-Draft for School Board Discussion and Action-
LIONSGATE ACADEMY
MANUAL OF SCHOOL POLICIES APPROVED BY THE BOARD
POLICY 203.1: RULES OF ORDER FOR SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to provide specific rules of order to conduct meetings of the school board. It is the intention of the board to ensure that the affairs of the school board are conducted in an open, orderly and efficient manner, and that members of the public desiring to address the board on relevant and germane matters of administrative concern shall be afforded an opportunity to speak.
II. GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY
To ensure that school board meetings are conducted in an orderly fashion, the school board will follow rules of order which will allow the school board:
A. To establish guidelines by which the business of the school board can be conducted in a regular and internally consistent manner;
B. To organize the meetings so all necessary matters can be brought to the school board and decisions of the school board can be made in an orderly and reasonable manner;
C. To ensure that members of the school board have the necessary information to make decisions on substantive issues and to insure adequate discussion of decisions to be made; and
D. To ensure that meetings and actions of the school board are conducted so as to be informative to the staff and the public, and to produce a clear record of actions taken and decisions made.
E. To ensure that members of the public may be afforded an opportunity to speak while ensuring that other public members may observe and hear the proceedings without distraction, and that the board and its employees are able to transact the business of the board with minimal disruption.
III. RULES OF ORDER FOR MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD
A. School board members need not rise to gain the recognition of the chair.
B. A motion will be adopted or carried if it receives the affirmative votes of a majority of those actually voting on the matter. Abstentions are considered to be acquiescence to the vote of the majority. Some motions may require larger numbers of affirmative votes according to board bylaws, board policy, or by Minnesota statute.
C. All motions that require a second shall receive a second prior to opening the issue for discussion of the school board. If a motion that requires a second does not receive a second, the chair may declare that the motion fails for lack of a second or may provide the second. The names of the members making and seconding a motion shall be recorded in the minutes, as well as the votes of all board members.
D. The chair shall decide the order in which school board members will be recognized to address an issue. An attempt should be made to alternate between pro and con positions if appropriate to the discussion. A member shall only speak to an issue after the member is recognized by the chair.
E. The chair shall rule on all questions relating to motions and points of order brought before the school board.
F. A ruling by the chair is subject to appeal to the full school board with the majority vote of the board determining the final decision on a ruling.
G. A ruling by the chair is subject to the full school board with the majority vote of the board determining the final decision on a ruling.
H. The school board shall have authority to recognize any member of the audience regarding a request to be heard at the school board meeting. Members of the public who wish to be heard shall follow school board procedures.
I. The chair has the authority to declare a recess at any time for the purpose of restoring decorum to the meeting or for any other necessary purpose.
J. The chair shall repeat a motion or the substance of a motion prior to the vote. The chair shall call for an affirmative vote or a negative vote from each member on each motion.
K. The order in which names will be called for roll call votes will be determined by the school board.
L. The chair has the same right and responsibility as each school board member to vote on all issues.
M. The chair shall announce the result of each vote. The vote of each member, including abstentions, shall be recorded in the minutes. If the vote is unanimous, it may be reflected as unanimous in the minutes if the minutes also reflect the members present for the vote.
N. A majority of the voting members of the school board constitute a quorum. The absence of a quorum may be raised by the chair or any board member. Generally any action taken in the absence of a quorum is null and void. The only legal actions the school board may take in the absence of a meeting quorum are to fix the time at which to adjourn, to adjourn the meeting, to recess the meeting, or to take measures to obtain a quorum for the meeting.
O. No meeting shall be permitted to continue beyond three (3) hours without approval of the majority of the board members that are present and eligible to vote. A new time limit must be established before taking a board vote to extend the meeting. In the event that a meeting has not been closed or continued by the board vote prior to adjournment time, the items not yet acted on shall be deferred to the next regular board meeting unless the board determines otherwise by a majority vote of the members present.
IV. RULES OF ORDER FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. Any person wishing to address the board shall sign in prior to the meeting and provide information (name, address, topic relating to planned comments). A person addressing the board shall give his or her name and address and be recognized by the chair who shall limit their comments to five (1) minutes; comments shall be confined to matters pertaining to the agenda or germane to matters of administrative concern. The board chair shall rule on the pertinence and/or germaneness of any speaker’s comments as may be requested by any member of the school board.
B. There shall be no demonstrations during or at the conclusion of any speaker’s presentation. A person addressing the board shall refrain from the following:
(1) Attempting to engage individual board members in conversation
(2) Insults, obscenity or profanity
(3) Attacks against any person in his or her personal capacity
(4) Physical violence or threat thereof
(5) Comments not relevant to the agenda or issues of administrative concern
(6) Comments that are unduly repetitious
(7) Comments that exceed the one-minute time limit, conduct/comments that disrupt, disturb, or otherwise impede the orderly conduct of the board meeting.
C. Any person who breaches these rules shall, at the discretion of the chair or by a majority vote of the board, be given an oral warning by the chair to refrain from disturbing or disrupting the meeting. If, after receiving such a warning, the person continues to breach these rules, he or she will be barred from further audience before the board at that meeting. If the person persists, the chair may order him or her to leave the meeting.
D. Nothing in these rules shall deny any person the right to attend any meeting of the board, or to individually contact any board member to lobby, educate, or request action by the board. Further, these rules do not preclude persons from delivering written materials to the board.
ADOPTED BY THE BOARD ON:
REVISED BY THE BOARD ON
