Any community member or parent that would like to take part in the Public Participation portion (see below) of a board meeting can contact the Administration Office at 330.825.0863.  We also welcome you as an attendee at anytime.

 

 Public Participation at Board Meetings 

The Board of Education recognizes the value to school governance of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest.

Any person or group wishing to place an item on the agenda shall register their intent with the Superintendent no later than three (3) days prior to the meeting and include name and address of the participant; group affiliation, if and when appropriate; and/or topic to be addressed.

Such requests shall be subject to the approval of the Superintendent and the Board President.

In order to permit the fair and orderly expression of such comment, the Board shall provide a period for public participation at every regular meeting of the Board and publish rules to govern such participation in Board meetings.

The presiding officer of each Board meeting at which public participation is permitted shall administer the rules of the Board for its conduct.

The following rules will apply at all regular and special meetings of the Board:

A.  Individuals may voice their concerns as indicated on the Board Agenda.

B.  A person speaking will have a maximum time of three (3) minutes.

C.  Any person may request to be placed on the agenda if more than three (3) minutes are needed by contacting the Administration Office not later than noon of the Thursday before the regularly scheduled meeting.  The maximum time allocated will be five (5) minutes.

D.  Once the agenda has been started by the Board, no one will be permitted to speak unless recognized by the presiding officer.

E.  Participants must be recognized by the presiding officer and will be requested to preface their comments by an announcement of their name, and/or group affiliation, if and when appropriate.

F.  No participant may speak more than once on the same topic unless all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard.

G.  All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer; no person may address or question Board members individually.

H.  The presiding officer may:

1.  interrupt, warn, or terminate a participant’s statement when the   statement is too lengthy, personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant;

2.  request any individual to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum;

3.  request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a  disorderly person when that person’s conduct interferes with the orderly  progress of the meeting;

4.  call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of public decorum so interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting as to warrant such action;

5.  waive these rules with the approval of the Board when necessary for the protection of privacy or the administration of the Board’s business.

I.  The portion of the meeting during which the participation of the public is invited shall be limited to thirty (30), unless extended by a vote of the Board.