Rockwood School District officials are considering changing how they hear from the community during Board of Education meetings.
Board members discussed the topic at a Nov. 29 work session. Board president Jaime Bayes said the board has been discussing adjusting the patron comment period format since February.
“We want to make sure that we’re being responsive and figuring out a way to hear from patrons in a way that makes sense, while maintaining a focus on students and student achievement,” she said.
The board’s next scheduled meeting is at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, at Crestview Middle School, 16025 Clayton Road, in Ballwin. Bayes said she does not anticipate board members voting to change the comment policy at that meeting.
A draft of the new policy, available in the district’s board documents, says the board may limit the comment period to once a month. The board typically meets at 7 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of every month at schools throughout the district.
The number of community members allowed to speak during a meeting may be capped at 10, and each speaker would be allowed three minutes to address the board, limiting public comments to a total of 30 minutes.
However, the board president would be allowed to extend or reduce the time allotted for public comments at any time under the proposed policy.
Bayes said placing a limit on how many people may speak during a meeting and limiting public comments to once a month is a “best practice” to allow the board to conduct its business.
“If you compare what we’ve been doing with others and what is recommended by the (Missouri School Boards Association), we haven’t been following that idea of doing it in that way,” she said. “Boards need time to get through work that sometimes we end up having to have special work sessions for.”
The board president also would have the option of moving the public comment period to the end of a meeting to ensure business can be conducted during the meeting.
The district typically holds its public comment period near the beginning of meetings, but the board moved it to the end of its Nov. 18 meeting. There were no public comments allowed during the Dec. 2 board meeting and awards night at Rockwood Summit High School.
The new policy draft also says speakers will only be allowed to address topics that are on that meeting’s agenda, and only parents, students, residents and employees will be allowed to address the board.
Those wishing to speak will have 30 minutes before the start of a meeting to fill out a card stating the topic they wish to discuss, and no cards will be accepted after the meeting has begun. The order of speakers will be determined by the order cards are turned into the board.
The proposed policy also says if everyone wishing to address the board cannot be heard during a meeting, they can submit a written copy of their planned statement to the board.
The proposed policy says comments must be acceptable for a business and family-friendly environment, and speakers will not be allowed to use inappropriate language, make inappropriate gestures or make personal attacks. The board president will be allowed to stop a speaker from commenting if they become abusive or threatening.
Bayes said the new rules are being considered to allow meetings to be conducted in an orderly fashion.
At recent meetings, as many as 30 people have spoken during the public comment portion of meetings.
“You need to have some parameters,” Bayes said. “Otherwise, you could sit somewhere for days and days.”
Bayes said restricting speakers to address only topics on the agenda should allow the focus of meetings to remain on district business.
“The purpose of a school board meeting is to conduct the business of the district and to maintain a larger percentage of discussion and meeting time on students and student achievement,” she said. “I think a lot of districts focus on agenda items only. They do that because they may want to hear from patrons before items are decided that are applicable that day.”
The proposed policy also states that comments about specific employees and students will not be allowed.
Bayes said the board is waiting on information from the Missouri School Boards Association and will have the district’s attorney review the policy changes before voting on whether to adopt the new rules.
She said there is no timeline for when the proposed policy may come up for a vote of the board.