Is Sudbury's Rainbow Board sharing enough information about what happens at its meetings? - Action News
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Sudbury

Is Sudbury's Rainbow Board sharing enough information about what happens at its meetings?

A Greater Sudbury parent wants more transparency from a local school board.

If city council can do it, school boards should be able to do it as well, public school parent says

Is the Rainbow District School Board in Sudbury sharing enough information about what happens at its board meetings? One Sudbury parent says no. (istock)

A Greater Sudbury parent wants more transparency from a local school board.

Kirk Dopson started attending Rainbow District School Board meetings eight years ago, when his children's school was under review.
The Rainbow District School Board says it will look into the possibility of live-streaming its school board meetings next year. (CBC)

He saidminutes from the board meetings are posted online, but hesaid theydon't include all of what's said at the table.

Dopson saidparents would have access to more information if the board could live-stream the meetings.

Further, he saidthe meetings start at 5:30 p.m., which can be problematic for parents who want to attend in person.

"For most people, it's simply a timing issue. You're either just getting off work or you've got to go home and get supper, interact with your family and kids and then have to turn around and try to get back to the meeting on time," he said.

The board saidthe meetings are held earlierso that trustees outside of Sudbury don't have to travel too late in the evening.

The board also said it's considering the option of live-streaming meetings when it moves to an new office location next year.

Board chair Doreen Dewar says the board looked at live-streaming a few years ago, but decided it would cost too much to implement in the current space.
Doreen Dewer, chair of the Rainbow District School Board, says the board looked into streaming its meetings several years ago, but it was too expensive to do so at the time. (Rainbow District School Board website)

She saidthe change is something that's being considered for the new board office, set to open next year.

"We've already said as part of the planning, 'Let's make sure this is planned for'."

Dewar added thatthe board posts approved meeting minutes on the website as well as links to presentations and reports.

With files from Martha Dillman. Edited and Packaged by Wendy Bird.