SCHOOL BOARD

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT AND PROTOCOLS

Central Services Building

Rules of Engagement for escalating school board issues

Sending emails to school board directors and the superintendent is effective in getting your issue to those who have been elected to represent you, or in the superintendent’s case, have been hired by the people who represent you.

    • First you should understand the make up of the board

      • Go to school board meetings (or view them online) and determine which directors seem most aligned with the values you have

      • Request time to speak with school board directors either over the phone or in person

      • Request time with the Superintendent and ask them questions about how they are implementing their goals for the district

      • All of these will help you decide where to send an email when necessary

    • Secondly you need to understand the protocols of the school board

      • If you send an email to 3 or more board members, your message request creates a quorum for their response

        • The Board President will ultimately make the decision as to the response to your question, whether they were included or not

        • The board may decide to not answer your question at this time and review it for a future meeting or response

      • If you send a personal message to the superintendent or a single board member, they can choose to engage directly without involving the board

        • The Superintendent or board member can still choose to bring the questions to the board and its process, if they want

        • Any issues or topics that directly speak to or involve a previous decision by the board will be presented to the board or the board’s decision will be the response you get

    • Lastly you need to always bring factual information that can be confirmed

      • Board members are your neighbors and will likely lend a friendly ear to your concerns, however to accomplish change you will need to have your issues documented

 

How to submit official comments to the board

You can choose to mail, email, hand deliver, or verbalize your issues to be addressed by the board. Mail and email are the common methods of submitting issues, questions or concerns to the board. School board director email addresses may be found on our School Board page.

    • There is no formal format to use, however your message should contain the following:

      • Your name, address, email, and phone number for them to reach out to you with questions or respond

      • A summary of the problem, issue or concern

      • A statement of what you feel is the correct course of action for the board to take

      • Supporting references to any details you describe or that support your position

      • Be direct, but courteous. Read the letter back to yourself as if you received it from someone and make sure it elicits action not withdrawal

    • Writing a physical letter to the district can also be effective and should follow the same guidelines as an email

    • Presenting your issue to a director or the board in person

      • You can meet with the individual board members, outside of board meetings, and express your concerns or issues

        • Its good to write down all the same information that you would include in an email

        • Person to person communication is great for immediate feedback on how the topic was taken by the Director or Superintendent

      • You can speak at the board meeting, during the open comments segment

        • You will have 3 minutes to read your prepared statement or you can speak freely

        • If the topic has already been discussed by previous speakers for more than 20 min of conversation (7 speakers) , they may stop you from speaking

        • You cannot directly address any specific member of the district

        • You will get one of the following responses from the board president:

          • Acknowledgment and thanks for participating in the meeting

          • They may ask the superintendent or designee to respond to any inaccurate information

          • They may place it on the BITS for future tracking

          • They may ask the superintendent to prepare a response to be sent to the speaker and the board.

    • You can submit your letter to the district communications director before 5PM on the night of the meeting and speak during the open comments segment

      • Your letter will be entered into the official record of that meeting

      • You will put your opinions on the record with a follow-up required

        • Follow-up could be that they do not feel they need to address your issue

        • If follow-up is not received in a timely manner, the letter should be resubmitted to the board before the next scheduled meeting and public comment should be focused on why they have not responded

      • You can create a slide or physical presentation to present to the board

        • This presentation must be scheduled with the Superintendent 1 week prior to the board meeting for approval

        • Upon approval by the board you will have time to display your presentation outside of the 3 minute limit

        • Any information that is submitted will not be returned even if it is not approved for presentation

        • Presentation must use your own technology or printed materials

 

Where do I find information about board meetings and protocols?