The Rainbow District School Board started livestreaming board meetings in January — the only Northern Ontario board to do so — but because they weren't archived, people had to make sure they tuned in while the meeting was actually underway.
At the board's April 23 meeting, trustees voted in favour of archiving recordings of future meetings on Rainbow's YouTube site for a period of one year after they occur.
By the way, if you're interested in checking out the livestreams either live or after the fact, the next Rainbow board meeting is on May 22. The link to the livestream, hosted through YouTube, is posted on the board's website prior to the meeting.
Director of education Norm Blaseg told Sudbury.com in January the recordings weren't archived because trustees hadn't asked for the service.
But at the February board meeting, trustee Anita Gibson brought forward a motion asking that the board look into archiving the recordings.
A report on archiving was prepared by Dennis Bazinet, superintendent of business with the Rainbow board.
The report said the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility advised the board that due to accessiblity legislation, they would have to provide closed captioning for recordings of the meetings if they were to be archived on Rainbow's YouTube site.
Because this would be privately outsourced, it would cost around $12,000 per year.
Due to the cost, trustee Dena Morrison suggested that the archived recordings be looked at as a pilot project, with the board examining the service's value a year from now. The motion passed with Morrison's amendment.
“We know we've got a whole lot of budgetary pressures coming up," she said. "What I would like to see is if trustees are interested in pursuing this, that the recommendation is this be included in next year's budget as a one-time expenditure, not as an ongoing expenditure."
Gibson — a new trustee who, along with husband Dylan, was banned from some Rainbow board property after a seemingly innocuous 2012 incident until a month before her election last fall — said she has no issue with re-examining the service in 2020.
“I'm fine with the one-year trial, because I think it's always important to monitor what you're doing,” she said.
Archiving livestreamed meetings on YouTube allows people a “different way of experiencing our meetings,” Gibson said.
She said she can tell a constituent to go to the 20-minute mark of a meeting to watch an item of interest, and they can watch it five times over, if they want.
“It really makes it more accessible and shares what we're doing, which I really think is one of our primary jobs as a trustee,” she said.
Trustee Judy Kosmerly said she struggled with the recommendation. While she supports livestreaming, she thinks archiving might stir up negativity against the board. She said she'd rather see the $12,000 per year spent on children.
“I think it's primarily because I've seen the comments, the negativity, the misconstrual of things we say in meetings on Facebook,” Kosmerly said.
“I see even now people who are going through the livestreaming and sharing negative comments and taking it as an opportunity to take potshots at us.”
Trustee Bob Clement said he liked the idea of a pilot project, although he added nobody is “beating down my door and calling me, saying they want livestreaming.”
He also asked board staff what the law is on people taking small segments of board meetings, editing them and publishing them for their own purpose. Blaseg answered, saying it's difficult to regulate online material.
Trustee Judy Hunda said she supported the idea of archiving livestreams, adding having board meetings on the record is a good thing when it comes to Rainbow's detractors.
“I see it as having a clean copy, what actually happens,” she said.
Speaking to Sudbury.com after the meeting, board chair Doreen Dewar, who, along with Kosmerly, was one of two trustees who voted against the motion, said the livestreams have not been popular so far, with less than 20 views per meeting.
“I'm glad the board has decided to do this, and certainly once the motion is passed, all trustees support that motion,” Dewar said.
“We'll see how it works out … I'm very glad that we're going to review it again and to take a look at how well received it is.”
