• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Elkhorn School Board streaming meetings online

ELKHORN — For years, the Elkhorn School District has recorded board meetings and broadcast them on a local cable network.

But when the videographer in charge decided to leave the district and go back to school, officials were stuck. Where would they find someone to record meetings twice a month for about two hours?

The answer was not hiring anyone.

Instead, they are using a camera, a tripod and an online video-streaming tool called Ustream.tv.

“The technology had some start-up cost,” said Greg Wescott, Elkhorn schools superintendent. “We had to buy a camera, and we had to buy something to make a digital tape. But long-range, we're not paying someone to film the meeting.”

Along with cutting personnel costs, the school district is hoping to reach more parents. Video streaming is available anytime, anywhere. The only equipment needed is a computer with an Internet connection.

“One of the limitations of cable is that only the folks in the city of Elkhorn had access to it because Charter does not serve the rest of our school district,” Wescott said.

With video streaming, parents can watch school board meetings at their leisure, pausing to grab a coffee or skipping to parts they are more interested in.

“This is kind of the next step, as the technology has improved to expand that access to not only the citizens in Elkhorn but any citizen in the school district,” the superintendent said. “Especially with our younger parents, they look to a computer as a place to get information. We're hoping to provide that access to them.”

Elkhorn School Board meetings will continue to be available at the local cable channel. Online, they are posted a day after the meeting. Archived meetings go back to the beginning of April.