Staff Photos
Goldson (left): If it makes sense for the kids … McArthur-Jackson: Virtual has benefits.
Should the Board of Education return to in-person meetings, now that schools are reopen? Or stay virtual?
As New Haven emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, board members wrestled with that question, weighing whether some form of Zoomocracy becomes the new normal.
The board debated that question at its regular meeting on Monday evening.
Board member Darnell Goldson has repeatedly brought up the topic, arguing that the board should follow the same rules it sets for teachers.
“We should lead by example. If school is safe enough for people to return, we should be comfortable returning too,” Goldson argued.
“Convenience is not a good enough reason not to be in front of these parents, students and community members physically, doing our business in a transparent, open way.”
Schools reopened in-person for elementary schoolers in January after months of virtual school during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now all students through the high school level have the option of in-person learning. Teachers and paraprofessionals, on the other hand, have to teach in-person or take unpaid leave.
Board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, a pediatrician, led the other side of the debate.
“This is a volunteer, working board. The fact that we can go home and meet virtually — the pandemic kind of spoiled us in this way,” Jackson-McArthur said. “I’m a working mother. We all know how loaded that phrase is. It’s my life, and I wouldn’t trade it. But when I find something that makes it easier, I take it.”
Once Mayor Justin Elicker mentioned that only 41 percent of the city is vaccinated and Covid-19 cases are still fairly high, Jackson-McArthur doubled down on the argument she has made in the past.
“We’re still in a pandemic. I risk my life every day when I go to work, even though I am vaccinated. Going to a meeting, you know, that’s a little iffy for me. I definitely would vote for Zoom. That’s no disrespect for our heroes in classroom or our heroes anywhere. I know how it is. You get home, you make the sign of the cross, you hug your family,” Jackson-McArthur said.
Gov. Ned Lamont suspended all in-person meeting requirements, mandating that any commission member who wants to attend and vote virtually may do so. At the moment, that suspension lasts only until May 20.
Board members are not legally required to meet in person even if this suspension expires, according to Shipman & Goodwin lawyer Thomas B. Mooney. The board could hold an in-person meeting with only a speakerphone (or projector) in a room and all board members attending virtually. The only requirement is that the board’s bylaws require in-person attendance for executive sessions, when the public is not allowed to listen in.
No other board member except Goldson argued as passionately for in-person meetings. Elicker said the city is talking about hosting hybrid virtual and in-person meetings when more of the city is vaccinated. He added that schools have been safe, with fairly low Covid case numbers.
Board President Yesenia Rivera boosted the convenience and efficiency of the virtual meetings.
Larry Conaway said the vaccination rate convinced him to stay virtual for a while longer.
Board member Matt Wilcox pointed out that sometimes 400 – 500 community members have tuned into the virtual meetings, in a way that never happens in-person. The board should try to keep this benefit as it tries to capture some of the other benefits of in-person meetings, he argued.
He expressed hope that more guidance will come down from the governor’s office and the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission.
“We are only one of thousands of boards and commissions affected,” Wilcox said.