Why livestreaming matters – and how to make it happen

TL;DR: We URGENTLY need parents to commit to attending the April 29 board meeting and speak in favor of livestreaming board meetings.  Here’s why:

In order to increase transparency, accountability, and parent/community involvement, the school board should begin to livestream its meetings, and upload the recordings onto its website afterwards.

That seems like an obvious proposition.

After all, the district spares no effort in sharing how professionally it livestreams student events such as the Robot Rumble.  And it is increasingly the norm for school districts to make their meetings available to the public in exactly this manner, for example at neighboring D11 and at the elementary district 25.

But at D214, the only meetings for which video is available are the  November and December meetings which were conducted via zoom, and where state law mandated making available the recording.  In fact, in January, the meeting was conducted in a hybrid fashion, and a recording is available, but the district refused to post it on their website because there is no state mandate to do so.

Consequently, at the April 8th board meeting, during the public comments portion of the meeting, several parents called on the board to begin livestreaming, and others wrote to Dr. Schuler and the board afterwards.  They all received the identical response:

We have an extensive agenda for our upcoming School Board meeting so I would not expect it to be on that agenda. However I do know that the Board will be discussing the topic of live-streaming in the near future and it will be on the agenda of a subsequent Board meeting.

Such a vague assertion is, simply, not to be believed, especially considering Board President Petro’s comments in a Daily Herald interview after that April 8th board meeting:

“They don’t know what they’re talking about,” Petro said of critics. “They’re not paying any attention to what we’re doing. … I’m not sure how much more transparent we can get.”

Finally, today the Daily Herald editorial board stood up for transparency:

We’re not entirely sure why, at Illinois’ second-largest high school district — an eyelash from being the largest — making meetings available to the public virtually is still subject to debate. But since it apparently is, we’ll add our two cents: Yes, stream the meetings.

Not only stream them, but keep them available on the District 214 website for up to a year, if not in perpetuity.  . .

One of many effects the pandemic has had on society is a heightened expectation that government units will conduct their business openly, using available technology.

It should be a no-brainer for the school board to change its policies.  They clearly have the resources to do so.  It should likewise be an easy task to add an agenda item.  Why would they reject this?  The only explanation that we can conjure up is that they simply don’t want that record, don’t want anything they might say, whether it is controversial or simply foolish-sounding, to be available for others to view after-the-fact.

But, Daily Herald support aside, we cannot wait for the board to add this to the agenda at some unknown point in the future.  They will not do so unless they believe they, themselves, have more to gain from making this change than refusing to do so.  And that means that we, the parents and the community, need to raise our voices, and this means going to the school board meeting and calling for livestreaming, so that they know we are serious.

To repeat: if only a small number of parents attend, they will write us off as unserious.  Only if we have significant numbers in attendance will they consider us as a legitimate voice rather than parents who “don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Livestreaming is, of course, only the first step towards pushing the school district and the school board to be more transparent.  This isn’t just about the school closings in August and November.  We know there are many decisions being made behind the scenes, justified as “within the scope of the superintendent’s authority,” but which parents and the community have a right to know about, and provide feedback on, before they are finalized.  Seminar is, from all reports, being removed from Rolling Meadows.  Class times are being shortened. Classes are being de-tracked. The school district is beginning significant DEI initiatives.  Kids are feeling increasingly pressured to take “career pathways” classes.  The coming requirement for foreign language as well as the other changes in the new state law will require more decision-making, as well as the push for greater accountability regarding achievement disparities among demographic groups.  Quite simply, it is wrong to push these changes through without the knowledge of or any role for parents or the community, regardless of whether the board/district has the legal authority to do so.  But if the board believes that parents are fundamentally indifferent to what is going on, nothing will change.

Which means, again, that we, the organizing parents at D214 Parents for Kids, urge the community to attend the April 29 board meeting and speak out.

And we likewise urge you to comment below to share your intention.  Community members giving speeches that there is a strong desire in the community for livestreaming need to know that this support will be demonstrated by other speakers and by community members in attendance.

Thank you for your support.