The Prince Edward County School Board decided to hold action on live video recording for its meetings until a later time during a meeting April 11.

Director of Accountability & Research Dr. Greg Wheeler presented footage of a Mecklenburg County School Board meeting that had been recorded and uploaded to YouTube.

Wheeler noted that the Mecklenburg school board uses multiple cameras to record the meetings, and a permanent set up of the boardroom.

“We were talking about one camera,” Wheeler said, “and I will tell you that the one camera we purchased, if we mounted it back here … we could hear all of you.”

Wheeler also noted in the event meetings are recorded, school board members would receive microphones.

The discussion and ultimate vote continued a discussion during the March school board meeting, and a discussion that had taken place in 2017 about potentially video recording school board meetings.

He noted that Mecklenburg’s setup differs from Prince Edward’s, in that the room where Prince Edward meets for the school board also acts as the school division’s multipurpose room, meaning that furniture and other items are often moved around.

“The one camera we have would work,” Wheeler said, noting that the camera from the Prince Edward County school division would not be able to zoom in unless someone would be operating the camera.

In the event videos are uploaded, Wheeler said videos could have minor edits without altering content. In the event of livestreaming, Wheeler said no alterations could be made.

Prince Edward County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Barbara Johnson expressed concern about installing additional structures in the boardroom.

“This is a flexible space for us,” Johnson said, noting that other spaces could not be used without affecting instructional time at the different schools. “Having said that … this is a formal boardroom, and to put any other kind of structure in here, other than cameras, I would strongly discourage.”

Board Chairman Beulah Womack noted similar concerns about maintaining the room’s flexibility, and asked for a definitive vote to either discontinue the discussion about video recording, or vote in approval of continuing the process to install the cameras.

She also encouraged community members to attend the meetings in person.

Vice Chairman Dr. Timothy W. Corbett spoke about potentially revisiting the subject of the recording.

“I think that we should, at some point, revisit it,” Corbett said. “Right now, we have many reasons for not doing it, and not pursuing it right now, but at some point the environment could change.”

Following the discussion, members of the board voted in favor of holding action on live video recordings for its meetings.