ICHABOD CRANE 1230
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AT BOARD MEETINGS
The Board of Education recognizes its responsibility to hear and respond as appropriate to public comment and, therefore, encourages public participation at Board meetings. Residents, students, employees of ICC and representatives/owners of local businesses may address the Board on matters concerning programs and/or operations of the district, other than matters involving personnel or matters that may inadvertently identify a specific student’s educational program or status without parental consent. Members of the Board do not directly respond to citizen concerns during Public Participation. While the Board does not wish to infringe upon free speech protections, it must be stressed that Public Participation is not deemed to be an open forum. In addition, any remarks, which may be considered defamatory or stigmatizing, are prohibited and will be declared out of order. There will be a specific agenda item at each Board meeting to provide an opportunity to address the Board. All Board meetings, regular and special and committee meetings shall be conducted using standard parliamentary procedures.
All regularly scheduled and special Board meetings shall be opened to the public in compliance with the provision of the Open Meetings Law. Public participation on any item will generally be scheduled at the beginning of the meeting for a half-hour, and at the discretion of the Board, the half-hour time can be reduced or extended. Any person wishing to address the Board during this time period should sign in with the District Clerk. The Board President has the ability to impose a time limit for each speaker when necessary. Persons wishing to speak should first be recognized by the President, then identify themselves, any organization they may be representing at the meeting and the topic they wish to discuss. Comments should be kept as brief as possible and relate to school matters.
The Board will offer an additional public participation period just prior to adjournment into executive session or adjournment of a duly convened meeting. Participation at the end of the meeting shall be made available for ten (10) minutes and shall be limited to comment on agenda items only, and at the discretion of the Board, the ten (10) minutes may be reduced or extended.
Effective date: January 9, 2018