Hundreds of people attended Monday night’s meeting of the Warren County School Board.

And there were more that wanted to, but couldn’t ‘fit’ in the virtual space provided.

The board was scheduled to hold committee meetings, but canceled those in favor of a special meeting. The district utilized a ‘cloud meeting’ app to hold a virtual meeting, since actual groups of people are discouraged or outright disallowed right now due to the coronavirus.

“Due to the COVID-19 virus, we are all experiencing new ways of doing things,” Board Secretary Ruth Huck said in introducing the meeting.

The meeting started 15 minutes late because the board members were in an executive session prior to the start of the special meeting.

More than 140 people — including all nine members of the board — were logged in at that time. The number quickly grew to 300 — the cap for the system in use on Monday.

For the most part, only board members and administrators could be heard.

The method for interjecting comments was explained at the beginning. Individual participants could be unmuted to allow them to speak upon request.

When the board called for public input prior to a vote, the call administrator had to unmute all participants. That led to many different noises and comments sneaking through. By the final few items, most of the ambient noise heard at those times consisted of shushing.

Superintendent Amy Stewart said the district would look into other ways to hold the meetings.

“I can’t go anywhere to talk to parents. If this were any other event, we’d be meeting in an auditorium,” Stewart said. “We’re just lacking a good venue.”

“This setting… only holds about 300 people,” she said. “I think we can do it in this type of venue.”

The board discussed that possibility, and ways to encourage public input without holding meetings that last for several hours.

Board member Marcy Morgan suggested that people could submit comments or questions by text.

“It is frustrating,” Stewart said. “We have 300 people on here listening that don’t normally go to board meetings… maybe three of them go to meetings.”

“If I’m a parent, which I am, I want to have my voice heard right now,” she said. “I think a Zoom voice meeting… isn’t going to have my voice heard. I think something in survey format may capture what people want better.”

Board member Joe Colosimo said the committees could decide which questions are moved forward for consideration by the full board.

The board left the April 13 meeting on the schedule and will provide public notice if any changes are made to the schedule — possibly including, but not limited to, adding a meeting before that date or switching the scheduled regular meeting to committee meetings.