TIPP CITY — At a special meeting held Wednesday afternoon, Tipp City Board of Education voted to continue livestreaming board meetings to the public.

The motion, which was passed in a 3-2 vote, allows the board to livestream meetings via their YouTube page past the expiration of the Ohio Open Meetings Act, which expired July 1 and was not renewed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. Public attendance is allowed at meetings with state health mandates and restrictions lifting, but the board will continue to livestream meetings for public viewing, as well as keeping a record for their meeting minutes.

Board member Corine Doll and Board President Theresa Dunaway voted against the motion. Doll said that her only concern was wanting to move meetings back to the school buildings, which wouldn’t be optimal for livestreaming the meetings.

“I think that if people could see those buildings and the work that needs to be done and the amount of work, it would help us communicate and create an understanding that something needs to be done. I’m not sure that we can stream from those locations. I like the streaming (…) I just want to get out to the different locations, get into our buildings, I’d like to have principals and teachers showcase what’s going on in their buildings,” Doll said.

Board member Anne Zakkour brought up concerns that having the livestreamed videos serving as official minutes could be a potential risk if YouTube were to take down the videos; according to Doll, the policy in place requires the board of education to keep a copy of meeting videos at the board offices.

“In the interest of everybody’s time and the treasurer and the minutes, we were putting a little more emphasis on the public accessing the video portion of complete details versus the written minutes. I think it’s really prudent that we’re continuing that complete detail with livestreaming,” Zakkour said.

Board member Joellen Heatherly said that there was still community engagement through YouTube, both with livestream attendance and viewership after meetings have ended, and that she hasn’t heard any complaints about audio or stream quality.

“I think because of the investment of our community and that as a perk, compared to going back to this audio and video recording that we used prior to COVID, I would be in favor of us continuing to livestream,” Heatherly said.

Board member Simon Patry said that with livestreamed meetings, he has observed active engagement of community members on social media during meetings, giving the community the opportunity to discuss what is happening real-time and exchange ideas and opinions.

“I think that’s a very important function. The other thing is, the reality of our society — while we want people to be here in person, some of them probably can’t be, and that’s an increasing number. You no longer have single family wage-turners; you have both parents working and you have kids at home and remote work at other places. They may not be able to be here in person, but they may want to watch that livestream,” Patry said.

The board also approved the following at Wednesday’s meeting:

• Salary schedules for the director of human resources, director of curriculum & instruction salary and exceptional children’s program coordinator;

• The resignation of John Everson as a teacher’s aide for Tippecanoe High School effective July 31 and pending approval of his recommendation as a technical support specialist;

• The hiring of Dr. Lisa Tuttle-Huff as director of human resources; Dawn Scott as director of curriculum & instruction; Daniel Barnes as Tippecanoe High School principal; Angie Cooper as Tippecanoe High School assistant principal; Sarah Ramsay as exceptional children’s program coordinator; John Everson as a technical support specialist; and Karen Ford as a cafeteria substitute; and

• A correction of Kindergarten teacher Ashley Lynch’s contract due to a clerical error.

The next regular meeting of the board of education will be held Monday, July 26 at 6 p.m.