Denver’s new “union supermajority” (per board member Tay Anderson) school board got off to a bad start today by declining to livestream its first-ever meeting, a daylong retreat, despite positioning itself as the most community-responsive group of individuals ever to hold board seats.
Reasons given for limiting access to those members of the public who could show up in person at 8 a.m. ranged from wanting to give new board members a “safe space” (board President Xochitl Gaytán) to “retreats were never live streamed pre-pandemic” (district communications office, quoting the district’s chief of staff).
Last I checked, we were still in a pandemic, so that excuse doesn’t hold water. And pandemic-era retreats HAVE been live-streamed.
This isn’t mere whining from an edu-nerd. If community members are to be authentically engaged in the district’s business, they need to observe how the school board goes about its business. If the board values community-led decision-making, then shouldn’t the community have access to its deliberations, either live or archived?
I suppose we can give a pass to the board for not live-streaming the morning session, when board members discussed the results of a DISC personality test they each took, along with Superintendent Alex Marrero, to ascertain what challenges they might face based on personality types in working together.
DISC is based on a theory that people tend to develop a self-concept based on one of four factors — Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, or Conscientiousness.
Just for the record, the results were as follows. Some people had two relatively even scores. In those cases, the first letter was slightly stronger than the second.
Anderson: D
Scott Baldermann: D/I
Scott Esserman: D, (but objected to being labeled)
Gaytán: I/D (also objected to the labels)
Brad Laurvick: I
Marrero: I/D
Carrie Olson: S
Michelle Quattlebaum: I
File that away for future reference.
But why did the board decline to live-stream the second part of the day? There were topics of substance discussed in the afternoon, including charter school renewals. But only a privileged few were there in person to witness the discussion.
Fortunately, Boardhawk’s T. Michael Boddie was one of them.
Otherwise, this first meeting would be lost to the sands of time.
Or at least much of it would. Later in the morning a community member showed up and began filming the meeting on her phone. Gaytán asked whether “this was discussed,” and was told by DPS Deputy Chief of Staff Robin Pulliam that it was a public meeting and yes, the woman was free to record.
Let’s chalk all of this up to inexperience and assume the lack of broad-based community access was a rookie mistake. Still, it was a serious error. Those who pay attention to these matters are keenly interested in how this board will operate and the new directions it intends to take the district.
Some people are brimming over with excitement about it. Others are filled with trepidation. The board did all of them a disservice.
Come out into the sunlight, DPS board. It won’t hurt you.
