On Monday, February 8th, the Nashua Board of Education held a contentious meeting over “remote” vs. “hybrid” learning. After nearly a year of waiting, “hybrid” might finally be an option in Nashua.
“Hybrid” learning consists of two half-days of in-person learning per week per student and two half-days of “remote” streaming.
One might expect a lot of public comment, especially if you consider those parents who still want “full time” in-person learning for their children.
Oddly enough, only four members of the public gave public comment at the beginning of the meeting and five gave public comment at the end of the meeting. What happened?
It turns out there were dozens of parents and taxpayers, who called in to testify to the board. The public couldn’t see them as they lined up invisibly over phone lines. Even some board members had no idea that so many residents called in, only to be turned away.
Each person, who dials-in, is given a number of their place in line. Talking to parents after the meeting I discovered that there were dozens of people, who were not allowed to speak.
Public comment is controlled by the Board President Heather Raymond.
Who was allowed to talk? One parent was allowed to speak twice: at the beginning and the end of the meeting.
If there was limited time, why allow a parent to speak twice? Is that fair? She gave testimony that was favorable to the board president.
The teachers union president was also allowed to speak. The board president is union-endorsed. Is there a pattern here?
The board president is able to limit public comment behind the scenes.
There was no public announcement of how many parents and taxpayers were turned away. The audience thought only nine people called in last night. They didn’t realize that dozens of people wanted to speak but were not allowed to do so.
If this were a public meeting, parents and taxpayers would be physically present in the room. They would not be invisible.
It would be bad optics to ignore so many people who came to speak. Typically, everyone who attends a board of education meeting is given the opportunity to speak, even if briefly.
Virtual meetings, on the other hand, allow those in control to censor people by limiting those who may speak. Parents can not peacefully “storm a meeting” to voice their concerns as long as meetings are held in a virtual space.
Virtual meetings undermine open self-governance! The make the democratic process impossible.