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HOLDEN, Mass. — The Wachusett Regional School Committee launched its online bulletin board Wednesday at wrsdc.blogspot.com, with members hoping the new site will help the committee communicate directly with the Wachusett community.
"It's been an idea that's been percolating in my head, and the school committee had talked about the concept of it probably about two years ago," said member Stacey Jackson. "We haven't had a real means other than our meetings to get information out directly to the community from the school committee, and even then they have to tune in or be there in person."
In September, the school committee voted to move forward with creating a full online bulletin board.
"Personally, I felt going through budget season there was just so much misinformation and rumors out there, and I was spending so much time trying to set the record straight," she said. "I've had my own personal email list for awhile now, but I felt we needed a way to reach out to everybody in the community."
The intention is to ensure the postings on the board are neutral, Jackson said. "People will not be using it for political gain," she said. "We talked a lot at meetings about making sure the information was as objective as possible."
Every member of the school committee will be able to write a post for the board, with such subjects as "updates on what's going on with school committee and in our district, as well as interesting trends in education," said Jackson.
Furthermore, posts must be approved by the school committee chair as well as either the chair or vice chair of the community outreach subcommittee. Although there will not be a comment section on postings, the writer of each post will include their name and email "so that people will have a means to give feedback."
Jackson said she hopes the board will be helpful in bringing credibility and trust to the school committee. "Trust is built with the sharing of information," she said. "I want to make sure we're giving the information to the community that they need."
To read the first post on the Wachusett Regional School District Committee's online bulletin board, visit its website.
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