Parents, students and community members used the public-comment period at the Elmwood Park CUSD 401 board meeting to demand that the district restore archived board meeting videos to YouTube and to criticize what they described as a pattern of silence from administrators on safety and equity issues.

Anne Lindsey, who said she has lived in Elmwood Park for about 10 years and is a John Mills parent, said the district's decision to remove past meeting recordings “feels intentional.” She told the board that removing recordings and declining to answer questions about the district's ICE-related policies has created a culture of secrecy and left families without the information they sought.

“Secrecy when transparency is needed, inaction when leadership is required, and a steady refusal to communicate unless absolutely forced,” Lindsey said, urging the board to be more forthcoming. Sarah Lindsey, another parent who identified herself as the author of numerous emails to the district, said the district remained silent when ICE agents were operating nearby and did not put schools on a soft lockdown or send guidance to families. She asked the board to return all meetings to YouTube and to publicly affirm that “every student and family in this district, including migrants, minorities and students of color, will be supported and protected and welcomed.”

Student speakers also raised governance and access issues. Claire Doyle, a senior at Elmwood Park High School, asked the board to consider a probationary student representative and requested time at the December CAL committee meeting to discuss student representation. Jack Bauer, a community member, sought a simple explanation of why a BoardDocs update would require removing the YouTube archive and emphasized that archived videos are important for residents who cannot attend meetings in person.

In response, district leadership earlier in the meeting had announced an upcoming change in its board-document platform. Administration said BoardDocs is sunsetting at the end of the month and that the district plans to move to Diligent (BoardBooks) in December; staff stated they will continue to livestream and record regular board meetings and that recorded meetings “will be available for viewing until the next regular board meeting,” while presentations and attachments will be posted the day after meetings.

The public commenters said that explanation was insufficient. They asked for the full archive to be restored immediately and for clearer, proactive messaging during safety incidents. No board action to restore past recordings was announced at the meeting; trustees did not vote on restoring the archive during this session.

The meeting record shows repeated calls from parents for improved transparency when safety concerns arise and for routine availability of meeting archives so families and taxpayers can review district deliberations and public comment.

Next steps: the board did not adopt a motion on archived videos at this meeting. Several speakers asked the board to address the request publicly and to post the full archive; the district’s stated platform change and the explanation that recordings will remain up “until the next regular board meeting” remain the only official response reported here.