FILE: BCB
Cf: BCAD
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING RULES OF PROCEDURE
The East Baton Rouge 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.
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, Revised. The President shall be entitled to discuss and vote on all matters before the School Board.
RULES OF PROCEDURE
TIME, PLACE, AND AGENDA OF SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS
The East Baton Rouge
Parish School Board shall hold meetings of the School Board beginning
at 5:00 p.m. and not to exceed four (4) hours and required to
end no later than 9:00 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of
each month to consider those items contained on the agenda prepared
for each meeting. Each meeting shall be conducted in accordance
with these Rules of Procedure. The meeting
on the first Thursday of each month will be a meeting of the School
Board’s Committee of the Whole (COW) and the third Thursday is
designated as the School Board’s regular meeting unless otherwise
provided for herein. A meeting may be extended for a specific
period not to exceed thirty (30) minutes, but only by unanimous consent of all School Board
members then present.
Only one additional thirty (30) minute extension may be
considered and if unanimous consent, the meeting is extended for
an additional thirty (30) minutes. When the time of a meeting
has reached 8:50 p.m., the presiding officer may call for a motion
and vote to extend the meeting an additional thirty (30) minutes.
Absent unanimous consent to extend the meeting, the meeting
ends at 9 p.m.
Except as otherwise provided
in these Rules of Procedure, all meetings of the School
Board shall be held at its domicile and offices at 1050 South
Foster Drive, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
A meeting of the Committee of the Whole and/or a regular meeting of the School Board may be cancelled, or the time and place thereof changed, by the President of the School Board when circumstances warrant, or by a motion duly adopted at a regular or special meeting of the School Board. Notice of such change and notice of the agenda for any Committee of the Whole meeting and/or regular School Board meeting shall be given by:
Posting a copy of
the notice at the School Board Office, or publishing same
in the official journal of the School Board no less than twenty-four
(24) hours exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays,
before the meeting; and
Mailing a copy of
the notice and agenda to any member of the news media who
requests notice of such meetings; any such member of the news
media shall be given notice of all meetings in the same manner
as is given to members of the School Board.
In addition to the above, by providing notice on the School Board’s website no less than twenty-four (24) hours immediately preceding the meeting.
In the event the time to end a regular meeting is reached and items remain on the agenda that have not been considered, such items will be deferred for future action as “Unfinished Business” to the next regular meeting agenda without any action required by the School Board members, or if action is required prior to the next meeting then by majority vote of the entire School Board to set a special meeting. If a Committee of the Whole meeting ending time is reached and items remain on the COW agenda that have not been considered, such items will be deferred for future action as “Unfinished Business” on the next COW agenda without any action required by the School Board or if action is required prior to the next meeting then by majority vote of the entire School Board to set a special meeting.
SPECIAL MEETINGS OF THE BOARD
Special meetings of the
School Board may be called only by the President or by a majority
of the entire School Board except that when the President
is out of the Parish, ill, or otherwise unavailable, the Vice-President
of the School Board may call a special meeting of the School Board.
No special meeting may
be called except upon written notice to the members of the School
Board, Superintendent, and public or by motion adopted at an official
School Board meeting. Such written notice must be signed
by the President, Vice President, or a majority of the members
of the entire School Board, as the case may be. Such
written notice shall be provided at least twenty-four (24) hours,
exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, prior to
the time of such special meeting; additionally, the Superintendent
and/or his/her designee shall attempt to contact all School Board
members by telephone. Such written notice shall also
be posted at the School Board Office and forwarded to any member
of the news media who has requested such notice. Special
meetings shall not extend more than four (4) hours absent a unanimous
vote of the School Board members then present to extend the meeting
for an additional thirty (30) minutes.
The written notice required
herein, or the motion adopted at an official School Board meeting,
shall state the date, time and place of such special meeting,
and shall specify the matters to be considered at such meeting. Notice
of the meeting will also be provided via the school system’s website
not less than twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of Saturdays,
Sundays, and legal holidays, immediately preceding the scheduled
time of the meeting. Failure to timely post notice
via the Internet or the inability of the public to access the
website due to any type of technological failure shall not be
a violation of the Open Meetings law or this policy.
No matter or item not
stated in the call for the special meeting shall be considered
by the School Board at such meeting except upon unanimous approval of the School Board
members present. The motion to add an item
not on the agenda shall identify the item with reasonable specificity,
including the purpose for the proposed addition to the agenda,
and shall be entered into the minutes.
In cases of extraordinary emergency, the time and notice requirements of this section shall not be required, provided, however, that the person or persons calling such special meeting shall give such notice thereof as they deem appropriate and circumstances permit, including notice to the news media in the same manner as notice is given to School Board members.
