The Lantern

Board to vote on livestreaming at Tuesday’s meeting

Written by Caileane Thurston | Feb 6, 2025 9:00:55 PM

On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the Board of Trustees (BOT) will vote on three options regarding livestreaming their monthly meetings: continue to livestream, record and post the video to Youtube or provide minutes instead. This discussion came as a result and decision by the Kansas Associate of Community Colleges (KACC). According to January’s board materials, “Executive Director Heather Morgan has noted concerns that livestream/recorded meeting easily capture inaccurate information discussed or presented, personal viewpoints and discussion that involve intra-Board, college conflicts among other issues that could create future problems and liability issues for colleges.” 

By recording and live streaming these meetings, it has required commitment from BCTV, technology set up and more. 

“I personally would prefer to continue livestreaming the meetings, but at a minimum I think they should be recorded, posted to YouTube and have a link posted on the BCC website,” Trustee Shelby Smith said.  

He has heard from others who would like to keep the meetings livestreamed. He adds that there’s no statutory legal obligation to record the meeting, but meetings must be open to the public with a record of the minutes that are published later.  

“Butler is a publicly funded institution,” Smith said. “I think it should be 100% transparent. I think the more information that is available to the public the better.”  

Smith would like to see the college continue to livestream or record and upload the video later. At the moment, there are three community colleges that continue to livestream Board meetup, according to the January board materials. 

As President of the Butler Community College Education Association (BCCEA) Kamielle Freeman addresses the board at each meeting on behalf of the professional employees, made up of full-time faculty and advisers. Before each board meeting, Freeman receives the agenda and supporting documents. She noticed that January's board agenda included livestreaming meetings as part of a discussion for the meeting.  

“We believe that livestream/recorded meetings are the only way to capture really accurate information, and we do not believe liability issues are a relevant concern,” Freeman, a math professor, said. “Livestreaming board meetings is a common practice among school districts, city councils and other government bodies. Ending the livestreaming would be a definite step backwards for Butler. Without full transparency we risk losing trust, creating unnecessary barriers, and leaving people in the dark about the very policies that affect their education and livelihood.” 

Freeman regularly attends the Board meetings in person to deliver her BCCEA report, but there are other times when she watches from home. 

According to Freeman, the faculty are concerned about the end to livestreaming meetings. Attending the Board meetings in person is a big task, according to faculty, since the meetings begin at 4:30 p.m., which run long.  The feedback she has received indicates that faculty are ambivalent about the livestream but feel strongly about being able to access a video recording to be watched after the fact. Doing away with access to a video recording would be upsetting to not just faculty, but to the wider Butler community, according to Freeman. She knows students, deans, staff and community members who rely on having these video recordings to stay connected. 

“My duty is to alert the faculty of issues that affect them, hear any concerns they have and relay those concerns to the board,” Freeman said. “I do hope that all those with a vested interest will make public comment or send in written correspondence to be read during public comment. I certainly plan to speak about it, and I have every hope that our Board members see the value (or at least the lack of real danger) in continuing to broadcast the meetings.”  

“They are responsible for governing the college and ensuring it fulfills its mission,” Freeman added. “If you care about Butler County economics (community!); if you care about the quality and price of education at BCC (students!); if you care about your paycheck and work environment (employees!), then there is no more important meeting to attend. And, if the Board cares about the aforementioned groups, then I would implore them to continue making our lives just a little easier by providing virtual access to these meetings.” 

Orion Yoesle, a political science professor, doesn’t attend the meetings, but he doesn't think that should have any bearing on the board's decision about whether or not to keep streaming these meetings live.  

“Things could be taken out of context, wrong information could be presented and without the acknowledgement that, that happens, whether you're live or watching virtually,” Yoesle said. “... it doesn't seem to be a materially different option in terms of efficiency from their side to record a meeting that isn't live and then post it later.” 

As a political scientist, Yoesle’s specialty is in American politics, particularly voting behavior. He adds that in order for people to vote wisely, they need to be as informed as possible. There is nothing about any deviation from the status quo that would improve that position with respect to the public, the faculty and the BOT, anything is anything away from live streaming a meeting is a reduction in that accessibility, according to Yoesle. 

“I'll just speak for myself, but I would invest resources in that transparency,” he said. “I think that's a laudable goal, and I know at least one board member is on the same page with me, based on interviews that they've given as well. I don't know that that's the prevailing wisdom on the board, but as just somebody who knows or is familiar with the way democracy thrives and is vibrant. I certainly think that's important, and so I, on a personal level, don't, would not agree with any decision that the board would make to remove that feature from our college now, I will reiterate what I saw some of them say in that board meeting that they have not made a decision yet off the record.” 

Trustee and Chair Forrest Rhodes said that his final decision will be informed by any additional discussion that may occur at the meeting, but at this point he is leaning towards voting to continue to record the meetings and post the recordings afterwards, but not to continue livestreaming.  He adds the college has seen a significant decrease in the number of live viewers, and in his opinion, the technical and staffing burdens that go with livestreaming outweigh the minimal benefit that it provides.  By continuing to record and post, they ensure that those who cannot attend the meetings in person are still able to watch them. 

I think all public entities (including community colleges) have an obligation to try to be as transparent as possible,” Rhodes said. “Whether livestreaming is appropriate for each entity depends on its resources and capabilities. I do not believe that livestreaming should be a mandate for all community colleges.” 

The public can locate the board materials on the butlercc.edu website and watch the Tuesday meeting starting at 4:30 p.m. in the Dankert Board Room. 

**Emails were sent to each trustee. Trustees Smith, Good and Rhodes replied.