After six months on YouTube, local school officials are questioning whether livestreaming board of education meetings is worth the staff time — even as trustees advance plans to move school board election notices out of print and fully online.
The Gulf Islands School District’s board meetings have always been open to the public to attend in person, and since 2020 trustees and other officials have often “zoomed in” for meetings when their own attendance was not practicable. There is also no requirement in B.C.’s School Act that mandates meetings be broadcast or recordings be made available to the public, as written minutes are considered the official legal record.
But in 2024, as future school board meetings were being scheduled to take place entirely at the district’s facility on Salt Spring Island, trustees began streaming meetings via Microsoft Teams, partly to allow easier attendance from other islands. Despite improvements in accessibility, both the board and the public expressed frustration that the Teams-based “experience” was unsatisfactory, and shifted to broadcasting school board and committee meetings live on YouTube. That move was expected to save thousands of dollars in potential spending to upgrade meeting room equipment for a proper Teams setup, according to a staff report, and deliver on what board chair Chaya Katrensky called the district’s desire to be “open and transparent.”
Now, board members are facing a staff recommendation to consider dropping live broadcasts altogether, as surprisingly detailed viewer data indicates only a small number of people are actually tuning in.
“We have people popping in and out,” said district superintendent Jill Jensen at the school board’s meeting Wednesday, Feb. 11. “There are times when people will sign on and stay for a certain period of time, and then drop off.”
YouTube tracks visitors well enough to conclude 65 per cent of those who watched the latest meetings had tuned in for an earlier one, according to a staff report on engagement metrics presented to the board; but with an average watch time of just 15 minutes, most viewers clearly don’t stay for the whole meeting.
In fact, peak concurrent views since September have never topped five participants, according to the report, inclusive of the streaming facilitator; the “counter” for Wednesday’s meeting at various points noted as many as seven, although it wasn’t clear how many may have been internal district participants.
Staff noted “clear evidence” of users attempting to access a meeting’s livestream after the event — by clicking on old links in the days following — and suggested that behaviour was indicative of community members who were unable to attend, hoping to find recordings of meetings. Such video records are maintained by the Capital Regional District and the Islands Trust on their respective web pages.
Staff concluded that while the high percentage of returning viewers demonstrated “ongoing interest among a small group,” the viewership numbers remained modest — and suggested the resources and effort to support the YouTube stream may not be justified by the current level of engagement.
“It is also important to note that the streaming facilitator is an excluded staff member whose work day is devoted to monitoring and facilitating the livestream,” according to the report, “rather than engaging in other, potentially more meaningful work that could benefit the organization.”
Indeed, according to secretary treasurer Jesse Guy, since the infrastructure to stream meetings is already in place, the main expense lies in having an IT staff person dedicated to running the broadcast.
“[YouTube streaming] has been easier for the technology team,” said Jensen. “Easier to provide more access for the public and more transparency to viewing board meetings; we are pleased with how it has worked, and as we go into funding for next year, we will also be assessing the cost with that — and if it is a practice that we wish to continue moving forward.”
Jensen added that staff would likely present additional data at a future meeting, about when viewers tune in — and out — over the course of a livestream.
The district is also asking for feedback on plans to shift their public election notices fully online, after a draft bylaw that would eliminate using local newspapers passed first reading Wednesday afternoon.
The district’s Policy Committee — Mayne Island’s Deborah Luporini, Pender’s Greg Lucas and Salt Spring’s Rob Pingle — recommended the changes, which would limit publication to the school district’s website and “official school district social media.”
Staff confirmed that would effectively mean the district’s Facebook page, as it does not maintain any other social media presence.
Last month, the committee had asked if they could use the district’s email newsletter as an official form of circulation. Guy told the board Wednesday that the district’s legal team had “quickly” indicated it was not suitable, although it could be used to augment minimum legal requirements.
“The reason this has come up is just because we’re trying to line up our bylaws with the expectations of the province,” said Luporini, who chairs the committee, adding that the new bylaw will be considered for adoption at the school board’s next meeting Wednesday, April 8.
To view draft district policies and submit feedback, visit sd64.bc.ca/draft-policies-in-circulation.