QUORUM AND VOTE NECESSARY FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
No meeting of the School
Board may be officially convened and conducted unless a quorum
(simple majority of the total membership of the School Board)
is present. Retreats and workshops do not require a quorum.
Except as provided in
Sections 2(C), 5(A), (G) and (H), 6(B), (D) and (E), 8, and 9
hereof, any motion, resolution or other action of the School Board
shall be deemed valid only upon a favorable vote of a majority
of the members of the total School Board taken at a properly
called regular or special meeting of the School Board.
Should a quorum cease to be present after a meeting has been officially convened, the presiding officer shall recess the meeting for such time as is deemed appropriate to attempt to reestablish a quorum and may thereafter declare the meeting adjourned if such presiding officer determines that a quorum cannot be obtained within a reasonable time.
VOTING PROCEDURE AND REQUIREMENTS
Voting shall be by the
use of an electronic voting board which will reflect simultaneously
a "yes", "no", or "abstain" vote
of each member present. When the voting board does not correctly
reflect the voting intent of a member of the School Board, that
member may correct his/her vote by immediately advising the presiding
officer of such error prior to announcement of the vote by the
presiding officer.
When the voting board
is not available, the vote may be taken by a show of hands or
by roll call of the members present at the discretion of the presiding
officer. Each School Board member must be present in
his/her seat in the School Board meeting room in order to have
his/her vote counted on the voting board or otherwise; and no
School Board member or other person may cast a vote, in any manner,
for another member of the School Board.
There shall be no voting
by proxy and no voting by secret ballot.
In determining whether a particular motion, resolution or action of the School Board has received the requisite number of "yea" votes, an "abstention" shall not be counted, and that member shall be considered as not voting. This rule shall apply regardless of whether the required number of favorable votes must be of the total membership of the School Board, of those members present or, of those members present and voting.
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING AGENDA
The Superintendent and/or
his/her designee, with the approval of the President, shall prepare
a concise and efficient written agenda for each regular School
Board meeting, which shall list the specific items of business
for which School Board action is required and except for Administrative
Matters as described in Section 8 hereof, no matter may be considered
by the School Board which has not been listed on such agenda except
after a motion to suspend these rules to consider a specific item
has been adopted by unanimous
approval of the School
Board members present. The motion to add an
item not on the agenda shall identify the item with reasonable
specificity, including the purpose for the proposed addition to
the agenda, and shall be entered into the minutes.
No business, item or
matter may be placed upon the agenda for any School Board meeting
except at the direction of a member of the School Board or the
Superintendent, and no business matter or item not listed on such
agenda may be considered by the School Board or discussed at the
meeting without a suspension of the rules as provided herein above.
The agenda for any particular
meeting of the School Board shall be considered as closed as of
12:00 noon on the Tuesday immediately preceding such School Board
meeting; however, the Superintendent, with the permission of the
School Board President, may add an item to the agenda when circumstances
warrant as long as the addition is achieved twenty-four (24) hours,
exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, prior to
the scheduled time of the meeting.
Upon the agenda's being
closed, the Superintendent and/or his/her designee shall immediately
prepare the written agenda and provide to each member of the School
Board, the Superintendent, the School Board's general counsel,
and all newspapers and television and radio stations who have
submitted a written request for such notification and agenda. The
Superintendent and/or his/her designee shall, at the same time,
post a copy of the agenda on the front door of the School Board
Office and have copies available for interested citizens.
Any item placed on the
agenda shall contain a brief explanation of the subject matter
of the item, and the Superintendent is hereby specifically prohibited
from placing an item on the agenda which does not contain such
explanation. Except as provided for in paragraph 5(C)
herein, supporting documentation for each item should be provided
to each School Board member via email or in extraordinary circumstances
via hand delivery, not less than forty-eight (48) hours prior
to the meeting.
Any citizen or organization
may request consideration by the School Board of an item concerning
matters within the jurisdiction of the School Board at a particular
School Board meeting by submitting such request in writing to
the Superintendent and/or his/her designee, together with a brief
explanation of the subject matter and the action requested of
the School Board, by 12:00 Noon on the Monday of the week in which
consideration is requested. Within twenty-four (24)
hours after the written request is received, the Superintendent
and/or his/her designee shall notify the citizen or organization
making such request as to whether or not the Superintendent has
placed such item on the agenda.
The written agenda prepared
by the Superintendent and/or his/her designee shall conform to
applicable School Board policy, existing state law and it shall
list the business of the School Board for a particular meeting
in an orderly manner.
SUGGESTED
AGENDA FOR REGULAR BOARD MEETINGS:
Call to order, invocation, and pledge of allegiance.
