During livestreamed school board meetings in Arizona, cameras often record commenters during public comments, raising safety concerns. Students and community members speaking on contentious issues sometimes find clips of themselves circulating in hostile online spaces.
Additionally, some activists position themselves in front of the camera to display political messages on their clothing or to be seen applauding or jeering. School boards should not be forums for this type of political campaigning.
Several districts, including Scottsdale, Mesa, Paradise Valley, and Deer Valley, have switched to camera setups that keep members of the public off-camera. This approach is seen as safer, fairer, and more conducive to conducting business.
We recently drafted a letter to send to school boards that have not yet changed their camera setups for public comments (below). If you know of a district we should contact, please let us know at info@secularaz.org.
We also encourage you to borrow our talking points for your own message to your school district.
Our letter:
I hope this email finds you well. I am reaching out today to ask you to consider changing the camera set up for online streaming. Many districts throughout the state have moved the cameras for online streaming to shield the public from potential threats.
It saddens me that community members have begun to weaponize our public schools and districts, but unfortunately, there are those who seem to want to use these meetings to push dangerous agendas and make threats.
I’m not aware of every district in AZ that has made this change, but I can tell you that many neighboring districts have made that decision. Scottsdale, Mesa, Paradise Valley, and Deer Valley are just a few off the top of my head.
Additionally, board meetings should be free from political campaigning. Currently so many people wear political shirts with candidates’ names or political campaigns that it almost seems as if they’re wearing what they wear and sitting where they sit so they can get some free press.
School board meetings are public meetings where the board can conduct important business, not platforms for people to express their political ideologies. School board positions are nonpartisan for a reason, and just as there shouldn’t be political partisanship in the classroom, there also shouldn’t be political partisanship in the boardroom.
Thank you in advance for considering this change, and thank you to all of you for your public service and commitment to Arizona’s children and future.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
If your school district doesn’t stream their meetings online, you may also wish to encourage them to offer it for accessibility and transparency.
