H225 Public Comments and Concerns

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Administrative Information: Staff Access Only
*Administrative Guidelines: H225-R/E175-R Student Records and Inspection Material

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND CONCERNS

Public comment about the School Corporation is welcomed by the School Board whenever it is motivated by a sincere desire to improve the quality of the educational program.

Comments and concerns related to curriculum, methods of instruction, instructional materials, or Corporation employees shall be submitted in writing to the principal of the school and the Superintendent. Comments and concerns thus submitted will be considered by the Superintendent or his or her designated assistants and the principal. At the discretion of the Superintendent, a committee may be appointed, an existing committee may be utilized, or other action may be taken to review the matter in question and submit a written decision to the Superintendent.

Subject to the reasonable rules and registration process described below, the Board shall allow members of the public, physically present at a meeting, to provide oral comment before the Board takes final action on a topic. The Board may choose to allow public comment during an electronic meeting held during a declared emergency or local disaster. At his or her sole discretion, the Board President may permit public comment on issues not listed as a public agenda item.

To allow for an efficient meeting, the total amount of time dedicated to public comment shall not exceed sixty (60) minutes. The Board may increase the time allotted for public comment in order to meet obligations under law.
The Board shall allot each person providing public comment three (3) minutes to speak.
Persons wishing to address the Board on a scheduled public agenda item shall sign in prior to the start of the meeting, provide their home address, affiliation (if any), and the agenda item they wish to address.
No person may speak more than once on the same topic.
In order to receive public comment on all agenda items scheduled for final action, the Board will take speakers on a first-come, first-served basis according to the order in which they signed in. If the overall time allotment does not allow for accommodation of all speakers, comment will rotate through agenda items to assure the Board hears comment on all agenda items. For example, the Board would hear comments from the first person to register to speak regarding agenda item 1, then the first person to register to speak regarding agenda item 2, and so on and so forth for each agenda item scheduled for final action at the meeting. The Board would then repeat that process, moving to the second, third, fourth, etc., person registered to speak on each agenda item until all registered speakers have spoken or the sixty (60) minute time limit expires, whichever occurs first.

The purpose of public comment is to give the Board members as much information as possible, not to engage in debate. Board members or administrators may provide answers to questions asked during public comment if the information is readily available and not confidential. Often, however, questions will not be answered, but taken under advisement and answers returned at a later time, if possible.

The Board will not tolerate comments that are: threatening, harassing, illegal, obscene, defamatory, personal attacks, or on a topic outside of the agenda. Comments should be directed to the Board, not an individual Board member.

Nothing in this policy prohibits the Board from taking reasonable steps to maintain order in a meeting, including removal of any person who is willfully disruptive of the meeting.

Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation