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Guest homeschooling mom

When voting on an action item, when can the public be involved in a discussion?  I was told by one board it is after it is seconded and another board said public can only speak at public comment.  Which one is true? Can you share with me where I can find it in writing so I can have back up at the next board meeting?  Thank you

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10 minutes ago, Guest homeschooling mom said:

When voting on an action item, when can the public be involved in a discussion?  I was told by one board it is after it is seconded and another board said public can only speak at public comment.  Which one is true? Can you share with me where I can find it in writing so I can have back up at the next board meeting?  Thank you

So far as RONR is concerned, persons who are not members of the board cannot speak at any time during the meeting, unless the board grants permission to do so in a particular case. If the public is permitted to speak at these board meetings, this would be due to the organization's rules (or perhaps applicable law), not due to any rule in RONR.

"In meetings of many public bodies, such as school boards, the public may attend. Similarly, in some private organizations such as church councils, parishioners may be permitted to attend. These attendees are not members of the meeting body and ordinarily have no right to participate. Some bodies, especially public ones, may invite nonmembers to express their views, but this is done under the control of the presiding officer subject to any relevant rules adopted by the body and subject to appeal by a member. Often, by rule or practice, time limits are placed on speakers and relevance is closely monitored." (RONR, 11th ed., pgs. 96-97)

So it may well be that both boards are correct, because the two boards have adopted different rules on the subject.

Edited by Josh Martin
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On 5/15/2020 at 2:25 PM, Guest homeschooling mom said:

When voting on an action item, when can the public be involved in a discussion?  I was told by one board it is after it is seconded and another board said public can only speak at public comment.  Which one is true? Can you share with me where I can find it in writing so I can have back up at the next board meeting?  Thank you

A lot depends on what type of organization you are.  The fact that the public is even present at all suggests that you may be some sort of public body, but I hesitate to guess.  The fact that you have public comment at all suggests that you're working on a set of rules outside those in RONR.

Perhaps a more complete description of your situation would help us.

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