Public Comments
Protocol for School Board Business Meetings:
IN PERSON: For those participating at a School Board Business Meeting in person, please sign up to provide public comment prior to the start of the public comments with the Director of Communications.
VIA ZOOM: For those participating via Zoom Webinar, please type your name, location, and comment in the Q&A section.
ACCOMMODATIONS: If you have difficulty attending the meeting because of a disability, limited mobility, or any other reason that makes physical attendance difficult you may have a third person provide the public comment for you, or you may submit your comment via email - or mail to SWSD, Attn School Board, 5476 Maxwelton Road, Langley WA 98236. All requests must be received 48 hours prior to the start of the meeting to be read at that meeting.
GUIDELINES FOR PERSONS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD:
Welcome to the South Whidbey School District Board of Directors meeting. The board meeting is a meeting of the board, held in public. It is not a public forum. As such, the policy of the Board is to adhere to “Roberts Rules of Order”.
The Directors of the South Whidbey School District welcomes you to this regular meeting of the Board. Those patrons wishing to address the Board, present petitions, or speak to any item on the agenda are required to sign- in in order to assist the Chairperson in allocating time and recognizing the speakers.
We take public comments from those in-person first, and then we read comments from those participating online. All comments MUST be accompanied by the speaker’s name and location. The school board will not usually respond to comments beyond thanking the speaker for sharing their opinion.
TIME LIMITS
Each speaker will have at least 3 minutes, but no more than 5 minutes, at the discretion of the Board Chair, to speak, and public comment will last no longer than 45 minutes. To ensure equity of access, those online will be limited to a single comment to be addressed to the board, just as those in-person are -- unless the comment continues through multiple uses of the Q&A function, in which case all continued comments will be read, up to the time limit.
GUIDELINES
As a governing board, the Directors value your thoughts and comments. The Board asks for your cooperation in respecting the following guidelines:
Comments should be addressed directly to the Board as a whole. Normally the Board will not respond or engage in dialogue at this time. The Chairperson may indicate the intent of the Board regarding any necessary response by the District and will communicate through the superintendent.
Patrons with questions or concerns are requested to attempt to resolve problems through use of existing administrative channels before those concerns are brought to the Board.
The public meeting forum is not appropriate for those comments which directly or indirectly register complaints against an individual staff member. Individuals should bring those concerns through the system, preferably starting with the individual. At that time in the process, the Board will receive such concerns in writing and will then determine whether it is appropriate to schedule a closed hearing to hear the complaint further. Derogatory remarks against any individual are never appropriate.
Comments pertaining to legal areas or issues for which the District has engaged legal counsel will be received by the Board in writing.
It is inappropriate to use these comments to make derogatory personal remarks. To quote SWSD Policy #1400: “However, the board recognizes the distinction between uncivil discourse, which it will not tolerate, and comments about the board, district, and / or staff that are negative yet still civil in nature.” For those in-person, comments which violate this standard will be stopped and the speaker will be asked to rephrase. For those participating online, the leadership team member reading the comment will attempt to edit out derogatory comments but retain the general content of the comment. You can attack an idea, but not a person.
As an example, saying that Director Willeford is a fool is a derogatory personal remark. Saying that Director Willeford’s choice to repeat the same example is a foolish decision is not because it addresses the action rather than the person.
Professional Communications policy
Please see the district website: www.sw.wednet.edu - School Board – for further information and policies.
