Pittsburgh school board member forgets to turn off camera as she showers during virtual meeting - TribLIVE

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A Pittsburgh Public Schools board member learned the hard way on Wednesday the potential mishaps that can happen in virtual meetings.

Veronica Edwards was accidentally seen disrobing and stepping into the shower during the district’s public online agenda review meeting, which was streamed live.

“Hopefully someone can learn from my experience and turn the camera off when you need to!” she said in a written statement Friday.

Edwards noted that there have been many reports of “accidents” during virtual public meetings.

“During the pandemic, I have experienced an increase of virtual meeting hours … more than ever before,” she said. “The demand on my time has caused me to attempt to multitask when some meetings are proceeding. Like many women and caregivers across the country, this has been a challenging time to achieve work-life balance, it’s been nearly impossible for me.”

She declined to comment beyond her statement.

Edwards is retired from 37 years at Pittsburgh Public Schools, where she served as a top aide for former Superintendent Louise Brennen.

She was elected to a four-year term on the board in 2017. School board members in Pennsylvania do not get paid, and the city school board meets at least five times per month, in addition to separate committee meetings, said district solicitor Ira Weiss.

“My public commitment and duties as an elected official have never been more sound with decency and integrity,” Edwards said in her statement. “My record is strong and my support of our district and our students is my priority.

“While I regret the incident, I remain committed, resolved and focused on my responsibilities to educate all children even when I make a personal and private mistake.”

The Tribune-Review obtained a 1 minute, 12 second video of the Zoom meeting showing her stepping into the shower.

It occurred nearly an hour-and-a-half into the agenda review session, which included discussion of contract amendments, payments authorized and grant awards.

For about 15 minutes before Edwards got in the shower, board member Sala Udin asked several questions about a resolution on the table to delay fall sports until the district returns to in-person/hybrid instruction.

And just before stepping in, he asked a question about the procedures of Handle With Care, a behavior management system that trains people in crisis intervention. Discussion about that continued for several minutes. Within 13 minutes after entering the shower, Edwards was back asking a question about possible language learning software the district is interested in.

A video of the full meeting, which was broadcast live on Zoom, is posted on Vimeo. The showering incident has been edited out.

Ebony Pugh, a spokeswoman for the district, said it’s not relevant and would be inappropriate to have been included.

Weiss said the board got calls from the public who saw the showering incident live during the meeting. He didn’t know how many people viewed the incident.

Although he was part of the Zoom session, Weiss said that neither he nor any of the other board members saw what was happening.

Instead, he continued, the board members probably were looking at their “digital agenda” on their screens.

When those documents are displayed, Weiss said, all he can see is whomever is speaking in a small box on the side.

“I don’t see the grid,” he said.

That, Weiss continued, is why no one stopped Edwards or stopped the meeting.

“I don’t think anybody at the board meeting itself was aware of it,” he said.

Weiss praised Edwards as a hardworking board member who is dedicated to her community.

“She cares deeply about the students, and that’s what’s important about her,” he said. “You have to look at what she’s doing the other 99.5% of the time.”

The incident with Pittsburgh Public Schools on Wednesday was not the first public meeting to fall victim to Zoom-related issues. In May, a Leechburg Area School Board meeting was “Zoom-bombed” when someone in the chat shared a pornographic image.

Paula Reed Ward is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paula by email at pward@triblive.com.

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