School Board Meetings

treehugger · **School Board Meetings**

Do you attend them? If so, are people allowed to express their opinions there and do they generally do anything about them?

desertmom · 02-01-2007, 09:59 PM

I would like to be more active in them, and in the PTO ones, but it's so hard with an active toddler. I know they tend to be low attendance here, which is too bad, because it is where you can have a voice and ask questions.

aliadam · 02-01-2007, 10:48 PM

My dh presents at a school board mtg every month. I can ask him tomorrow what the process is for audience questions or comments. I "think" they have to tell someone ahead of time they want to make a statement. The regular agenda just includes all the nuts and bolts of keeping a school system operating. --budget, positions to be filled, curriculum, etc-- But if you're interested I'll ask him about it. But you're right, it is usually very low attendance by parents or community members unless there's a "really" hot topic, and then they just sometimes schedule special sessions to deal with thaT. hth

treehugger · 02-02-2007, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aliadam

My dh presents at a school board mtg every month. I can ask him tomorrow what the process is for audience questions or comments. I "think" they have to tell someone ahead of time they want to make a statement. The regular agenda just includes all the nuts and bolts of keeping a school system operating. --budget, positions to be filled, curriculum, etc-- But if you're interested I'll ask him about it. But you're right, it is usually very low attendance by parents or community members unless there's a "really" hot topic, and then they just sometimes schedule special sessions to deal with thaT. hth

Thanks! I would really like to know how it works. I'm feeling out of the loop on things and want to know what's going on before the final decisions are just handed out, because then it's too late to do anything about it.

allgirls · 02-02-2007, 10:00 AM

we usually have an open mic portion at every meeting. I will be attending the next meeting to discuss why parents were not informed that a level 3 sex offender was moving in 3 blocks away.

allgirls

daymom03 · 02-02-2007, 10:24 AM

It definitely depends on the school district. You should just check with yours to see the procedure. I think most of them probably say you have to sign in and/or register beforehand so they can schedule the meeting and run it efficiently.

Oregano · 02-02-2007, 10:28 AM

It probably varies quite a bit depending on your school district. I go to school board meetings occasionally, just for fun...L.OL. My kids are in a private school but we like to stay informed. At most meetings, there is a period of time where questions are taken from the audience, but sometimes the line can be long and they can't get to you due to time restraints. If you really have something you want presented, you can call and get it added to the agenda.

aliadam · 02-02-2007, 10:50 AM

Okay, I talked to my dh and asked him about this. Unfortunately I wasn't sure if you were going to the school board about the current classroom situation, or the post yesterday about extending the school day, so his answer was a little different on each problem.

He said (at least in the school district he works in) that there is always an item on the agenda for a designated time for people to make comments/ask questions/etc. He says the rule they have is 3 minutes per person, but that they occasionally let a person go over the 3 minute limit (I think they just like to have the rule in case someone is droning on excessively). So he said you would be allowed to ask questions or make comments without scheduling anything in advance.

He said if it was the classroom situation, that they (again...may not be the same for yours) do NOT allow discussion of personnel issues. So you could describe the chaos in the classroom and ask what the process is to get more help, etc. but they would not discuss an individual teacher in the mtg. He said if they felt it was necessary to discuss it more they would ask you to make an appt with someone (superintendant or an asst) to discuss the situation further.

If it was the issue about extending the school day length, he said he would assume that they will have scheduled blocks of time set aside to discuss that. He said whenever anything major like that comes up, they'll often have separate mtgs just to discuss that one issue since they know they'll have lots of community questions or comments. I know here in OUR school district (where my kids go to school, not where dh works) whenever they're doing something like this, they'll often have mtgs at individual schools for people to discuss things like this, or if not, they'll schedule two or three different dates to allow the public to come.

My advice would be to call the superintendents office and ask the date of the next school board mtg and what is on the agenda. If you're wanting to discuss the school length, ask them specifically if that will be discussed and if there will be ample time for public comments/questions. Let me know if you have any more questions I might be able to help you with.

treehugger · 02-02-2007, 08:57 PM

Wow! Thank you so much. Ya know, I never thought of calling and asking for an agenda, great idea. I will do that.