Roll call for determination of a quorum present.
Approval of minutes.
Recognitions by the School Board or Staff.
Personnel Matters. This item is generally provided for informational purposes only unless otherwise provided for by law.
Superintendent’s Report/Update
Educational Presentations
Report from School Board Appointees to Community Committees/ Agencies
Unfinished Business. Under unfinished business will be listed items from previous agendas which were not completed and/or which were specifically deferred to this particular meeting. These items shall be listed exactly as they appeared on the previous agenda.
Consent Agenda. The consent agenda will contain items that are considered to be routine and will be enacted with one motion. There will be no separate discussion of items unless a School Board member so requests, in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered as an item on the regular agenda for separate vote preceding the last item on the regular agenda.
New Business. Those items that have not been initially considered at the Committee of the Whole and forwarded to the regular School Board meeting for consideration.
Regular Agenda items for School Board consideration
Organizational Items
Review of Student Expulsions
Appeal Hearing for a Student Expulsion
Adjournment. Meetings of the School Board may be adjourned on motion of the presiding officer or any member of the School Board, which motion will carry unless objections are raised. In the event objection to the adjournment is raised, a vote shall be taken on the motion to adjourn without need of a second to the motion, and the meeting shall be adjourned on the vote of a majority of the members present and voting.
Subject to the exceptions listed below, no item, matter, subject or business which has been considered and voted on at a previous School Board meeting, regardless of the nature of the motion voted upon and regardless of the outcome of the vote, may be considered at a subsequent School Board meeting until after the expiration of sixty (60) days from such vote, unless a motion to suspend the rules to reconsider such item has first been duly made, seconded and carried by the favorable vote of two-thirds (⅔) of the total membership of the School Board. This prohibition shall not apply where the previous motion was to defer action on the item for a specific period of time or until a specific School Board meeting or where the previous motion was to refer the matter to staff personnel or to a committee of the School Board for further study. This prohibition shall also not apply to consideration of items supplemental to an item previously acted upon, but shall apply only where the purpose of the item is to change previous School Board action.
CONDUCT OF SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
The purpose of School
Board meetings is to allow the duly elected representatives of
the people to consider and act upon matters of importance to the
operation of the school system which are within the jurisdiction
and authority of the School Board. It is in the best
interest of the citizens of this parish that such meetings be
conducted in an orderly and expeditious manner which permits full
presentation of information and viewpoints by interested citizens,
followed by thorough discussion among the School Board, the Superintendent
and designated members of the staff, and concluded with debate
and final decisions by the School Board on those items of business
listed on the agenda. To that end, rules in this section
shall govern the conduct of all meetings of the School Board and
its committees and subcommittees.
The President of the
School Board, or in his/her absence, the Vice President of the
School Board, shall serve as the presiding officer for all School
Board meetings. In the absence of both the President and the Vice
President, the Superintendent shall serve as the presiding officer,
or the School Board may elect a temporary chair for that meeting
by a majority vote of those members present and voting.
After the call to order,
invocation, pledge of allegiance, student presentation, roll call
and action on the minutes of any previous meeting, the presiding
officer shall, absent
unanimous agreement of the School Board members present
to change the order of listed
items, call in the order listed on the agenda, first the items
under unfinished business and then the items under new business,
and shall recognize first the Superintendent or the School Board
member who caused such item to be placed on the agenda. The
Superintendent or School Board member shall then explain the item.
Next, for any item for which a vote shall be taken, the
presiding officer shall open the floor to the community in accordance
with La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §42:15(A) for input
not to exceed three (3) minutes for any one individual, group
or organization prior to the School Board taking any vote. Members
of the public who wish to speak on the motion or matter, must
request permission to do so when the presiding officer announces
such time. The presiding officer shall, with the approval
of the School Board, set a time limitation on an agenda item. In
the event more than five (5) members of the community request
to speak on an agenda item, the presiding officer may also reduce
the time for each individual input to be less than three (3) minutes.
At the conclusion of the public input, the presiding officer
shall again recognize any members of the School Board to make
any motion regarding the agenda item. Upon a motion and
second, the Superintendent and members of the staff designated
by the Superintendent, who wish to be heard on that item, may
be heard in the order the presiding officer deems advisable. No
member of the School Board or staff shall speak without first
being recognized by the presiding officer. In view of the
many items appearing on any agenda, each School Board member will
be allowed a maximum of five (5) minutes to express his/her views
including the time of any requests by the member made to any staff
member and their responses on any agenda item or any pending primary
motion without interruption from the other members upon initial
consideration and five (5) minutes for any rebuttal. Each
School Board member will be allotted an additional three (3) minutes
for comments on an amended motion and in the event of a substitute
motion, each School Board member will be allotted an additional
five (5) minutes for any comments on a substitute motion.
