B9358.3

ST. LOUIS BOARD OF EDUCATION BYLAWS

BYLAWS OF THE BOARD

METHODS OF OPERATION
Meetings - Meeting Conduct
Public Participation at Meetings

I. PURPOSE

1. The school board recognizes the value of participation by the public in deliberations and decisions on school district matters. At the same time, the school board recognizes the need to conduct orderly and efficient proceedings while maintaining the opportunity to express all participants' respective views.

2. The school board will strive to give people related to the school district an opportunity to be heard and have complaints considered and evaluated within the limits of the law and this policy and subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restriction.

3. The purpose of this by-law is to provide procedures that create an opportunity for the public to participate in open and orderly public comment while protecting the due process and privacy rights of individuals under the law.

4. The school board reserves the right to allocate a specific period of time for this purpose and limit time for speakers accordingly. The school board reserves the right to suspend public comment if deemed necessary by the board of education to ensure school board meetings' orderly and efficient conduct.

II. GENERAL STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

1. The school board's goal is to encourage participation in subjects related to the school district's management at school board meetings. The school board may adopt reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on public participation within board meetings but encourage participation with individual board members outside of the formal school board meeting time to facilitate free discussion by all interested parties.

2. The school board shall, as a matter of policy and law, protect the legal rights to privacy and due process of employees and students.

III. RIGHTS TO PRIVACY

School district employees have a legal right to privacy related to personnel matters which may come before the school board.

1. School district students have a legal right to privacy related to matters which may come before the school board.

2. Individuals speaking during public comment shall refrain from identifying school employees and/or students by name, title, and/or location. All comments and/or complaints relating to a specific employee and/or student shall be submitted in writing to the President.

IV. Procedures

Public Comment

The school board shall normally provide a specific period of time when citizens may address the school board on any topic, subject to the limitations of the policy. The school board reserved the right to allocate a specific period of time for this purpose and limit time for speakers accordingly.

The school board may decide to hold certain types of public meetings where the public will not be invited to address the school bard. Possible examples are work sessions and board retreats. The public will still be entitled to notice of these meetings and will be allowed to attend these meetings, but the public will not be allotted time to address the board during the meeting.

1. People who wish to address the school board must sign in and provide their name, address, phone number, or email address and the subject of their comment.

2. Community organizations, parent groups, non-for-profits, and/or other groups of public speakers who are aligned in their public comments, or speaking collectively on the same subject, must identify the organization they represent by name, address, and contact information. To ensure that all members of the public are granted an opportunity to address the board of education within the forty-five (45) minute public comment period, community organizations and other aligned groups may be asked to identify a speaker to present the comments on behalf of the group or organization.

3. The school board president will recognize one speaker at a time and rule out of order other speakers who are not recognized. Only those speakers recognized by the chair will be allowed to speak. Each speaker will be given up to three minutes, with time extended to six minutes if translation is necessary. Comments by others are out of order. Individuals who interfere with or interrupt speakers, the school board, or the proceedings may be directed to leave. These comments will occur during the public comment section of the board agenda.

4. Personal attacks by anyone addressing the school board are unacceptable. Persistence in such remarks by an individual shall terminate that person's privilege to address the school board.

5. Depending upon the number of persons in attendance seeking to be heard, the school board reserves the right to impose other limitations and opportunities for those present to be heard.

Informal Complaints

1. Routine complaints about a teacher or other employee shoul d first be directed to that teacher or employee or the employee's immediate supervisor.

2. If the complaint is against an employee relating to child abuse, discrimination, racial, religious, or sexual harassment, or other activities involving an intimidating atmosphere, the complaimt should be directed to the employee's supervisor or other official as designated in the school ditrict policy governing that kind of complaint. In the absence of a designated person, the matter should be referred to the superintendent.

3. Unresolved complaints from Paragraph 1 of this section or problems concerning the school district should be directed to the superintendent's office.

4. Complaints that are unresolved at the superintendent's level may only be brought before the school board by notifying the school board in writing.

5. Personal attacks by anyone addressing the school board are unacceptable. Persistence in such remarks by an individual shall terminate that person's privilege to address the school board.

References

cf: Board Policy P8354

Bylaw adopted: July 10,1990

Revised: February 9, 1999

Revised: February 22, 2000

Revised: October 10, 2006

Revised: December 10, 2019