Board to adopt Diligent Community as BoardDocs replacement; staff outline features and costs

HENDRICK HUDSON, N.Y. — The Hendrick Hudson board discussed moving from the district’s current BoardDocs platform to Diligent Community during the May 7 meeting, citing expanded tools for agenda creation, public subscription options and mobile access.

Administrators demonstrated the platform’s capabilities in a brief video: drag‑and‑drop agenda building, public and private agenda preview, scheduled agenda release, text notifications and the ability for members of the public to subscribe to meeting notifications. The vendor demonstration also highlighted integrated tools for policy management, committee administration, livestream integration with timestamps and closed captioning, and an auditable version history for adopted policies.

Board members asked about cost and implementation. Staff said BoardDocs is being phased out and that the district will need to transition; the new Diligent Community subscription is more expensive than the current service but was presented as the vendor’s recommended long‑term replacement. The district plans to lock an annual subscription rate and start implementation as an early adopter; staff said they would follow up with pricing details and sample sites that have migrated.

Questions about ADA translation and automated translation came up; staff reported the vendor did not confirm full translation at rollout and said translation/summary features may be offered later as add‑ons. Board members also discussed how the platform could improve community outreach by enabling opt‑in text messages and tailored subscription options for specific committees or board updates.

Staff recommended the district keep BoardDocs content available in a read‑only form for a period while migrating materials and to develop a communications plan for rollout. No final contract vote was recorded at the meeting; administrators said additional research on long‑term costs and implementation timelines would follow.