The offices of the Douglas County School District are located in the historic Minden School.
A change in viewing platform will mean the end to the ability for members of the public to contribute public comment during Douglas County School Board meetings.
During Thursday’s meeting, President Yvonne Wagstaff read a statement addressing the change. The key point was that the change in platform will also change the board’s ability to take public comment online during the meetings.
Zoom will no longer be the viewing platform used during meetings starting in July.
Individuals who choose to view online will watch on YouTube.
She said the district will continue to provide comment opportunities as prescribed in their bylaws. In person comments will have a three-minute speaking time before the meeting for nonagenda items and during agenda items.
Individuals who choose to view board meetings online, may submit comment via email, however it will not be read during the meeting, instead it will be added to the minutes for the board to review before the next board meeting.
The elimination of Zoom wasn’t the only big software change discussed by school board trustees last week.
For around $14,000 less than the cost of Edgenuity, Douglas County School District’s online learners will have access to more classes, notes, and tutorials with the new platform Edmentum, which was approved for adoption by the Board during the April 17 school board meeting.
Shannon Brown, Principal Gavin Ward and Christy Grossnickel presented to the board information about the online learning platform.
Brown said there was a team of about 13 people on the adoption committee consisting of parents, students, teachers, including education teachers, Ward, and himself.
They reached out to each of the platforms and asked for a presentation and a proposal offer.
Pearson Blended and Edmentum came forward with the presentation which the committee viewed on April 2 and April 9, according to Brown.
Brown said the committee had a rubric to score what they thought about each presentation and the result was overwhelmingly unanimously in favor of Edmentum.
Brown said the major difference between Edmentum and Edgenuity is the navigation of the website is more user-friendly and students receive more thorough notes and tutorials than what Edgenuity had.
“So, we are getting more classes, getting more help for our students, and paying less,” said Trustee Erinn Miller.
Edmentum is an online learning provider.