FILE: BCB
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING PROCEDURES
The DeSoto Parish School Board recognizes that it is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner, except as provided by state law, and that the citizens be advised of and be aware of the performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy.
It is the desire of the 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, meetings of the School Board, including committee meetings, shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order. 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 which 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 in accordance with School Board policy BCBI, Public Participation in School Board Meetings. Visitors to meetings of the School Board shall be prohibited from speaking after the School Board begins consideration of the item of business, except when requested or permitted to do so by the School Board. 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.
Approved: June, 2003
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. ยงยง17:81, 42:15
DeSoto Parish School Board