How much input citizens should have at board meetings was discussed at a Shawano School Board workshop this week.
The board met with Robert Butler, a consultant with the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, who helped to provide a refresher on the powers of the board and individual members. During the course of the discussion, he outlined how boards can handle comments from the public.
Butler explained that, although meetings are public, the board is not required to set aside time for citizen input. Currently, there is a period at the start of the meeting and another at the end when members of the public can speak about school issues, whether they are on the agenda that night or not.
“When you adopt your policies, you get to establish the rules for that public comment period, provided those rules aren’t based on the content of my message, unless I’m being disorderly,” Butler said. “You just keep it uniform for everybody.”
Butler pointed out that boards cannot engage in debate on issues when they are not on the agenda. However, there is wiggle room for the board president to give a modest reply and to pass information to an administrator or appropriate official to address.
Board member Bruce Milavitz suggested also providing citizens the chance to provide input about agenda items when they are brought to the table instead of requiring their comments to come before the information is presented.
“It seems like the public wants to say something, but when we give them an opportunity in the beginning, it doesn’t seem like they have any fulfillment,” Milavitz said. “They say it, and we stand there like this.”
Board member Diane Hoffman expressed concern about allowing too much leeway for citizens to interrupt meetings and potentially slow down the board’s business. She said, if the board were to allow citizen discussion on a specific agenda item, it would have to be stated on the agenda.
“I like order, so I am not in favor of that,” Hoffman said.
Also, there is no requirement in place mandating that the board accommodate everyone who wants to attend a meeting, Butler said. He noted there have been instances when 200 or more people come to a meeting after hearing that a sensitive issue would be on the agenda, but not everyone could enter because of the size of the room.
Butler recommended that, if there is advance notice that a lot of people are going to attend a meeting, the district should try to relocate the meeting to a larger venue as a courtesy.
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