Jerome Joint School District No. 261

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 1505

Regulation of Conduct at Open Meetings

The Board of Trustees of Joint Jerome School District No. 261, being a governing body subject to public scrutiny and the provisions of the Idaho Public Meetings Act and being desirous of establishing policies regarding the conduct of persons attending open meetings of this Board which policies will protect and insure the public interest and the rights of the public to observe the deliberation and decision making process of this Board while maintaining order consistent with the efficient handling of the business of this Board, and being further desirous of fulfilling its obligation to create and maintain an accurate and official record of the proceedings of this Board, the Board of Trustees of Joint Jerome School District No. 261 hereby promulgate:

1. Public Attendance Policy.

a. Open Meetings.

Members of the public may attend all "open" sessions of this Board. Sessions shall be defined as all meetings other than those meetings, or parts thereof, which may be or which are required to be held in "closed" or "executive" sessions by the laws of the State of Idaho. Attendance at said open

meetings of the public will be subject to observance and compliance with the rules of conduct set

forth herein.

b. Closed Meetings.

Members of the public shall not be allowed to attend "closed" meetings or "executive" sessions of

this Board, unless the board requests their presence.

2. Rules of Order.

For maintenance of order necessary to the efficient conduct of the business of this Board, members of the

public, trustees and officials of the District shall be subject to the following rules of order:

a. Ultimate control.

The Chairperson of this Board shall preside over all meetings in accordance with the rules of

procedure adopted by the Board and the Chairperson shall make all final rulings on points of order

and procedure. Except where otherwise specified, or where they conflict with Idaho Law, Roberts

Rules of Order may govern the proceedings of the board.

b. Conduct in general.

All persons in attendance at a meeting of the Board will speak only upon recognition and granting of leave by the Chairperson. All persons will refrain from making or causing to be made any loud,

raucous, abusive or profane language or gestures.

No persons attending said meetings shall have in their possession or subject to their control any

devices of distraction that would make noise or create bright or flashing light.

No person in attendance of said meetings shall have within their possession or subject to their

control any banners, placards or signs.

No person in attendance of said meetings of the Board shall have any substance or article within their possession or subject to their control which could constitute a menace or which would endanger the safety or well being of those in attendance.

No person in attendance at said meetings of the Board shall smoke.

3. Public’s right to address the Board.

The Board of Trustees being interested in receiving input from the public consistent with the efficient

processing of business of the Board will allow and/or restrict public comment at board meetings as

follows:

a. Public comment will be allowed on most new issues addressed by the Board.

b. The posted agenda will indicate whether the Board will receive public input on each item of business.

c. When public input is to be received, members of the public wishing to address the Board should place

their names upon the "sign-up" sheet maintained by the clerk of the district prior to commencement

of the meeting.

Where public testimony (does not include testimony of the District’s administrative staff, attorney,

treasurer, auditor or outside consultants) is to be heard, all persons representing all positions with

respect to said matter shall be permitted to address the Board subject to these rules.

4. Written submissions.

The Board may, from time to time, depending upon the circumstances and time constraints relevant to

any issues, allow members of the public to submit written statements of position that will become a

public record and will be considered prior to the Board making any final decision upon the matter. When

leave of Board is so granted, the Board may place reasonable deadlines with respect to when such

submissions must be made.

5. Public use of recording devices.

a. Findings.

The board having investigated and deliberated with respect to the use by the public of recording

devices at meetings of the Board has found that:

i. If the public is allowed to record meetings, there must necessarily be an official recording

prepared by a school official to secure the sanctity of the record. High quality recording

equipment necessary to record meetings is expensive.

ii. Recording devices are easily tampered with and replay of a tampered recordings may cause

improper embarrassment to school trustees and officers.

iii. Many recording devices are either of an inferior quality or not designed to properly and

accurately record proceedings of public meetings. Even the recording devices used by a

segment of Idaho courts fail at times to make an audible record of remarks of court, counsel

and witnesses, or to reproduce with sufficient quality to allow the listener to determine who is

really talking.

iv. When more than one person speaks at the same time, it is virtually impossible to disentangle

the remarks when using an electronic recording.

v. Replay or use of "selected" portions of the recording may greatly distort the tenor and intent

of public deliberations. Use of the above may further cause board members who are not

articulate to either refrain or become quite reluctant to ask questions, argue and deliberate in

public meetings.

vi. Most recording devices use digitizing that must be frequently changed requiring either

cessation of all verbal utterances, or in the alternative, causing a loss of part of the

proceedings. In either situation, the changing of the recording is extremely disrupting to any

proceeding and the loss of part of the proceeding can easily produce a distorted record.

b. Prohibition.

The use of tape recorders or electronic recording devices by members of the public or any other

persons attending meetings of the Board is prohibited except in situations where an electronic tape

recording or transcript is required by law, in which case the clerk of the district shall use electronic

recording equipment of high quality approved by the district to create an electronically recorded

transcript which shall be maintained as the official transcript of such proceeding. The Board, in its

discretion, may choose to record any or all regular sessions of the Board which shall become the

official transcript of the proceedings.

6. Cameras and video equipment.

a. Findings.

The board having investigated and deliberated with respect to the use by the public of cameras and video equipment at meetings of the Board has found that:

i. If flash cameras are used, the occurrence of the "flashing" can be particularly disturbing and

disruptive to the proceedings. Additional lighting used for cameras or video equipment is

distractive.

ii. The "desired positioning" of the video equipment or camera is often such that it blocks the

view of meeting participants and/or detracts from the primary purpose of the meeting.

iii. Equipment "setup" is often not accomplished prior to the start of the meeting and equipment

removal often occurs before the end of the meeting and either situation interrupts

proceedings once they are underway.

iv. Equipment operation using electric cords (versus batteries) creates a public safety hazard.

b. Prohibition.

The use of cameras and video equipment by members of the public or any other persons attending

meetings of the board is prohibited subject to the provisions of subparagraph "c" below.

c. Exceptions.

The district recognizes that there may be times or certain events where the use of cameras or video equipment would be desirable and the Board may approve from time to time limited use of such devices for events such as presenting awards, the swearing in of new board members, etc., under such conditions and restrictions as in the judgment of the Board are appropriate.

7. Handwritten notes, transcripts, etc.

Nothing contained in this policy prohibits members of the public from preparing their own handwritten notes, transcripts, etc. of any proceedings held in an open meeting of this Board.

Cross Reference: 4110 Public Complaints

4120 Uniform Grievance Procedure

4320 Disruption of School Operations

Legal Reference: I.C. § 33-512 (11)

I.C. § 67-2345

Policy History:

Adopted on: 09/26/2006

Revised on: 04/25/2023