SD33The Chilliwack school board will be considering whether to begin streaming its meetings online.
Superintendent Evelyn Novak says having the meetings available online could be a benefit to the public.

“The reason it was put on as a motion was the interest that some trustees have in making the board meetings more transparent…people are able to access them more readily than being able to attend them in person.”

Novak says staff are gathering information regarding the resources and equipment needed and will present to the board at the April 28th meeting.

Meantime, Chilliwack school trustees voted last night in favor of adopting a policy to protect whistleblowers.  Novak says the move came out of negotiations with CUPE, who want to follow the province’s lead, although there haven’t been any specific incidents in the district to prompt the policy.

The board also approved a new policy for police information checks for volunteers.
The new policy will bring the district in line with the RCMP’s own new policies, and Novak says it will work the same as the old criminal records check procedure, except now instead of the RCMP providing the district with the report, the volunteer will get the report directly from police and then bring it with them when they apply for a position.