of Sept. 11, beginning at 8:46 a.m. when the first plane hit the World Trade CenterMiddle school baseballResident Colleen Schmidt of Polk and a mother of two students asked the board why there was no boys' baseball team in the middle school. Assistant to the Superintendent Chris Fisher said it was because no other middle school boys' baseball teams from school districts play.