The Abbotsford board of education will likely begin live-streaming its public meetings starting next school year.
The online broadcasts will give parents and other stakeholders easier access to engage in the democratic system that governs local schools, board chair Shirley Wilson said.
“If we’re going to engage them, we need to make it easier to engage with us,” she said.
Wilson was initially unsure about whether the practice would be worth the cost, but said she has come around to support it after receiving a report from district staff and discussing it with fellow trustees. A recent question posed to parents on the district’s Facebook page had 82 per cent respond in favour of the idea.
If the board begins streaming in September, it will join six other districts in the province already doing so, including Chilliwack and Langley.
The district will need to buy equipment to begin streaming at an estimated one-time cost of $20,741.
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