Public Comments

 

Our board has policy/procedure 1400/1400P – Meeting Conduct, Order of Business, and Quorum. This policy and procedure are available on our website here. By adopting this policy, board meetings must be conducted in a civil, orderly, and business-like manner. This means that whether we are school directors, district staff, students, members of the community, or some other guest, we all must follow the same standard of civility during school board meetings.

We are pleased to be able to provide options for addressing the board during this meeting.  This is an opportunity for visitors to be recognized and make brief comments.

General Reminders:

• Each speaker has a maximum of 3 minutes, or less based upon the number of citizens requesting to speak. Additional time may be granted as a reasonable accommodation for a disability or language interpretation. Individuals will generally have three minutes for comments; however, depending on the number of requests this time may be modified. If there are more individuals registered to make public comment than the scheduled time allows, a representative selection of comments will be heard during the meeting. Any commenters who were not heard may submit information for the Board via email here.

• There is no mechanism whereby a speaker can donate some or all of their time to another speaker.

• No individual may speak more than once per regular meeting, even if there is time remaining.

• Public comment period is an opportunity for the board to listen to individuals on educational issues and board members are encouraged to listen attentively.

However, public comment period is not a time for dialogue between the board and the public. The board will not respond to statements, questions, or challenges made during public comment period and there will be no back-and-forth dialogue.

Please know that the board’s silence is neutral. It is neither a signal of agreement nor disagreement with the speaker’s remarks.

Although the board will not engage in dialogue, the board chair might ask a speaker a clarifying question. It is also possible that school district staff will contact a speaker at a later time to follow up on an issue raised during public comment period.

Finally, please remember that your words have impact and you, not the school district, are responsible for your words. We caution all speakers that it is possible that your statements could violate the rights of others under various laws, including laws protecting privacy and laws prohibiting defamation. If you are unsure of the legal effect of your remarks, you should seek independent legal advice. In any case, we ask that you help us model for our students what a respectful and inclusive community looks and sounds like.

Email is the most efficient way of sharing handouts/flyers/packets with the board, but if you bring hardcopies to a meeting, please leave them with our Executive Assistant rather than approaching the dias.

It is important to note that community members have other means to share information with the Board, as well as directly with school district staff.  In most cases, feedback should start with those closest to the situation or person – for example, to a teacher, principal, or program staff who are able to address concerns, particularly those relating to specific students or staff.