Manatee County School Board discusses possible changes to public comment policy
BRADENTON -- The Manatee County School Board on Friday grappled with defining what makes a group and deciding how much time a representative of a group gets to speak during board meetings.
The board, which met in a workshop Friday morning, is updating its bylaws and policies, which govern how the board acts. The public comment policy has been a sticking point for the board, as it tries to balance allowing members of the public to speak and keeping the meetings orderly.
"We took into account the desire for genuine public input and inquiry along with the desire to have a well contained and collegial meeting," said Robert Johnson, district director of performance and planning management. Johnson led the board through the discussion.
No formal action was taken but the board provided a few recommendations for Johnson.
A group representative will be given five minutes to speak during the public comment session, given at least three members of the group are present at the meeting and the group has signed a document with the school board stating it is a group.
"If they can't muster three people to attend who agree with that issue, I don't think it's an issue to the group," board member John Colon said.
The board took out a provision that would have required the group to sign up 24 hours in advance to speak.
The proposed policy also
clearly defines the two periods in which members of the public can speak: during the general public comment session and on specific actions items such as a contract vote.
The proposed policy does not let members of the public sign up to speak on items that include reports and presentations or the superintendent's remarks. Board member Dave Miner did not agree with that stipulation.
"I'm wondering why we are excluding things that the public can comment on at a meeting?" Miner said.
No other board members commented to agree with Miner.
The bylaw and policy update has been an ongoing project for the board, and board Chairwoman Karen Carpenter joked the process was similar to the gestation period of an elephant, which is 22 months.
Carpenter and Miner clashed a few times during the workshop, when Miner wanted to speak at length about some provisions in the policy and Carpenter wanted to poll each board member on their opinion before moving forward.
"I'm trying to poll consensus here on this change and try to be efficient," Carpenter said.
"I hope to be effective," Miner replied quickly.
The board seemed content with the proposed changes to the public comment policy. The board also finished reviewing its other bylaws during the workshop.
There is no date yet set for the board to formally vote and accept the changes to the bylaws and policies.
Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.
This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Manatee County School Board discusses possible changes to public comment policy ."