BOARD OF EDUCATION POLICY 2:230
Public Participation at Board of Education Meetings and Petitions to the Board
For an overall minimum of 30 minutes during each regular and special open meeting, any person may comment to or ask questions of the Board (public participation), subject to the reasonable constraints established and recorded in this policy’s guidelines below. During public participation, there will be a 20-minute minimum total length of time for any one subject. When public participation takes less time than these minimums, it shall end.
To preserve sufficient time for the Board to conduct its business, any person appearing before the Board is expected to follow these guidelines:
1. Individuals requesting to address the Henry-Senachwine School Board should do so in writing. It should be submitted to the Superintendent by 12:00 P.M. (noon) one (1) day prior to the regularly scheduled meetings, which typically would be the Tuesday prior to the third Wednesday of each month. Each individual wishing to address the board should submit their own letter of request.
2. The petitioner's name, phone number and issue(s) to be discussed must be stated in the request. In cases concerning a complaint, it may need to be referred to the individual or source of the problem and work its way through the chain of command prior to addressing the board.
3. The Superintendent or Board President will grant or deny requests promptly.
4. Because all public meetings of the Board of Education are made a matter of public record, each speaker, when recognized by the President, shall give his or her name and announce the general subject before presenting. Comments will be limited to five minutes.
5. Observe, when necessary and appropriate, the:
a. Shortening of the time for each person to address the Board during public participation to conserve time and give the maximum number of people an opportunity to speak;
b. Expansion of the overall minimum of 30 minutes for public participation and/or the 20-minute minimum total length of time for any one subject; and/or
c. Determination of procedural matters regarding public participation not otherwise covered in Board policy.
6. The Board President retains the authority to determine procedural matters regarding public participation not otherwise defined in School Board policy and deviate when necessary.
Petitions or written correspondence to the Board shall be presented to the Board in the next regular Board packet.