School board trustees will consider the costs associated with different options for having their meetings recorded and available to the public for viewing, according to the Oct. 18 board of education agenda.
Morgan Hill Unified School District staff outlined four options for supplying such video recordings to local residents who are interested in watching meetings but are unable to attend.
The district currently has the capabilities to video stream the proceedings from the board meeting room to an upstairs overflow room at the 15600 Concord Circle district headquarters. One “no cost” option is using this stream to record the meetings and then upload them onto YouTube for viewing at a later date. However, one problem identified by district staff is that the “video and audio quality of this option is poor, and results in some inaudible moments due to excessive audience chatter, or the speaker talking with a low volume.”
The other three video production options come at a cost.
A “contract-out” option, similar to what Gilroy Unified School District does for its board meetings, estimates a $450 per meeting charge for recording services.
An “in-house” option, based on Santa Clara County Office of Education’s experience, will run $78,850 in installation costs and then $22,320 in additional annual costs to operate, maintain and update the equipment.
Another recording choice is to have the media departments at Ann Sobrato and Live Oak high schools do the recording work. This option has a $400 per meeting estimate, according to district staff.
Other general business items on Tuesday night’s docket include a review of the school district’s 2015-16 Student Expulsion, Suspension and Truancy Reports; an introduction to the new Coordinated Advocacy and Resources for Education Program, which helps to better serve students who are homeless, foster, English Learners or low income; and an overview of MHUSD’s EL program.
Action on the options for the Britton Middle School Project will be taken at the Nov. 1 meeting and not Oct. 18 like originally scheduled following the Oct. 11 special meeting dedicated to the construction proposals.
