There were fewer people present in person as the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division board of education met on Monday.
The first meeting with the new format came after the division procured some new technology, including Chromebooks and a microphone and camera system to insure a secure remote meeting format.
“It worked well. I was quite nervous about how the technology would work but it seemed to be really effective. We will work on it and we will make it smoother, it wasn’t perfect yet,” director of education Robert Bratvold said.
The room was cut in half from the setup they had previously used beginning in June. The board moved from the board room to the Seminar Room which made social distancing possible in the larger space.
“It’s bigger than the board room for sure,” Bratvold said.
He explained that a survey was being sent out on Tuesday to trustees to see if any changes needed to be made.
“Last week we had it set in a way and we made some slight adjustments and changes, refinements to it. So it was slightly different today in terms of cameras, but process was a little better,” Bratvold said.
He gave credit to the school division’s IT department for the work that they had done to prepare since the board’s last meeting on Nov. 16 in their new form.
Trustees Bill Gerow, Arne Lindberg, Alan Nunn, Michelle Vickers, Bill Yeaman and vice chair Darlene Rowden were present. Board chair Barry Hollick, Cher Bloom and Jaimie Smith-Windsor attended the meeting remotely.
The idea to create a method for remote meetings was discussed by the board earlier this year.
As well, Saskatchewan Rivers Students for Change trustees Kelly Lam and Emily Zbaraschuk, attended the meeting remotely.
“We had all of the admin council just in their offices so we could have trustees closer. I mean they are still six feet apart but closer,” Bratvold said.
