EASTHAMPTON — The city has adjusted its Zoom subscription to accommodate the hundreds of people who are looking to attend the city’s School Committee meeting at which it will discuss its superintendent search. That meeting is now scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m.
The committee was forced to reschedule discussions Tuesday related to its search for a new schools boss when more than 300 people attempted to tune in.
When it was suggested that people turn to the livestream for Easthampton’s public access television station, e.media, several were shut out of that platform as well.
“Our website, literally the server of our web host, couldn’t handle all of those people coming in at once,” Jeff Mastroianni, executive director for the city-based nonprofit, told the Gazette.
The deluge of people whose access to the meeting was thwarted has prompted both the city and e.media to take a deeper look and adjust their systems where necessary.
For e.media, the result was more of an outlier event, Mastroianni said. “There was really no way for us to be prepared,” he said.
Through conversations with the city’s information technology department, changes made to the virtual platform for this Monday’s remote meeting will allow “thousands” of people to attend, according to Mayor Nicole LaChapelle. Changes will also allow folks from out of the country to attend if they so choose.
The public comment portion of the meeting will be limited to 90 minutes. Those who wish to speak at the meeting will be limited to three minutes. Those wishing to speak will need to use the raised hand feature and wait to be recognized by School Committee Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski.
As with other School Committee meetings, once a participant has spoken, they will not be allowed to speak again.
Following public comment, the committee will discuss the superintendent finalists and potentially vote on whether to continue negotiations with candidate Vito Perrone, who was offered the job by the committee on March 24.
In a letter dated March 31, Kwiecinski said the committee was not able to reach a mutually agreeable contract with Perrone.
The agenda also lists a separate line item for a search discussion and vote on a candidate to be the next superintendent.
While remaining in open session, the agenda also lists that Kwiecinski will be making contact with a selected candidate to offer the position subject to negotiations, and discuss the candidate’s response to the offer.
To join via Zoom, visit https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83759519209.
The webinar ID is 837 5951 9209 and the passcode is 01027.
For other options on how to tune in, visit easthamptonma.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=1611.
The meeting can also be viewed via e.media at https://vod.easthamptonmedia.org/CablecastPublicSite/?channel=3.
