A microphone is seen in a committee room of the Rhode Island State House. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
Most Rhode Island municipalities have held onto options for remote meeting participation established in the pandemic era. But other town and school committees offer virtually nothing in the way of remote participation, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island (ACLU).
The 20-page report is an update of one issued two years ago, which looked at four aspects of public meetings in town and school councils across the state:
- Live streaming meetings: Of the 39 city and town councils studied, 33 streamed their meetings, and 30 of 34 school committees streamed their meetings.
- Meetings recordings and video archives: 35 of 39 city and town councils uploaded recordings of their meetings for viewing at a later time, and 29 of 34 school committees uploaded their recordings.
- Agenda packets: The packets which accompany meetings and give insight into discussions and testimonies, were uploaded by 32 of 39 city and town councils. A little over half of school committees, however, uploaded this information.
- The ability to participate in meetings remotely is an outlier, with only 13 town or city councils offering the option, and nine school committees. But the number of school committees offering this amenity is up from the ACLU’s original report in 2023, when only one school committee offered it.
“One of the simplest ways for public bodies to promote greater accessibility is to livestream their meetings as they did during the pandemic,” according to the report, which was prepared by Megan Khatchadourian and Zoe Chakoian of the ACLU.
Seventeen public bodies offered remote participation in all four categories. The Charlestown Town Council and East Greenwich, Little Compton, and Scituate School Committees were new additions to the list of public bodies offering full remote access.
Five public bodies, meanwhile, offered no remote access:
- Exeter Town Council
- Foster Town Council
- West Greenwich Town Council
- Johnston School Committee
- New Shoreham School Committee
Emails from Rhode Island Current to the five public bodies which offer no remote participation options yielded one response.
“The New Shoreham School Committee approved the bid process to install a broadcast system for our media center at the school. This will allow the public to view the School Committee meetings remotely,” said Mike Convery, superintendent of Block Island School, adding that meetings will be archived on YouTube and that the district hopes to have the system “in place in the near future.”
A complete breakdown of each of the 39 municipalities and 34 school committees can be found in the ACLU report.
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