Policy 020 - Meetings
Adopted on March 24, 2022
Effective March 24, 2022
Parliamentary Authority
The parliamentary authority governing the Board shall be the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, in all cases in which it is not inconsistent with statute, administrative code, or these bylaws.
Quorum
A majority of the members of a Board present at a meeting shall constitute a quorum, and no business shall be conducted in the absence of a quorum. A member who is participating in the meeting via electronic or telephonic means shall be considered present for the purposes of establishing a quorum, conducting business, voting, and any other function of the Board during that meeting.
Presiding Officer
The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board. In the absence, disability, or disqualification of the President, the Vice-President shall act instead; if neither person is available, any member shall be designated by a plurality of those present to preside. The act of any person so designated shall be legal and binding.
Notice of Meetings
The Board shall set rules by which the date, time, place, and agenda of all regular and special meetings shall be made available in advance to the public and news media except in the event of an emergency requiring immediate official action. A Board which holds two or fewer regular meetings per month must give the public and the news media at least:
A. three days' advance notice of the date, time, place, and agenda of each regular meeting;
B. two days' advance notice of any amendments to that agenda (assuming that the amendments are otherwise lawful); and
C. two days' advance notice of the date, time, place, and purpose of all special meetings.
A If the Board which meets more frequently than twice per month is , it is subject to exactly the same standards except that, as to each regular meeting, it only must give at least two days' advance notice of the date, time, place, and agenda.
A The Board shall provide notice and purpose of an emergency meeting in a manner which is consistent with WV Code Section 6-9A-3 and the Ethics Commission Committee on Open Governmental Meeting's opinions as soon as practicable prior to the meeting.
In calculating days for purposes of all the notices, omit Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, and do not count the day of the meeting.
An emergency meeting may be convened due to unexpected event which requires immediate attention because it poses; an immediate threat to public health or safety; an imminent threat of damage to public or private property; or an imminent material financial loss or other imminent substantial harm to a public agency, its employees or the member of the public which it serves.
Regular Meetings
Regular meetings of the Board shall be public and held twice a month.
A. It shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent, in cooperation with the President, to prepare an agenda of the items of business to come before the Board at each regular meeting.
B. Notice of meetings shall be sent to local media outlets.
C. The Superintendent shall notify all Board members of each Board meeting consistent with the notice provision set out above. Such notice shall include the date, time, place, and agenda of the meeting.
D. The Board shall transact business according to the agenda prepared by the Superintendent and submitted to all Board members in advance of the meeting. The order of business may be altered.
E. Consent Agenda
The Board shall use a consent agenda to keep routine matters within a reasonable time frame.
The following routine business items may be included in a single resolution for consideration by the Board:
- minutes of prior meetings
- bills for payment
- resolutions that require annual adoption
- contracts, memoranda of understanding, and other agreements between the Board and other agencies
- revisions to policy that are simply the result of changes in governing state statutes
- approval of student transfers to other county school systems
- approval of volunteers
An additional consent agenda may be recommended by the Superintendent to collect personnel actions and consider these as a single resolution by the Board.
A member of the Board may request any item be removed from the consent resolution. No vote of the Board will be required to remove an item from the consent agenda. A single member's request shall cause it to be relocated as an action item eligible for discussion.
Special Meetings
Special meetings of the Board shall be public.
A. Special meetings may be called by the Superintendent, the President or by any three members of the Board. The notice of the date, time, place, agenda and reason for the special meeting shall be made available to the public and local media outlets.
B. Only such business as is designated in the call for the special meeting shall be transacted.
Recess
The Board may recess at any time. The recessed meeting, when reconvened, shall take up its agenda at the point where the motion to recess was acted upon.
Executive Session
The Board reserves the right to meet privately in executive session upon a majority affirmative vote of the members present solely to discuss one or more of the following issues exempted from public sessions:
A. to consider acts of war, threatened attack from a foreign power, civil insurrection or riot
B. to consider:
1. matters arising from the appointment, employment, retirement, promotion, transfer, demotion, disciplining, resignation, discharge, dismissal, or compensation of a public officer or employee, or prospective public officer or employee unless the public officer or employee or prospective public officer or employee requests and open meeting or
2. for the purpose of conducting a hearing on a complaint, charge or grievance against a public officer or employee, unless the public officer or employee requests an open hearing
General personnel policy issues may not be discussed or considered in a closed meeting. Final action by a public agency having authority for the appointment, employment, retirement, promotion, transfer, demotion, disciplining, resignation, discharge, dismissal, or compensation of an individual shall be taken in an open meeting.