After discussion by the
members of the School Board and the Superintendent and/or his/her
designees has been completed, the presiding officer shall call
for the vote upon the pending motion or any amendments or substitute
motions which may have been made. During School Board discussion
of an agenda item, any School Board member, at any time, may move
the question on any pending motion, substitute motion, amending
motion, etc. and thus conclude further discussion of same, provided
there is an affirmative vote of two-thirds
(⅔) of the members present and
voting on the
motion for the call for the question.
The presiding officer
of any meeting shall conduct such meeting in accordance with these
Rules of Procedure and shall have authority to make rulings
on interpretation of these Rules of Procedure and any other
matter or question which may arise with regard to conducting the
meeting, including recognition of speakers, whether a speaker
is out of order, etc. The decision of the presiding officer
shall be final unless appealed by a School Board member to the
entire School Board as set forth herein below. Any member
of the School Board who disagrees with a decision of the presiding
officer may appeal such decision to the total School Board. Such
appeal may be taken by a statement to that effect and no second
is required. The presiding officer shall immediately call
for a vote on the question of whether or not the ruling of the
presiding officer shall be sustained. Upon a favorable
vote of a majority of those School Board members present
and voting, including the presiding officer, the rules of
the presiding officer shall have been sustained.
Remote Participation
by Members of the Public with Disabilities
The School Board shall allow
any member of the public with a disability recognized by the Americans
with Disabilities Act, or a designated caregiver of such a
person, to participate in its meetings via teleconference or video
conference, and shall facilitate participation by any such person
who requests that accommodation prior to the meeting. Members
of the public who desire to participate in this fashion shall
certify that they meet the definition of a person with a disability
recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act when
they submit, prior to public meetings, their requests to comment
on agenda items and shall comply with the same rules and regulations
on speaking applicable to those participating in person at such
meetings.
In the conduct of meeting of the School Board, any question not covered by these Rules of Procedure shall be governed by Roberts Rules of Order, Revised.
ORDER AND DECORUM AT SCHOOL
BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS
It is in the public interest that
meetings of the School Board or its committees, in handling the public's
business, be conducted in an orderly and dignified manner. To
this end, the following rules are established for the conduct of all
persons, including School Board members and staff members, attending
a meeting of the School Board or its committees.
No signs, posters, placards, etc.
shall be affixed to the walls, doors, etc. of the School Board office
building or any room therein, except by the School Board staff in
connection with School Board business and then only with permission
of the Superintendent and/or his/her designee. No sign,
placard, or poster which is carried by hand shall be permitted in
the School Board office building or any of its rooms.
All persons attending meetings of
the School Board or of its committees must be recognized by the presiding
officer before speaking. In return, the presiding officer and
other School Board members shall courteously receive the comments
made by such persons. Any person who fails or refuses to obey
the rulings and directions of the presiding officer, or otherwise
disrupts the meeting in any manner, shall be requested by the presiding
officer to leave the meeting room for the remainder of that meeting.
If any person refuses to follow the directions of the presiding
officer, the presiding officer shall cause such person to be removed
from the meeting as authorized by La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §42:17
C. and other applicable laws of the State
of Louisiana.
ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
Administrative
matters shall be limited to matters of administration which the Superintendent
believes should be brought to the attention of the School Board and/or
matters which have come to his/her attention after the agenda for
that meeting was officially closed and/or which are in need of immediate
action by the School Board. Any items under Administrative
Matters which require School Board action may be considered only
after suspension of the rules by a favorable vote of
two-thirds (⅔) of
the total membership of the
School Board.
REPEAL OR SUSPENSION OF RULES
OF PROCEDURE
The Rules of Procedure may
not be repealed or amended except by the affirmative vote of two-thirds
(⅔) of the total membership of the School Board.
SEVERABILITY
If any provision item, section, paragraph,
clause, or phrase of these Rules of Procedure or the application
thereof, is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect any other
provision, item, section, paragraph, clause, phrase, or application
of these Rules of Procedure which can be given effect without
the invalid provisions, items, sections, paragraphs, clauses, phrases
or applications, and to this end the provisions of the Rules of
Procedure are hereby declared to be severable.
Revised: October 16, 2008 | Revised: July 21, 2022 |
Revised: November 21, 2013 | Revised: September 28, 2023 |
Revised: November 20, 2014 |
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 42:15, 42:17, 42:19, 42:19.1
Board minutes, 10-16-08, 11-21-13, 11-20-14, 7-21-22, 9-28-23
East Baton Rouge Parish School Board