FILE:  BCB

Cf:  BBA, BCBD, BCBI

 

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING PROCEDURES

 

 

It is the desire of the Orleans Parish School Board that meetings be formal enough for orderly procedure, but informal enough to be natural, to encourage free discussion, and to promote group thinking and action.  In matters of procedures not covered by law, School Board policy, or the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), meetings of the School Board, including committee meetings shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order (Revised).  The President shall be entitled to discuss and vote on all matters before the School Board.

 

The President of the School Board, or, in his or her absence, the Vice-President, shall conduct all meetings.  In the absence of both, the Superintendent shall preside until the School Board elects an acting chairman.  The presiding officer shall recognize members of the School Board who wish to be heard in the order that he/she deems advisable.  No member of the School Board shall speak without having first been recognized.

 

Each School Board member shall be given an opportunity to express, without interruption, his or her views on any agenda item.  The President may stop any discussion that does not apply to the motion last made.  He/she may also stop the discussion of a matter if the School Board has previously agreed to confine discussion to a definite period of time, and that time period has been used.

 

Public participation in School Board meetings shall be permitted during the public comment period on each item of the agenda on which a vote is to be taken.  Other persons may be recognized in School Board meetings upon approval of the School Board.  The President of the School Board shall have complete authority to remove any person(s) who willfully disrupts a meeting to the extent that orderly conduct of the meeting cannot be maintained.

 

RULES OF PROCEDURE

 

The following rules of procedure shall guide the School Board in its execution of business.

 

  1. The agenda should include all subjects to be discussed at the public meeting, including matters to be discussed in executive session.  If matters are to be discussed in executive session, the agenda should also include:

 

  1. A statement identifying the court, case number, and the parties relative to any pending litigation to be considered at the meeting.

     

  2. A statement identifying the parties involved and reasonably identifying the subject matter of any prospective litigation for which formal written demand has been made that is to be considered at the meeting.

 

  1. A simple majority of the total membership of the School Board or at least four (4) members constitutes a quorum and must be present in order to officially convene the School Board meeting.

     

  2. Except as may otherwise be provided by state law or by School Board policy, any motion, resolution or other action of the School Board shall be deemed valid only upon a favorable vote of a simple majority of the members present and voting taken at a properly called regular or special meeting of the School Board.

     

  3. Voting shall be by voice, by roll call, or by electronic device, except that voting may be by ballot for the election of School Board officers or Superintendents.  Whenever ballots are used, the name and vote of each member shall be written on the ballot and read aloud.  There shall be no proxy votes.

     

  4. A School Board member shall abstain from voting on any matter in which his/her personal or professional gain is in conflict with the interest of the School Board or on any question involving conduct to the School Board member.

     

  5. The School Board shall discuss only those items listed on the properly advertised agenda.  Inclusion of an additional agenda item shall require a unanimous vote of members present.  Any such matter shall be identified in the motion to take up the matter not on the agenda with reasonable specificity, including the purpose for the addition to the agenda, and entered into the minutes of the meeting.  Prior to any vote on a motion to take up a matter not on the agenda, there shall be an opportunity for public comment.  The President shall have the prerogative to move an agenda item when he/she feels the change would be in the best interest of the meeting.  An item may be removed from the agenda during the meeting on the motion of any School Board member with a majority concurrence of members present.  An item appearing on the agenda that has been requested by a School Board member may be withdrawn at any time during the meeting at the request of the School Board member.

     

  6. The School Board can decide who shall sit at the School Board-meeting table.

     

  7. The President shall have the authority to appoint a Parliamentarian to serve at School Board meetings who shall assist in maintaining the orderly conduct of meetings.  He/she shall have the authority to terminate the remarks and order the removal of any individual(s) who does/do not adhere to the above rules.  Assigned security personnel and New Orleans Police Department personnel shall execute the parliamentarian request for removal.

 

Rules on Public Comment

 

  1. Public comment from individuals or groups shall be permitted at all public School Board meetings, after submitting a request to appear on the agenda in accordance with policies BCBD, Agenda Preparation and Dissemination, and BCBI, Public Participation in School Board Meetings, and only when called upon by the President or his designee.  Each person shall be permitted to speak no more than two (2) minutes, unless the time is extended by the President.

     

  2. Speakers shall address items on the School Board agenda unless otherwise authorized by the President.  At all times, speakers and attendees at School Board meetings shall observe orderly meeting decorum.  Written comment may be submitted to the School Board for inclusion in the record.

     

  3. Public comment on agenda items to be voted on shall be in accordance with policy BCBI, Public Participation in School Board Meetings.

 

Revised:  October 17, 2019

 

 

Ref:    La. Rev. Stat. ยงยง17:81, 42:12, 42:13, 42:14, 42:15, 42:19, 42:19.1, 42:20

Board minutes, 10-17-19

 

Orleans Parish School Board