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Education Dive
School boards navigate open meeting laws during closures
Some parent advocates and First Amendment experts say virtual meetings
limit public input, while others say virtual participation could be
adopted longterm.
Linda Jacobson
April 7, 2020
With group gatherings currently not allowed because of the coronavirus,
school boards across the country have been transitioning public
meetings to virtual platforms. But if they don’t have a plan for
allowing public comments, are they at risk of violating open meeting
laws?
Such laws vary from state to state, and not all specify whether members
of the public have a right to address public officials. But some do. In
California, for example, citizens have a right to attend — or in
today’s reality — view the meeting and to “directly address each agenda
item under consideration by the body either before or during the body’s
discussion,” according to the state statute.
Other states, such as Alabama, don’t have overarching laws that give
citizens the right to comment in all public meetings, but do have
specific statutes requiring public comment for state and county school
boards.
“I think everybody is trying to figure out the best way through this,”
said Tom Gentzel, executive director and CEO of the National School
Boards Association.
In Florida, with its strict Sunshine Law, Gov. Ron DeSantis waived the
requirement that governmental bodies establish an in-person quorum in
order to hold a meeting. But some school boards are continuing to hold
in-person meetings with social distancing guidelines observed in order
to not violate other aspects of the law. The Hillsborough County School
Board used a combination of virtual and in-person proceedings and
allowed members of the public to enter the meeting room one at a time
to address the board.
Other districts have had a shaky start to holding virtual meetings,
drawing complaints over transparency. But Tom Hutton, interim executive
director of the Education Law Association, said questions over whether
a topic should have been discussed in an open or closed meeting "are
not more true in an online setting."
"This is not a perfect world right now," he said. "Some situations are going to erupt faster than the guidance might be there."
Commenting ‘in real time’
Some school boards holding only virtual meetings are collecting emails
and written comments from the public prior to meetings in place of
their usual two- or three-minute comment periods in public. Francisco
Negrón, chief legal officer for NSBA, said those options give members
of the public even “greater access” because they don’t have to limit
their comments as much.
But depending on the state, asking just for written comments in advance
isn’t necessarily within the spirit of the law, suggests David Snyder,
executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, based in San
Rafael, California.
Because in-person meetings are generally not an option at this time,
“the next best thing is when people can comment in real time,” he said.
“I recognize all the challenges, but it’s important for school
districts to do everything reasonable in their power to provide
opportunities for comments during the meeting.”
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