MONROE, CT — School administrators start their work days early in the morning and, on days with Board of Education meetings, their day can easily extend late into the night.
Board of Education Chairman David Ferris suggested an earlier start time for meetings and fellow board members agreed to roll it back by a half an hour. Meetings will now start at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30.
Members agreed that it would still allow time for their committees to meet before the regular board meeting.
As the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kobza spoke to the IT Department to find what equipment would be needed to stream meetings on Zoom in the Masuk High School media center, so residents who feel safer to attend remotely can participate from home.
Residents can currently watch meetings on YouTube, but they cannot speak during the public session that way.
The estimated price tag to equip the media center for Zoom would be around $14,000, Ferris said.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to use $14,000 of un-budgeted money for that,” he said. “If we had $14,000, it should go to something else in my opinion. What is the consensus of the room?”
Other board members agreed with Ferris.
Vice Chairwoman Shannon Reilly asked if the board still wanted to stream its meetings. “We’ll still stream, but I just think that’s too much to spend out of budget,” Ferris said.
How expensive is it allowing unmasked members with alleged “medical exemption?” Has anyone seen documentation/proof of this alleged exemption?
14k? What equipment is required. I work in IT and maybe I can help if the board doesn’t want to open the wallet for safe public viewing and two way streaming.