For the second month in a row, the Cobb Board of Education is not showing live public comments during its virtual meetings.
On Thursday morning, viewers tuning in on the Cobb County School District’s website for a scheduled 10 a.m. work session instead saw a link to the August meetings.
When contacted by East Cobb News, a district spokesman said the live meeting stream would be activated after the public comment period. Here’s the statement he issued about why:
“While meeting virtually, we are using every security measure possible to ensure public comment is appropriate and in compliance with Board policy.
As a security precaution and in compliance with Board policy to verify public commenters as a resident of Cobb County, a District student, a parent/guardian of the District, an employee of the District, or as a non-resident property owner, the video of public comment will be made available on the District website as part of the Board meeting video after the Board meeting ends.”
The live stream came on at 10:30 a.m., when board members were hearing a SPLOST overview and before comments by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale.
Public comments also were scheduled for the board’s regular business meeting Thursday afternoon, which takes place after an executive session that follows the work session.
Last month the board took public comments and said it would make them available online later. However, those public comments were not recorded in what the district said was a mistake.
Those comments were the first public comments the school board has heard since it began meeting virtually in March.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners has held mostly virtual meetings since March, and has continued accepting public comments and showing them live, whether the speakers were in person or speaking via a Zoom connection.
Last September the Cobb school board majority voted to prevent board members from making public comments during meeting, following friction with two colleagues who said they were being censored.
UPDATED:
On Friday, recorded public comments were inserted at the start of the board’s archived meeting feed.
The first three speakers were Wheeler High School students who support a petition effort to change the school name.
Richard Griffiths, spokesman for the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, told East Cobb News that the board doing this a second time is “deliberate” and suggested that the Georgia Attorney General’s office look into the matter.
He took issue with the board’s policy of verifying residency before allowing people to speak.
“All citizens deserve to know what is being said at their meetings,” Griffiths said. “Public comment is not executive session. This is a gross violation of state law.”
Griffith said his organization has brought in representatives of various local governments to help them handle virtual meetings during the pandemic, and “many of them have been exemplary.
“It’s such a disappointment to see Cobb schools is doing this again.”
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