1365 -PROCEDURES FOR THE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AT ACTION MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
It is the policy of this Board to encourage comments from all points of view of public concern in the schools and to conduct meetings that are orderly, efficient and dignified.
1365.1 Any citizen may submit a request for an item to be placed on the School Board’s agenda for consideration at its meetings. This request must be in writing and received at least ten business days prior to a scheduled School Board meeting. Copies of the request must be mailed to the Superintendent at her office or to the Board Chair or Vice Chair at their home addresses. To be included on the agenda, an item must be approved by at least two of these persons.
1365.2 Citizens may sign up to speak on agenda items of the Board's action meetings. Citizens must sign up with the Board clerk prior to the consideration of the agenda item on which they wish to comment. Citizens may sign up for a maximum of 2 agenda items to be addressed.
Citizens will address the Board in the order of items on the agenda. The Board Chair will grant 1 to 3 minutes per person per item, depending on the number of citizens wishing to address the Board.
A citizen who has signed up to address the Board may yield his/her time to another speaker. A citizen may accept two yields per meeting. If a group of more than four (4) persons is signed up to present a concern, the group may choose one of its members to speak on the group's behalf. The presentation must not exceed six (6) minutes.
Prior to the meeting, any citizen may request an item be pulled from the consent agenda by a Board member. Only Board members can pull consent agenda items. Discussion on all pulled consent agenda items will be at the end of the consent agenda or business agenda section of the meeting, at the discretion of the Board Chair.
Citizens may address the Board about non-agenda items during the 30-minute period set aside for this purpose at the beginning of its regular action meeting. Citizens must sign up with the Board clerk prior to the beginning of the Board meeting. The Board Chair will grant 1 to 3 minutes to speak per person, depending on the number of citizens wishing to address the Board. A citizen who has signed up to address the Board about a non-agenda item may yield his/her time to another speaker as described above. Citizen participation in the non-agenda public comment will not count towards the speaking limit of two (2) agenda items per person per meeting.
Citizens' comments from action meetings of the Board will be 1) accepted as opinion, or 2) referred to an administrator for investigation to be reported back to the citizen and Board to the extent permitted by law, or 3) referred to the Board Chair, Vice Chair and Superintendent for agenda planning, or 4) referred to a Board Committee.
When the Board Chair refers an issue of public concern to an administrator for investigation, the Superintendent or administrator will respond in one of three ways within 5 business days: 1) provide an answer to the citizen about their issue of concern, or 2) provide an estimated time frame that the administration feels will be necessary to investigate and provide an answer to the citizen, or 3) indicate that the administration will not be able to provide the answer with reasonable effort.
1365.3 The policies and laws of the State of North Carolina, as well as the policies of the Board, provide that matters concerning the job competence and performance of individual school system employees are confidential. For this reason, and to ensure that Board meetings are conducted in an orderly and fair manner, the Board will not entertain public discussion about specifically named school system employees during the open session of Board meetings. The proper manner for raising concerns about a specific employee is to submit comments in writing to the Superintendent or to use the grievance procedures that have been established by the Board.
1365.4 The Board recognizes that the Superintendent is in a different position than other employees. As the chief executive officer, the Superintendent must expect to be the focal point of comments and criticisms about the overall performance of the school system and its employees, and such comments will be allowed during the open session of Board meetings. However, the proper manner for raising claims of misconduct or impropriety by the Superintendent that could be the basis of disciplinary action is through the grievance procedures that have been established by the Board.
Legal Reference: G.S. 115C-276(b), -319; G.S. 143-318.11
Adopted: July 2, 1992
Revised: October 25, 1995
Revised: July 1, 1999
Revised Effective: March 17, 2005
Revised Effective: August 18, 2005
