The Greater Essex County School Board is responding to public demand and will begin live streaming its meetings.
After much debate over the cost, trustees opted to go with the most expensive option at a cost of just under $35,000.
Board chair Jessica Sartori recognizes it's a large start up cost, but feels it's money well spent when it comes to accessibility and transparency.
"We had made the decision a couple of meetings ago, that we were going to live stream our meetings into the community and trustees supported the motion, ultimately," she says. "Overall, there was agreement that this was something that we wanted to do and we wanted to do it well."
Sartori says the equipment will allow the board to put out a quality product for years to come.
"I think that the quality is important for engagement as well," she says. "I would not like to lose people from participating and engaging online and watching the board meetings through the live stream because the quality wasn't very good."
Streaming is something parents are asking for according to Sartori.
"The parent involvement committee says that it's something that they have been hoping for for years," she says. "The home and school association wrote a letter of support as well and certainly, when I was out canvassing, I did her from people at the door that they would like to see more engagement and something more accessible."
The $35,000 option includes includes three cameras which will provide a 4K feed of board meetings live on YouTube, with the annual operating cost for a camera operator estimated at $2,500.
Equipment will be installed over the summer with streaming expected to begin in September.