Virtually Be In the Room Where It Happens
As this pandemic moved past the 18-month mark in Dallas County, we recognized a need in our community — one that had remained unfilled throughout the first wave, second wave, and whatever number wave we’re on now.
Namely, for those who can’t attend Highland Park ISD board of trustee meetings, there’s very little recourse than to wait for our very able (and very-speedy-but-still-only-one-person) Rachel Snyder to recap that meeting at peoplenewspapers.com.
Regardless of where you fall in the spectrum of approaches to the pandemic, being able to watch a school board meeting and see what unfolded, and all the discussion, is your right as a taxpayer and as a resident who lives within the boundary of the school district.
But if you cannot attend in person — or are wary of attending because you or your loved ones are medically vulnerable — there was no option for you.
Highland Park ISD is not large enough to fall under a state law that requires local governments to provide recordings of their meetings. But that shouldn’t be a reason to not do it — so we will.
We started live-streaming meetings in August, and then posting the recordings on our Youtube channel as soon as the meeting ended.
We recognized the need in our community and realized we had the ability to offer a solution. Is it fancy? No. It is not. But thanks to a trusty iPhone, a tripod, and a two-person team monitoring and troubleshooting, we’re able to provide something that wasn’t available before — convenient access to the room where it happens, as it is happening.
Since we started, we have had more than 1,800 people view our Youtube channel, and some of the meetings have seen upwards of 1,000 viewers for live streams on our Facebook page.
We hope that at some point the district opts to provide residents with the means to watch and participate in meetings virtually. When and if it does, we’ll happily pack up our tripod and lay down our phones. But until then, as we have for 40 years, we’re going to serve our community.
You can follow meetings live at facebook.com/pcpeople and see recorded meetings at our Youtube channel.
Namely, for those who can’t attend Highland Park ISD board of trustee meetings, there’s very little recourse than to wait for our very able (and very-speedy-but-still-only-one-person) Rachel Snyder to recap that meeting at peoplenewspapers.com.
Regardless of where you fall in the spectrum of approaches to the pandemic, being able to watch a school board meeting and see what unfolded, and all the discussion, is your right as a taxpayer and as a resident who lives within the boundary of the school district.
But if you cannot attend in person — or are wary of attending because you or your loved ones are medically vulnerable — there was no option for you.
Highland Park ISD is not large enough to fall under a state law that requires local governments to provide recordings of their meetings. But that shouldn’t be a reason to not do it — (bold ital) so we will. (end bold ital)
We started live-streaming meetings in August, and then posting the recordings on our Youtube channel as soon as the meeting ended.
We recognized the need in our community and realized we had the ability to offer a solution. Is it fancy? No. It is not. But thanks to a trusty iPhone, a tripod, and a two-person team monitoring and troubleshooting, we’re able to provide something that wasn’t available before — convenient access to the room where it happens, as it is happening.
Since we started, we have had more than 1,800 people view our Youtube channel, and some of the meetings have seen upwards of 1,000 viewers for live streams on our Facebook page.
We hope that at some point the district opts to provide residents with the means to watch and participate in meetings virtually. When and if it does, we’ll happily pack up our tripod and lay down our phones. But until then, as we have for 40 years, we’re going to serve our community.
You can follow meetings live at facebook.com/pcpeople and see recorded meetings at our Youtube channel.
