Ysleta ISD upgrades boardroom for 21st century experience
face to face with the district. today abc-7’s ashlie rodriguez learned — one school district in particular —- is going all out to make the experience exceptional. you’ve been to board meetings before. but ysleta isd is introducing new technology you won’t see anywhere else in the county. instead of flipping through paper agendas and the accompanying documents and hundreds of pages, a liasion presents it digitally– via four, top of the line tvs and two projector screens. board members now have touch screen computers. forget roll call, they just log in. forget hand written minutes — its now electronic. and forget the arguing, trustees just press a button if they want to speak, their request waiting in cue. did you want to speak at public forum? there’s no sign in sheet, but there’s a kiosk to take down your information and virtually send it to the board. it allows more transparency to see everything that’s happening on the agenda. the resolutions as they’re being voted on, what discussion, what topic they’re on. behind the scenes, a brand new control room. video production specialist eddie romero used to have to run three cameras by himself. now, it’s a flick of the wrist. he’s showing you in the audience different camera angles of the meeting– and you at home, watching the live stream on youtube. we want the public to come, to participate in these meetings. this is their board of trustees, this is their school district. we want them to be here to see what’s happening, and be part of the decision-making process. el paso isd and socorro isd have similar features — big tv’s, a sound system, control room and a computer system allowing both the audience and board to follow along. neither school district could tell me how much their board room costs. yisd’s upgrades cost $140,000, a number they justify spending tax dollars on because well — its for you, the taxpayer. this is apart of a message about moving to 21st century schools, classrooms, technology, and this is just a tip of the iceburg
