AGENDA PREPARATION
The agenda for any board meeting will be prepared by the superintendent and board chair. Items submitted by the board chair or at least two (2) board members will be placed on the agenda. The board clerk, administration, or members of the public residing in the district may also request, in writing, the addition of an item directly related to district business to the agenda of a regular meeting. Such requests must be received by the superintendent at least 5 days prior to the scheduled board meeting. The request must include the individual’s name, address, the reason for the request, and the action requested, if any. The board chair may decline to place an item on the agenda where the person making the request is not a resident of the district; the request was received less than 5 days before the regular board meeting; adding the requested item would cause the meeting to be extended by more than 30 minutes; the item is not directly related to district business; or the item can properly be heard under another agenda item. Individuals who are not residents of the district may request the addition of agenda items that directly relate to district business which requests may be approved at the discretion of the board chair. Within 48 hours after a written request to place an item on the agenda is received, the superintendent or designee will notify the individual making such request as to whether the item will be placed on the agenda. The decision as to placement of a requested item on the agenda is final.
REGULAR MEETING AGENDAS
The clerk of the board will post an agenda notice 48 hours in advance of each regular meeting in the same manner as the notice of the meeting.
SPECIAL MEETING AGENDAS
Special meetings require a 24 hour meeting and agenda notice. The agenda notice shall include at a minimum the meeting date, time, and place. The clerk will maintain a list of the news media requesting notification of meetings and will make a good faith effort to provide advanced notification to them of the time and place of each special meeting.
AMENDING AGENDAS
The board may amend the agenda, provided that a good faith effort is made to include in the original agenda notice all items known to be probable items of discussion. The agenda may be amended in the following manner:
1. Amending the Agenda More Than 48 Hours Before a Regular Meeting or 24 Hours Before a Special Meeting. If the agenda is amended after it has been posted but there exists forty-eight (48) hours or more prior to the start of a regular meeting, or 24 hour or more prior to the start of a special meeting, the agenda may be amended upon posting of the amended agenda.
2. Amending the Agenda Less Than 48 Hours Before a Regular Meeting or 24 Hours Before a Special Meeting. If an amendment to the agenda is proposed less than forty-eight (48) hours prior to a regular meeting or less than 24 hours prior to a special meeting but prior to the start of the meeting, the clerk will post the proposed amended agenda but it will not become effective until a motion is made at the meeting and the board votes to amend the agenda.
3. Amending the Agenda After the Start of a Meeting. The board may amend the agenda after the start of a meeting upon a motion that states the reason for the amendment and the good faith reason the agenda item was not included in the posted agenda.
ACTION ITEMS
An agenda item that requires a vote of the board will be identified on the agenda as an “action item” to provide notice that action may be taken on that item. Identifying an item as an “action item” on the agenda does not require a vote to be taken on that item. Final action may not be taken on agenda items added after the start of a meeting unless an emergency is declared necessitating action at that meeting. The declaration and justification shall be reflected in the board minutes.
NEGOTIATION MEETING NOTICES
Notice of all negotiation sessions between the district and the local education organization shall be posted at the earliest time practicable on the front page of the district’s website. Additionally, if time permits, the district shall post notice of the negotiation sessions within 24 hours at the same physical locations the district uses for posting its regular meetings.
QUORUM
A quorum for the transaction of business of the board will consist of a majority of the members of the board. In the event of one (1) or more vacancies on the board, the transaction of business shall be permitted if a majority of the remaining members of the board are present. Unless otherwise provided by law, all questions will be determined by a majority of the votes cast. The chairman of the board may vote in all cases.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
The order of business will be determined by the board chair and superintendent with input from the board. Upon consent of the majority of the members present, the order of business at any meeting may be changed.
CONSENT AGENDA
To expedite business at a board meeting, the board approves the use of a consent agenda, which includes those items considered to be routine in nature. Any item which appears on the consent agenda may be removed by a member of the board. Any board member who wishes to remove an item from the consent agenda is encouraged to give advance notice in a timely manner to the board chair and superintendent. The remaining items on the consent agenda will be voted on by a single motion. The approved motion will be recorded in the minutes, including a listing of all items appearing on the consent agenda.
MINUTES
A complete and accurate set of minutes will be kept of each board meeting. All minutes will be available to the public within a reasonable amount of time after the meeting and will include at least the following information:
1. The date, time, and place of the meeting;
2. All members of the board present and absent;
3. All motions, resolutions, orders, or policies proposed and their dispositions;
4. The result of all votes and, at the request of a member, the vote of each member by name;
5. The legal basis for recessing into executive session, including sufficient detail to identify the purpose and topic of the executive session without compromising the purpose of going into executive session; and
6. Time of adjournment.
If the designated clerk is not available to attend a meeting of the board, the board will appoint a person to act as the temporary clerk. That person will keep the record of the proceedings of the board and certify the same to the clerk, to be entered by him or her.
Following a meeting of the board, the clerk will prepare the typed copy of the minutes from the record of the meeting. A copy of the minutes will be given to each board member prior to the next regular meeting. At the next regular meeting of the board, the minutes will be approved and signed by the clerk and the chairman of the board. The approved and signed minutes will become part of the official ledger of minutes maintained in the district office, to be made available within a reasonable time after a meeting for inspection upon request.
