Poor audiovisual quality has plagued BoE meetings and made it difficult for parents and others to watch from home.
The deadly COVID-19 pandemic was extremely costly for our society in many ways, but a few good things came out of it. One was an explosion in remote broadcasts of meetings and conferences of all kinds, including meetings of government bodies, which have become obligatory in many states under their Open Meetings laws. There has been widespread appreciation for the concept that true democracy requires citizens to be able to watch a public meeting from home, no matter what the reason they cannot, or prefer not to, attend in person.
This principle is especially important for a Board of Education meeting, which busy parents, often at home preparing dinner for their children or carrying out other tasks, cannot easily make their way to. But when it comes to meetings of the Croton-Harmon Board of Education, following along has been made difficult by the poor broadcast quality—sound and visuals—of both the live broadcasts and the YouTube videos available online afterwards.
We have talked to many parents and other community members who have either given up on watching the meetings or only do so with greatly difficulty.
So last week we asked school board president Ana Teague if the district had any plans to upgrade the system used for its meetings, which recently have been held in the Croton-Harmon High School library. We received the following very encouraging reply.
We also asked Teague about the next meeting of the BoE on July 16, which will include the installation of newly elected or re-elected trustees Jake Day, Betsy Laird, and Anamika Bhatnagar, as well as the election of the school board president. That meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 PM in the school district offices at 10 Gerstein Street in Croton, in a space that does not allow large numbers of people to attend.
Here is Teague’s emailed response, which we are quoting in full except for the salutations at the beginning and the end. It does appear that when the fall term begins, the experience of watching a Board of Education meeting remotely should be much improved.
“Thank you for reaching out and sharing your feedback regarding the audiovisual quality of our Board of Education meetings. After consultation with our Director of Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ellen Moskowitz (who spearheaded the effort and plan outlined below), I want to say that we completely agree that clear audio and video are essential for ensuring our parents and community members can fully engage with and participate in these meetings.
To provide some context on why this hasn’t been resolved sooner, the Board has been moving between spaces to hold BOE meetings over the past few years and therefore has relied on a portable AV setup. Because portable equipment must be moved, calibrated, and reconfigured constantly, it has struggled to consistently handle the unique acoustics and multi-media needs (such as switching between speakers and PowerPoint presentations) of a large public meeting.
Recognizing that our BOE meetings have finally found a permanent home, this portable setup is no longer sufficient. This summer, we will be installing a permanent, professional-grade audio-visual system designed specifically for the CHHS library.
This proposed upgrade will directly address the issues you mentioned through several key enhancements:
High-Definition Video: The plan includes two new network cameras with 20x optical zoom to ensure clear, professional coverage of both Board proceedings and presentations.
Seamless Presentation Integration: The system will utilize advanced video endpoints and wall-mounted inputs to smoothly manage video distribution, ensuring that digital presentations (like PowerPoints) do not disrupt the view of the speakers.
Enhanced Audio Coverage: We are planning the installation of four professional surface-mount speakers powered by a 300W amplifier, alongside a new antenna system to ensure rock-solid reliability for our wireless microphones.
Simplified Control: A dedicated touch-screen controller will allow for seamless meeting recording and video conferencing distribution.
By investing in this permanent infrastructure, we aim to significantly improve the technical quality of our broadcasts and ensure that every voice is heard clearly by our community.
With respect to the July 16th meeting, it is the Board’s practice to hold this annual reorganizational meeting at 5:00 PM in the District Office and make the space open to any members of the public who wish to attend.”
For an idea of what to expect (or at least hope for), the Village of Croton-on-Hudson recently installed an entirely new audiovisual system after the previous one degenerated so badly that the meetings became unwatchable. The screenshot below from a recent archived video shows the split screen capabilities; the sound quality is very sharp and so are the images, which this lower resolution screenshot does not do justice to. A key feature is the ability to zoom in on whoever is speaking at the moment, which makes for a significantly enhanced viewer experience.
As we have noted in earlier coverage, the election of Jake Day and Betsy Laird to the school board, combined with the re-election of Anamika Bhatnagar and the continuing tenure of Allison Samuels, could make for some interesting re-alignments of the politics of that body, which will be worth watching.
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Excellent. We've discussed this Michael and happy to see this upgrade. Now, the Village should do the same thing for the board meetings.