The path ahead for RB for DV

Dear readers,

Over the past few months my upkeep of the RB for DV blog has declined. This has been the result of the constant movement and other growing responsibilities in my life. To give you an example, this month alone I've finished my junior year at Syracuse University, as general manager of the 250-member campus TV station called CitrusTV, and after being home for just two weeks I am heading to Connecticut to work at ESPN's headquarters for the next 10 weeks.

So first, I would like to apologize for my inability to continue maintaining RB for DV. The blog has not only been a huge online media learning experience for me, it also has provided exclusive content that has resulted in substantial and positive change for our school board and community.

With your help, RB for DV became one of the first places for online discussion about matters in our school district. We made news headlines over the lack of transparency exhibited by the school board, most notably over the political games involved in filling the board's vacancy in 2008.

We became the first, and for a long time, the only place for instant coverage of breaking news affecting the school district and the first and only place for full audio recordings of every minute of every school board meeting for about a year or so. Since our efforts began, the meetings are webcast as part of the School Board 2.0 project, more materials are posted on the district's Web site, and the new majority of the school board has made a concerted effort to raise the priority of a transparent school board.

So second, and in conclusion, I would like to thank you for all of your support and help over the past few years to make RB for DV a success. Nearly 45,000 (45 thousand!) visits to the blog later, we have been a part of the movement to create a more informed and involved public and a more accountable school board and administration. In some small way, this blog has contributed to a better school district and community.

RB for DV will always exist as an archive of the past two to three years of school district business, and it may serve as a hub for information and discussion again some day.

Until then, all the best...

Ryan