School Committee Meetings No Longer Live-streamed
Seekonk School Committee meetings are no longer being live-streamed, which led to some tension at Monday’s meeting.
“In early December, it was brought to our attention that the streaming of our meetings couldn’t happen because of a technical issue,” member Noah Escaler said. “It’s been over two months and parents and citizens have reached out to me and asked when the meetings will resume being live-streamed.”
Escaler contacted Superintendent Rich Drolet and was informed that committee chairwoman Erin Brouillette directed him not to live-stream the meetings anymore and that he supported that decision.
Escaler noted the decision not to live-stream was never discussed with the public and he was never advised of the decision when it was made.
“This was not asked to be on the agenda nor has it been brought to our attention so this is not the right forum for the topic,” Brouillette said, adding Escaler could wait until the public comment portion of the meeting to state his views.
Escaler declined to speak during the public comment portion.
“I am not speaking on behalf of the school committee, I’m speaking (on behalf of) the people of this town,” Escaler replied. “My duty on this committee is not to protect the school committee but to protect the people of this town.”
“No one is asking you to protect anybody,” Brouillette added.
“Our meetings are broadcast in real time through the local television station (Channel 17), so they are live streamed, just not through Facebook anymore,” Drolet said Tuesday.
Drolet noted the school district had experienced technical issues with live streaming through Facebook.
“We put the recording of the meetings on our website the following day after the meetings,” Drolet continued. “Individuals can attend the meetings in person. Given all these avenues for individuals to participate and watch meetings, including in real time remotely, we did not feel it was needed to also broadcast the meetings through an additional platform anymore, especially because we were concerned about various aspects of Facebook live streaming, such as the comment feature and other data security and privacy concerns. We believe these chosen communication methods allow the entire community access to our school committee meetings.”
Comments
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rayc99
Thanks for the full explanation.
I agree that as long as the meeting is live-streamed somewhere, there is no need for duplication.
Good decision.
I do have a suggestion.
Please put a link to the livestream on this page (https://www.seekonkschools.org/school-committee),
so that people who want to watch the meeting live will know how to do so.
Otherwise, some might think that there is a lack of transparency.
Thank you.
Monday, February 13, 2023 Report this
TomBenoit
Rayc99 - I believe the only ‘live stream’ is on cable channel 17. If you have do not have cable tv or are out of town, you will just have to wait until the next day. To me, not a big issue, but a bigger issue to others. Additionally, I think the point of contention is the process used to make the decision.
Monday, February 13, 2023 Report this
rayc99
Hi Tom,
Just to clarify my comment...
It is a big deal.
Town residents need to have the ability to view the meetings LIVE. I believe the link I suggested will provide LIVE viewing online (at least I hope so, otherwise I would feel differently). No need for Cable TV.
Ray
Thursday, February 16, 2023 Report this
Gigigi
Not everyone has cable anymore more.
Friday, February 17, 2023 Report this