Johnston school board no longer broadcasting public comments from its meetings
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Johnston County school board stopped livestreaming public comment sections.
- Board maintains in-person public comment meets legal transparency obligations.
- Other Triangle-area districts continue streaming public comment for meetings.
One of North Carolina’s largest school districts is now limiting what is heard at school board meetings by stopping the online livestream of remarks made by the public.
The Johnston County school board broadcasts its regular monthly meetings on YouTube. Until Tuesday, that included the remarks made by speakers during the public comment part of the meeting.
But school board chair Lyn Andrews announced on Tuesday that the practice would stop.
“There’s no attempt here to prevent transparency, no attempt to deny access or people to share information,” Andrews said before the broadcast was turned off at Tuesday’s meeting. “But it is our responsibility to do the things that we feel are in the best interests of Johnston County Public Schools.”
State law requires local governing bodies such as school boards, city councils and county commissioners to offer at least one public comment session per month at their meetings.
But state law doesn’t require governing bodies to stream their meetings online or to stream the public comment portion.
“The school district will no longer facilitate the distribution of the information shared through public comment,” Andrews said. “We do this with the advice of our counsel, legal counsel. There are numerous ways to contact people in our district.”
Board split on not broadcasting public comments
There was no board vote to stop broadcasting public comments. But some board members disagreed with the decision.
“As someone who stood on the other side of that podium as a speaker in public comment before I sat on the board member side of the dais, I hope you all know where I stand with this new decision to no longer show public comments on livestream/YouTube,” school board member April Lee posted Tuesday on Facebook. “In the name of transparency, we need to stream every single committee meeting, agenda review, and full board meeting.”
The change means the only way now to hear the public comments is to physically attend the meetings held in Smithfield. People also need to physically attend to watch board committee meetings and work sessions because they’re not broadcast.
The News & Observer reached out to Johnston school district representatives but has not yet heard back.
“Teachers, staff, students, parents and community members, all of those who want to come and share their thoughts with this board are welcome,” Andrews said at Tuesday’s meeting. “We will always listen and we’re always going to take into consideration what you want to share with us because it’s important to us.”
Other Triangle school boards such as Wake County, Durham and Chapel Hill-Carrboro stream the public comment sections of their meetings.
Speakers question board during public comment
Johnston County is North Carolina’s seventh-largest school district. It has 37,000 students.
The school board is officially nonpartisan but has a Republican majority.
Speakers have shown up at school board meetings in recent months to speak about issues such as:
- Banning teachers from using their phones in class.
- Banning teachers from displaying gay pride flags in their classrooms.
- A proposal to remove wording explicitly protecting LGBTQ+ students and staff in anti-discrimination policies.
This story was originally published August 12, 2025 at 7:42 PM.