C. to decide upon disciplining, suspension, or expulsion of any student in any public school or public college or university, unless the student requests an open meeting
D. to issue, effect, deny, suspend or revoke, a license, certificate or resignation under the laws of the State or any political subdivision, unless the person seeking the license, certificate or registration or whose license, certificate or registration was denied, suspended or revoked requests an open meeting
E. to consider the physical or mental health of any person unless the person requests an open meeting
F. to discuss any material the disclosure of which would constitute an unwanted invasion of an individual's privacy such as any records, data, reports, recommendations or other personal material of any educational, training, social service, rehabilitation, welfare, housing, relocation, insurance and similar program or institution operated by a public agency pertaining to any specific individual admitted to or served by the institution or program, the individual's personal and family circumstances
G. to plan or consider an official investigation or matter relating to crime prevention or law enforcement
H. to develop security personnel or devices
I. to consider matters involving or affecting the purchase, sale or lease of property, advanced construction planning, the investment of public funds or other matters involving commercial competition, which if made public, might adversely affect the financial or other interest of the State or any political subdivision:
1. provided, that information relied on during the course of deliberations on matters involving commercial competition are exempt from disclosure under the open meeting requirements of this article only until the commercial competition has been finalized and completed
2. provided, however, that information not subject to release pursuant to the West Virginia freedom of information act does not become subject to disclosure as a result of executive session
J. to avoid the premature disclosure of an honorary degree, scholarship, prize or similar award
K. nothing in this article permits a public agency to close a meeting that otherwise would be open, merely because an agency attorney is a participant
If the public agency has approved or considered a settlement in closed session, and the terms of the settlement allow disclosure, the terms of that settlement shall be reported by the public agency and entered into its minutes within a reasonable time after the settlement is concluded.
L. to discuss any matter which, by express provision of Federal law or State statute or rule of court is rendered confidential, or which is not considered a public record within the meaning of the freedom of information act
No official action or vote may be taken in executive session WV Code 6-9A-4(a) other than to vote on a student disciplinary matter.
Executive sessions may be held during regular, special, or emergency meetings. After the meeting is convened, any member may make a motion for an executive session, stating therewith the purpose of the session by citing one or more of the reasons set forth above. Upon receiving a second to the motion and a majority vote of those present and voting, the chairperson shall declare the Board in executive session and specifically state the reason and cite one of the reasons set forth above.
No member of the Board may knowingly and improperly disclose any confidential information acquired in the course of his/her official duties.
Members who are participating in a meeting using electronic or telephonic means may not be included in an executive session.
Voting
All motions shall require for adoption a majority vote of those present and voting, except as provided by statute, these bylaws, or parliamentary authority. Upon the demand of any member of the Board, the vote shall be recorded by roll call.
Unless a specified number of affirmative votes is required, an abstention shall be recorded and deemed to consent to the outcome of the voting. In situations in which a tie vote occurs and abstentions have been cast, the motion shall fail for lack of a majority.
All actions requiring a vote can be conducted by voice vote or show of hands, unless a roll-call vote is requested or required. A Board member may be at the meeting location in person, by telephone conference or electronically in order to participate and vote. Each vote and abstention shall be recorded. Secret ballot and proxy voting are prohibited.
Use of Electronic Mail
Since e-mail is a form of communication that could conflict with the Open Governmental Meetings Act, it will be used for communication with or among Board members only for the purposes of communicating:
A. messages between Board members or between a Board member and employee(s) which do not involve deliberating or rendering a decision on matters pending before the Board;
B. possible agenda items between the Superintendent and the Board President;
C. times, dates, and places of regular or special Board meetings;
D. purely logistical and non-substantive matters such as a Board meeting agenda;
E. responses to questions posed by members of the public, administrators, or school staff.
Under no circumstances shall Board members use e-mail or other forms of electronic communication to discuss and/or deliberate among themselves about Board business that is only to be discussed and/or deliberated in an open meeting of the Board or an executive session properly called during an open meeting of the Board.
