CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The ability to provide public comment remotely at Laramie County School Board 1 meetings is changing.
At Monday night’s school board meeting, trustees discussed potentially not renewing the district’s annual Zoom license. The district pays $17,000 a year for the license to allow those watching meetings remotely to give public comment.
Chair Alicia Smith initiated the discussion about the video subscription. The rest of the district, she said, utilizes Microsoft Teams for remote video calling. The Zoom software is only used to allow those attending school board meetings to participate in public comment.
Getting rid of Zoom could mean that public comment will only be possible in person at school board meetings, Smith said. The decision wouldn’t impact anyone’s ability to watch the meeting remotely, as the district also streams it on YouTube. Board members who would have to miss meetings would still be able to join via Teams.
Mary Quast, community relations director for LCSD1, said the district will research to determine whether Microsoft Teams can be used for public comment. The district is hoping to provide an update to the board at the Jan. 13 school board meeting.
Another potential remedy brought forward at Monday’s meeting would be that community members fill out an online form prior to a meeting. Someone with the district would then read the comments submitted in that form.
Aside from this potential change to public comment, board members have enacted a separate change to their routine meetings. All public comment will now take place at the beginning of school board meetings. The district holds time for two separate comment periods: the first pertains to items on the meeting agenda, and the second allows people to speak about any non-agenda topics. Both of these comment periods will now take place back to back at the beginning of board meetings. The second comment period has historically taken place at the end of meetings.
