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BLACK KNIGHTS: BOARD OF EDUCATION
From left to right: Michael Leifheit, Lauren Logan, Andy Fisher, Laura Ebright, Melinda Williams
Board of Education meetings are open to the public. Time of meetings can be found when viewing the Board Agenda. Agendas will be published prior to the meeting date.
Public participation is encouraged during the "Recognition of Visitors" to present helpful suggestions for the school district; however, to allow the Board to complete the agenda in an effective and efficient manner, public input may be limited. Members of the community can also make a public comment virtually, by completing and submitting this form by noon the afternoon prior to the meeting (any comments submitted after that time will be held for the following meeting). Your comment will be read aloud, along with your name, followed by any response from the Board. Your email address is collected for any required follow-up.
Meeting Dates
The Board of Education typically meets every third Thursday of the month* in the Van Buren High School Auditorium. Please refer to the calendar on the home page for more accurate dates.
* Dates are subject to change
0169.1 - PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AT BOARD MEETINGS
The Board of Education recognizes the value to school governance of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest. The Board offers public participation to members of the public in accordance with the procedures below. The Board applies these procedures to all speakers and does not discriminate based on the identity of the speaker, content of the speech, or viewpoint of the speaker.
The Board is also committed to conducting its meetings in a productive and efficient manner that assures that the regular agenda of the Board is completed in a reasonable period of time, honors the voluntary nature of the Board's time and using that time efficiently, and allows for a fair and adequate opportunity for input to be considered. Consequently, public participation at Board meetings will be governed by this bylaw.
In order to permit the fair and orderly expression of such comment, the Board shall provide a period for public participation at those public meetings of the Board during which action may be taken and publish rules to govern such participation in Board meetings.
The presiding officer of each Board meeting at which public participation is permitted shall administer the rules of the Board for its conduct.
The presiding officer shall be guided by the following rules:
Public participation shall be permitted as indicated on the order of business.
Anyone having a legitimate interest in the actions of the Board may participate during the designated public participation portion(s) of a meeting.
Attendees must register their intention to participate in the public participation portion of the meeting at minimum five (5) minutes prior to the start of the meeting.
Individuals may not register others to speak during public participation.
Participants must first be recognized by the presiding officer and will be requested to preface their comments by an announcement of their name, and state if they are a resident of the Van Buren School District, and group affiliation, if and when appropriate.
Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three (3) minutes duration unless extended by the presiding officer.
During the portion of the meeting designated for public participation, no participant may speak more than once on the same topic unless all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard.
All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer; no person may address or question Board members individually.
Audio or video recordings are permitted. The person operating the recorder should contact the Superintendent prior to the Board meeting to review possible placement of the equipment, and must agree to abide by the following conditions:
No obstructions are created between the Board and the audience.
No interviews are conducted in the meeting room while the Board is in session.
No commentary, adjustment of equipment, or positioning of operators is made that would distract either the Board or members of the audience while the Board is in session and not disrupt the meeting.
The presiding officer may:
interrupt, warn, or terminate a participant's session when they make comments that are repetitive, obscene, and/or comments that constitute a true threat (i.e., statements meant to frighten or intimidate one (1) or more specified persons into believing that they will be seriously harmed by the speaker or someone acting at the speaker's behest).
request any individual to stop speaking and/or leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum or is disruptive to the conduct and/or orderly progress of the meeting;
request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a disorderly person when that person's conduct interferes with the conduct and/or orderly progress of the meeting;
call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of public decorum so interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting as to warrant such action;
waive these rules.
The portion of the meeting during which the participation of the public is invited shall be limited to sixty (60) minutes unless extended by a vote of the Board.
Revised 2/12/01, Revised 9/11/03, Revised 7/14/11, Revised 1/10/19
© Neola 2021
Legal R.C. 3313.20