There should be no expectation of privacy for any messages about Board business sent by e-mail. Messages, deleted or otherwise, may be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, unless an exemption would apply.
Use of Personal Communication Devices
When performing their duties as a Board member, regardless of whether they are using personally-owned or Board-owned personal communication devices (PCDs), Board members use of PCDs shall be in accordance with Policy 590 - Acceptable Use of Technology by Staff.
For purposes of this Policy, PCDs shall be defined as set forth in the above-identified policy.
Minutes
The Superintendent shall cause minutes of all its meetings to be kept showing the date, time and place of the meeting; the members present and absent; all motions, proposals, resolutions, and measures proposed, the name of the person proposing the same and their disposition; and the results of all votes and, upon the request of a member, pursuant to the rules, policies or procedures of the Board for recording roll call votes, the vote of each member by name. If the Board chooses to record minutes of executive sessions, such minutes shall reflect only the general subject matter of discussions.
The Superintendent shall provide each Board member with a copy of the minutes of the last meeting no later than three days before the next regular meeting.
Tape recordings shall be made of each meeting of the Board as an administrative aid and shall be preserved as public documents of the Board until such time as the minutes for the same have been approved. Executive session shall not be recorded unless such session involves a hearing regarding student explusion; employee discipline; or actions involving reduction-in-force, non-renewal of probationary contract, or transfer of employees.
The minutes of Board meetings shall be considered at the next regular meeting where they shall be corrected, if necessary, and approved. If material changes are required to be made to the draft minutes reviewed by the Board, then, in the absence of compelling circumstances, the minutes should be available for inspection no later than three business days following the meeting in which the minutes are approved. In calculating days, the day of the meeting, Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays are excluded. If there are minor or no corrections to be made to the draft minutes, the approved minutes shall be made available immediately following the minutes, but not later than the close business on the next business day. The approved minutes shall be signed by the Superintendent as secretary to the Board and the President.
The approved minutes shall be filed in the Superintendent's office in a prescribed minute book as a permanent record of official Board proceedings.
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.
In order to permit the fair and orderly expression of such comments by members of the public, the Board shall provide a period for public participation at every regular meeting of the Board 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:
A. Public participation shall be permitted as indicated on the order of business.
B. Anyone having a legitimate interest in the actions of the Board may participate during the public portion of a meeting, in accordance with the rule established governing such participation.
C. Attendees must register their intention to address the Board in the public portion of the meeting no later than five minutes before the meeting is scheduled to begin. The Board shall provide a form for such registration and such form shall be located in a convenient and accessible place within the meeting room. (Members of the public may not be required to register to address the Board more than fifteen (15) minutes before the meeting is scheduled to commence.)
D. Participants must be recognized by the presiding officer and will be requested to preface their comments by an announcement of their name, group affiliation, if and when appropriate.
E. Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to the lesser of five (5) minutes duration or the amount of time calculated by dividing the total number of registered speakers into the total time set aside for public participation, unless extended by the presiding officer. No person shall yield his/her time to another without the consent of the presiding officer.
F. No participant may speak more than once on the same topic unless all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard and, then, only at the discretion of the presiding officer.
G. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer; no person may address or question Board members individually.
H. Tape or video recordings are permitted, providing the person operating the recorder has contacted the Superintendent prior to the Board meeting to review possible placement of the equipment, and agrees to abide by the following conditions:
1. No obstructions are created between the Board and the audience.
2. No interviews are conducted in the meeting room while the Board is in session.
3. 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.
I. The presiding officer may:
1. interrupt, warn, or terminate a participant's statement when the statement is too lengthy, personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant;
2. request any individual to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum;
3. request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a disorderly person when that person's conduct interferes with the orderly progress of the meeting;
4. 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;
5. waive these rules with the approval of the Board when necessary for the protection of privacy or the administration of the Board's business.
J. The portion of the meeting during which the participation of the public is invited shall be limited to thirty (30) minutes, unless extended by a vote of the Board.
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