BD/BDA: Board Meetings
Code: BD/BDA
Adopted: 1/04/07
Revised/Readopted: 5/13/10; 9/14/16
Orig. Code(s): BD/BDA
Public Meetings
All regular, special and emergency meetings of the board will be open to the public except that the board chair may call an executive session for consideration of those confidential matters permitted by law to be discussed in closed session. All meetings will be conducted in compliance with state and federal statutes. All board meetings, including board retreats and work sessions, will be held within the boundaries. The board may attend training sessions outside the district boundaries but cannot deliberate or discuss district business [1]. No meeting will be held at any place where discrimination on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation [2] , age or national origin is practiced.
Notification of Public Meetings
The board will give public notice reasonably calculated to give actual notice to interested persons, including those with disabilities, of the time and place for all board meetings and of the principal subjects to be considered. The board may consider additional subjects at a meeting, even if they were not included in the notice.
Representatives of the local news media shall be notified in advance of any regular, special, executive session or emergency meeting of the board, when requested.
If requested to do so at least 48 hours before a meeting held in public, the board shall provide an interpreter for hearing impaired persons. Such other appropriate auxiliary aids and services will be provided upon request and appropriate advance notice. Communications with all qualified individuals with disabilities shall be as effective as communications with others.
All meetings held in public shall comply with the Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act and the smoking provisions contained in the Public Meetings Law.
The possession of dangerous or deadly weapons and firearms, as defined in law and board policy, is prohibited on district property.
Regular, Special and Emergency Meetings
Generally, one regular board meeting will be held each month. The regular meeting schedule will be established at the organizational meeting in July and may be changed by the board with proper notice. The purpose of each regular monthly meeting will be to conduct the regular board business.
No later than the next regular meeting following July 1, the board will hold an organizational meeting to elect board officers for the coming year and to establish the year’s schedule of board meetings. In board election years (odd numbered years), the first meeting will be held no later than July 31.
Special meetings can be convened by the board chair, upon request of three board members, or by common consent of the board at any time to discuss any topic. A special meeting may also be scheduled if less than a quorum is present at a meeting or additional business still needs to be conducted at the ending time of a meeting. At least 24 hours’ notice must be provided to all board members, the news media, which have requested notice, and the general public for any special meeting.
Emergency meetings can be called by the board in the case of an actual emergency upon appropriate notice under the circumstances. The minutes of the emergency meeting must describe the emergency. Only topics necessitated by the emergency may be discussed or acted upon at the emergency meeting.
Private or Social Meetings
Private or social meetings of a quorum of the board for the purpose of making a decision, deliberating toward a decision on any matter, gathering of information on which to deliberate, or participating in discussions of official district business are prohibited by the Public Meetings Law.
Work Sessions
The board may use regular or special meetings for the purpose of conducting work sessions to provide its members with opportunities for planning and thoughtful discussion. Work sessions will be conducted in accordance with the state law on public meetings, including notice and minutes. The board may make official decisions during a work session.
Executive Sessions
Executive sessions may be held as an agenda item during regular, special or emergency meetings for a reason permitted by law. (See Board policy BDC - Executive Sessions).
Adjourned Meetings
A board meeting may be adjourned to another time if a quorum is not present or if additional business needs to be conducted at the regular time of adjournment. The time, date and place of the adjourned meeting will be specified and appropriate notice given.
A majority of the members of the district board shall constitute a quorum. The affirmative vote of the majority of members of the board is required to transact any business.
Agenda
The board chair or vice chair, with the assistance of the superintendent-clerk, shall draft the agenda after determining the desires in the topics and order of consideration following the general order listed below:
A. Call To Order
B. Approval of the minutes
C. Correspondence (if any)
D. Reports
E. Public to be Heard
F. Action and First Reading Items
G. Adjournment
The clerk shall send written notices of each regular board meeting at least four days before the date of the meeting. (Except in the cases of emergency, mailed notices and agenda shall be sent Friday evening before the regular meeting held on Thursday.) In addition, copies of the minutes of the previous meeting or meetings and other printed information concerning items on the agenda shall be furnished with the agenda.
Establishing the agenda
Items of business may be suggested by the clerk, administration, employees, or residents of the district for inclusion on the agenda. These items shall be submitted in writing and received by the office of the superintendent at least seven days prior to the regularly scheduled meeting. Items requested by board members shall be placed on the agenda, either by submission in writing as described or by request made at a board meeting. Any item brought to the attention of the board which does not meet this timeline will not receive formal board action at the same meeting unless emergency conditions make immediate action mandatory.
Procedures
Except as otherwise provided by state law/and or board policy, the rules of parliamentary procedure compiled in Roberts Rules of Order (Revised) shall govern the board in its deliberation on formal motions. Rules established by the board may be amended at any meeting by majority vote.
Motions and Resolutions
All motions and resolutions offered by any board member shall be recorded in the minutes, including affirmative and negative votes. No board member may abstain from voting on any matter before the board upon which official action is to be taken unless there appears to be a possible conflict of interest under the provision of applicable laws. In such cases, said board members shall comply with the disclosure requirements of State law. The board chair may initiate or second any motion or resolution, and has the same responsibility to vote on any matter as any other board member.
Visitor Attendance and Participation
Citizens and other interested parties are welcome to attend meetings of the board. Board meetings are meetings conducted in public but are not necessarily meetings for public participation. The board may allow public testimony or comment at its meetings. In order to keep its deliberations efficient and effective, the board provides the opportunity to speak at such meetings in accordance with the following procedures:
-
Each patron who wishes to speak is requested to sign a registration card and return it to the board secretary before the beginning of the meeting. This card will include the speaker’s name, address, and the agenda item or topic s/he wishes to address;
-
A group of visitors with a common purpose is requested to designate a spokesperson for the group;
-
Public comment will usually be limited to two minutes for an individual, four minutes for a group or its spokesperson. The board chair may set time limits at his/her discretion;
-
Patrons wishing to speak, may submit written testimony or comment which will be made part of the record.
Official Record
An official record shall be kept in the superintendent’s office of any business conducted at any regular, special or emergency board meeting. This record shall be available to the public for inspection during regular business hours.
..................................................................................
[1]ORS 192.630(4). Meetings of the governing body of a public body shall be held within the geographic boundaries over which the public body has jurisdiction, or at the administrative headquarters of the public body or at the other nearest practical location. Training sessions may be held outside the jurisdiction as long as no deliberations toward a decision are involved.
[2]As defined in ORS 174.100.
END OF POLICY
Legal Reference(s):
|
ORS 174.100 ORS 174.104 |
ORS 332.040 to -332.061 ORS 433.835 to -433.875 |
38 OR. ATTY. GEN. OP. 1995 (1978)
41 OR. ATTY. GEN. OP. 28 (1980)
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213; 29 C.F.R. Part 1630 (2006); 28 C.F.R. Part 35 (2006). Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008.
OR. ATTY. GEN. Public Records and Meetings Manual (2014).
Cross Reference(s):
BDB - Special and Emergency Board Meetings
BDC - Executive Sessions
BE - Board Work Sessions or Workshops
