FILE: BCB
BOARD MEETING PROCEDURES
The St. Martin 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 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, Board policy, or the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), meetings of the Board, including committee meetings, shall be governed by Newly Revised Robert's Rules of Order (current edition). The President shall be entitled to discuss and expected to vote on all matters before the Board.
The President of the 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 Board elects an acting chairperson. The presiding officer shall recognize members of the Board who wish to be heard in the order that he/she deems advisable. No member of the Board shall speak without having first been recognized.
Each 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 Board has previously agreed to confine discussion to a definite period of time, and that time period has been used.
Public participation in Board meetings shall be permitted during the public comment period. Other persons may be recognized in Board meetings upon approval of the Board. The President of the 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.
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. ยงยง17:81, 42:15
St. Martin Parish School Board