Public Participation in Board Meetings and Public Hearings
The Board encourages citizens to attend Board meetings. In order to assure citizens are heard and Board meetings are conducted efficiently and in an organized manner, the Board may set time aside for citizen participation, at a specific time during the meeting. If the pressure of business or other circumstances dictate, the Board President may decide to limit and/or not set time aside for citizen participation. Citizens may address the Board concerning any subject within the Board’s jurisdiction.
All complaints concerning individual District employees or challenges to instructional materials should be presented to the District administration or the Board in writing, signed by the complainant. All such complaints or challenges, if presented to the Board directly, will be referred to the District administrator as outlined in Board policy.
“Public Hearings” may be held on District matters at the discretion of the Board. Public notice of a Public Hearing will be made in the same manner as for a Board meeting unless it is impossible or impractical to do so, or the law requires otherwise. Prior to the hearing, the Board President/designee will inform speakers of the rules of order to be followed regarding time limitations, questions, remarks, and rebuttals. In no event will a speaker be allowed to take the time of another speaker. Speakers are asked to keep their remarks relevant to the subject matter and as succinct as possible.
“Delegations, Petitions, and Communications” provides an opportunity for public input. Information brought forth will receive consideration during any relevant future decision-making process involving the subject matter of the presentation. Questions addressed to the Board will be referred to the appropriate staff and may receive a reply at a later time or meeting. In order to abide by the Open Meetings Law, there will be no dialogue between Board members and the public at Board meetings except to clarify the nature of questions or comments. Citizens wishing to present petitions to the Board may do so at this time. The Board however, will only receive the petitions and not act upon them or their contents.
Persons who wish to be heard by the Board during either public hearings or public input times must complete a form “Request to Address the Board” which is available at the Board meeting. The completed form will be submitted to the Board President/Board Secretary who will recognize the speaker. Each participant is to limit his/her remarks to five (5) minutes. A five (5) minute time limit has been established to allow participation by as many persons as possible, while at the same time permitting the Board time to thoroughly consider all agenda items. Additional supporting material may be submitted in writing.
The President shall be responsible for the orderly conduct of the meeting, including termination of presentations that are inappropriate, discourteous, or too lengthy. If there are several speakers on the same topic, the President may limit the number of presenters or length of time devoted to the topic. The Board President has the authority to declare a recess at any time.
The orderly process of the Board meeting will not be interfered with or disrupted. Only those speakers recognized by the Board President will be allowed to speak. If disruptive, the individual causing disruption may be asked to leave the Board meeting.
Legal Reference: Iowa Code §§ Ch. 21; 26.12; Ch. 24; 279.8, .10; 297.22
- Approved: 05-27-80
- Revised: 11-25-85, 05-26-87
- Reviewed: 02-27-89
- Revised: 04-20-92
- Reviewed: 09-25-95, 11-23-98
- Revised: 04-28-03, 11-11-13, 12-11-17, 03-26-18
- Documents: 202.11
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