Board Policy BCBI: Public Participation in Board Meetings

The DeKalb County Board of Education encourages the public to be involved in public education. To facilitate public input, the Board will hold a monthly Community Input Session in accordance with the procedures below. The purpose of the session is to allow speakers to comment on issues relevant to the Board or the DeKalb County School District.

Eligibility and Sign Up

• Before addressing the Board, individuals are encouraged to seek solutions to their concerns by following proper staff and administrative channels.
• The opportunity to provide public comment is limited to district stakeholders, including parents, guardians, students, residents, employees, businesses, organizations, and individuals who either reside or conduct business within the district's geographic boundaries.
• Individuals wishing to speak may submit a request in writing to the Board Office via letter, fax, email or comment card. Requests must include the individual’s name, address, topic to be addressed, previous steps taken to resolve the concern (if any), and the group (if any) that the individual is representing.
• Request -to- Speak Comment cards will be available at the Board Office on the day of the meeting. Cards must be completely filled out, providing the information listed above.
• If an individual is unable to attend the meeting after signing up in advance, the speaker may appoint a substitute speaker by calling the Board Office by 12 p.m. of the meeting day.
• All speaker requests must be submitted by 5:30 p.m. on the day of the Community Meeting.
• An organization may sign up to speak by designating an authorized spokesperson and one alternate, who may speak only if the primary spokesperson is unable to attend.
• To allow the Board to receive input from as many stakeholders as possible, individuals who speak during a Community Input Session one month may only speak at the next month's meeting if there are spaces remaining after all non-repeating speakers have signed up.

Meeting Structure

• To allow time for the Board's other business, the public comment period will be limited to one hour or 20 speakers.
• Speakers have a maximum of three minutes each and must stop speaking promptly when their time is up.
• Speakers are encouraged to provide the Board with a written copy of their comments and other appropriate supporting documentation.
• The Community Input Session is designed to gather input from the public and is not intended for immediate responses by the Board. However, if requested, the district will attempt to respond to each speaker within five business days.

Speaker and Audience Etiquette

• Speakers may speak critically of school operations and programs and will not be denied the opportunity to address the Board on the basis of their viewpoint.
• However, the Board requests that these views be expressed in a courteous, civil and professional manner.
• Speakers are specifically prohibited from:
• Discussing confidential student or personnel matters. Individuals with complaints involving district staff are encouraged to submit those concerns to the Superintendent in writing.
• Making threatening remarks, inciting violence or lawlessness, making obscene gestures or comments, or using racist and hate-filled language.
• Also prohibited are actions or comments that cause a disturbance or disruption, including loud and boisterous comments, jeers, applause, or shouts from the audience.
• To preserve reasonable civility and facilitate an orderly meeting, disruptive individuals may be asked to leave the meeting room or the meeting may be temporarily paused until order is restored.
• Additional guidance for speakers can be found in Exhibit BCBI-E.

Special Circumstances

• At the Board's discretion, the comment period may be extended for a specified amount of time or a specific number of additional speakers.

Definitions

• Obscene:

• "the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest";

• "the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law"; and

• "the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ References

State

• O.C.G.A. 1611-0034 Preventing or disrupting a meeting of General Assembly or other meetings of members
• O.C.G.A. 1611-0035 Removal from campus or facility of unit of university system or school; failure to leave
• O.C.G.A. 2002-0058 Regular monthly meeting of local boards; adjournment; temporary presiding officer; notice of date; template for financial review; open meetings
• O.C.G.A. 5014-0001 Open Meetings Act; notice; minutes; telecommunication conferences

Federal

• USC 1st Amendment First Amendment, U.S. Constitution