B.O.E. : HOME

Bob Doxsey,
President

Matt Conkle,
Vice President

Karen Flanagan,
Board Member

Ken Rowles,
Board Member

Jeff Salisbury,
Board Member

0169.1 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 seven (7) days prior to the meeting and include: A. name and address of the participant; B. group affiliation, if and when appropriate; C. 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 presiding officer shall be guided by the following rules: A. Public participation shall be permitted at the discretion of the presiding officer. B. Anyone having a legitimate interest in the actions of the Board may participate during the public portion of a meeting. C. Participants must be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface their comments by an announcement of their name, address, and group affiliation, if and when appropriate. D. Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to five (5) minutes duration. E. No participant may speak more than once on the same topic unless all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard. F. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer; no person may address or question Board members individually. G. Tape or video recordings are permitted. The person operating the recorder should contact the Superintendent prior to the Board meeting and must agree to the placement of the equipment and to abide by the following conditions: 1. No obstructions are created between the Board and the audience. 2. No interviews are conducted in the meeting room while the Board is in session. 3. No commentary, adjustment of equipment, or positioning of operators is made that would distract either the Board or members of the audience while the Board is in session and not disrupt the meeting. 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 to forty-five (30-45) minutes or at the discretion of the presiding officer.

R.C. 3313.20 Revised 9/93 Revised 4/8/03