The board will record written minutes of all executive session meetings. The minutes must specify the specific subsection of Idaho Code §74-206 authorizing the executive session and will also provide sufficient detail to identify the purpose and topic of the executive session without compromising the purpose of going into executive session. The roll call vote to go into executive session will also be recorded in the minutes. Executive session minutes may be recorded in the body of the written minutes of the open session and are a public record.
The district will cause to be taken written minutes in all negotiation sessions between the district and the local education organization. All documentation exchanged between the parties during a negotiation session, including all offers and counteroffers, shall be retained by the district and shall be subject to the public records law.
MEETING CONDUCT
General rules of parliamentary procedure are used for every board meeting. The most current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order may be used as a guide at any meeting. The use of proxy votes is not permitted. Voting rights are reserved to those board members in attendance. Voting will be by acclamation or show of hands.
Board members will not utilize electronic communication devices during board meetings unless that communication is also publicly communicated to those in attendance at the meeting. Such communication will be recorded or otherwise referenced in the board minutes, as determined appropriate, given the nature of the topic being considered.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Citizens are encouraged to attend meetings of the board and are allowed to address the board and to comment as allowed under these rules of order and procedure. Public comment is allowed only at a regular meeting or where specifically provided for on the agenda of a special meeting. Public comment is limited to items listed on the meeting agenda. Under no circumstances will public comment be permitted on subject matter that would authorize the board to recess into executive session.
Priority for public comments is provided to district employees, current district students (including dually enrolled students), and members of the public residing in the district. If time permits, and at the discretion of the board, public comment may also be taken from members of the public not residing in the district.
Members of the public who wish to speak on an agenda item shall sign up prior to the start of the meeting by either emailing the board clerk or designee or signing a public comment form available at the meeting location prior to the meeting. Requests to speak should include the person’s name, address, and agenda item on which they wish to be heard.
Speakers’ comments should be shorter than three (3) minutes. However, a speaker may request that they be permitted to yield their time to another designated speaker who has also signed up to speak on the same agenda item. Speakers must be present at the meeting at the time of the request to yield their time. The yielded time will be pooled for a maximum of. 10 minutes for the designated speaker. Speakers are allocated only one opportunity to speak during public comment. In the event that twenty (20) or more speakers express a desire to speak on any given agenda item, the board chair may reduce each individual’s time limit or set a maximum time available for all speakers.
The board chair may interrupt and terminate any presentation not deemed to be in accordance with the guidelines set forth herein; for example, if the person providing comments uses profanity or other abusive language against board members or others present, or if the speaker attempts to present comments regarding an issue in a pending lawsuit or other matter that would authorize the board to recess into executive session. The board chair may also, after a warning, preclude an individual speaker from addressing the board at that meeting and/or at the next regular meeting of the board for violation of the guidelines set forth herein. The relevant guidelines are described below and are available on the district’s website and at all regular meetings of the board or special meetings of the board where public comment is listed as an agenda item.
PUBLIC COMMENT GUIDELINES
1. Speakers shall identify themselves by stating their name and address.
2. Speakers shall not engage in political campaigning.
3. Speakers’ remarks should be directed to the board chair or the board as a whole and not to any individual board member or member of the public in attendance. Otherwise, the speaker may be ruled out of order and asked to yield the podium. Unless permitted by the board chair, board members will not engage in dialogue with speakers.
4. Speakers shall not refuse to yield the podium when the board chair has advised that their time has expired.
5. The board chair may notify and warn speakers at such time their comments have gone beyond the subject matter for which they had signed up to address, address matters that are not related to district business, or otherwise violate these rules of order and procedure. Speakers are advised to refrain from obscene or vulgar conduct, slanderous remarks, or statements that tend to incite violence or breach of the peace. The board chair may turn off the microphone or recess the meeting if any person persists in interfering with the expeditious or orderly process of the meeting, or fails to conform their remarks to the requirements of these rules of order and procedure after being duly warned to do so. Alternatively, after a warning, the board chair may have the speaker or audience member removed from the meeting and barred from further appearance before the board for the balance of the meeting. The board chair reserves the right to seek the assistance of law enforcement when any speaker or member of the audience refuses to comply with requests to refrain from disruptive behavior.
6. In the event a large group of individuals (more than 20) sign up to speak on one agenda item, the board has the authority to adjust the time limit for each speaker to speak less than the three (3) minutes usually permitted, and/or limit the overall time speakers will be heard on that item.
7. No heckling, shouting comments from the audience, verbal outbursts, or any other disruptive behavior shall be permitted. No signs or placards shall be allowed in the board meeting. No derogatory comments using a person’s proper name shall be permitted. Persons exiting a board meeting shall do so quietly so as not to disturb the orderly conduct of the meeting.
8. Personal cellular telephones must be set to silent mode in the meeting room to avoid disruption of the meeting.
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LEGAL REFERENCE:
Idaho Code Sections
33-506 – Organization and Government of Board of Trustees
33-510 – Annual Meetings – Regular Meetings – Boards of Trustees
74-201 et seq. – Idaho Open Meeting Act
ADOPTED: July 16, 2024