Souderton Area School District Residents Urge Livestreaming of All Board Meetings

John Worthington | The Reporter•

In a pitch for greater transparency around school board proceedings, Souderton Area School District residents have requested livestreaming of all board meetings.

Currently, board action meeting recordings are broadcast on SATV and temporarily posted on the district website. Committee meetings, where most business is conducted, are not recorded.

As a solution, residents urged the board to begin livestreaming both committee and board action meetings to provide greater accessibility for residents and foster parental engagement.

"I’m asking the board to please make the necessary changes to encourage more parental engagement,” said Corinne DeGeiso. "Implementing these changes will allow parents faster access to important information that is being shared at these meetings.”

"I find it funny that my kids can watch a two-hour lip sync video from six years ago, but I can’t find a 20-minute meeting from two months ago,” said a father. "I’d be happy to help you set up a free YouTube account so that all meetings can be more accessible.”

"Maybe 10-, 15-years-ago, it was great to broadcast on Comcast, but we’re moving into the streaming age. It should be broadcast on the website, on our social media, on Youtube, etc.,” said John Waldenberger. "Let’s bring in a little more transparency. A lot of folks ran on transparency, and we’d just like to see a little more of it.”

While the board took no immediate action at the Jan. 25 meeting on the residents’ requests, board president Ken Keith thanked the speakers for their comments.

Student representative Emma Potter reported on some recent events at Souderton Area High School, including final exams, the beginning of the new semester, Unified Sports’ closing drive for the Special Olympics and the Interact Club’s Genius Bar, where members helped teach Peter Becker Community residents about technology.

Student representative Aidan Kearns then reported on some upcoming events in the district, including the Winter Ball on January 27, Back-to-school night on February 1, the beginning of winter sports playoffs, the high school Science Fair and the beginning of course selection for the 2024-2025 school year.

In his report to the board, Superintendent Frank Gallagher touched on some additional events, including the beginning of casting and rehearsals for spring musicals. He noted that the high school will be performing Les Miserables. He also announced that the Montgomery County Health Department tested the air and water quality at the high school’s indoor pool and found good results.

The board also recognized the boys’ high school cross country team for winning the Suburban One Colonial League Championship. Overall, the team finished 3rd in the district and 4th in the state.

The next Souderton school board meeting is on February 22 at 7 p.m. For more information, visit soudertonsd.org.

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