Guest chrishablack@yahoo.com Posted July 21, 2021 at 02:40 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 at 02:40 PM My question is regarding parliamentary procedure during a school board meeting. I have an issue that I would like to address with a school board, but want to make sure I am correct. I have requested a GPA Audit for the class of 2021. Our local school board had an agenda item titled Consider/Discuss/Approve GPA Audit. The background information sent to the board from the Superintendent included the statement “If the board wants to do the audit here is the motion: I move the board approve a grade point audit with the following specifications…….”. During the meeting, a board member made the motion “I move the board approve a GPA audit for the class of 2021, top 5 students only”. This motion was seconded. It passed with a 5-2 vote. After the vote, the school board president said “There is no room for stipulations, we are only voting whether or not to approve the GPA audit, we will hammer out the details at a later date”. There was no motion to amend nor was there a re-vote. The minutes from that meeting show that the member made the motion “I move the board approve a GPA audit”. They left out the rest of the motion that he actually made. The next meeting, the agenda item was listed as Consider/Discuss/Approve Scope of GPA audit. During the discussion, they were leaning towards only doing a GPA audit moving forward, starting with the class of 2022. They ended up tabling the item for the next meeting. So….in my opinion, they have already approved the GPA audit for the class of 2021 top 5 students, since that is what was voted on and it was not amended. My question is this….how long do they have to go back and amend the original motion? They have had one special board meeting since the original motion was made and the next regular board meeting is set for tomorrow. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don’t want to bring this to the boards attention uninformed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Lages Posted July 21, 2021 at 03:44 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 at 03:44 PM The original motion can be amended (or rescinded in whole or in part) for as long as there is any part of the motion that has not yet been carried out. Thus, if the school board were to conduct a GPA audit of the top 5 students, that motion would be completely carried out and no longer open to amendment or rescinding. If a more comprehensive audit was wanted, it would have to be initiated as a new motion. But up until a GPA audit of all of the top 5 students was actually done, that motion could be amended. From what is written, it is not clear whether you are a member of the school board. If you are not, you do not have the ability under RONR to initiate any of the actions you want to see occur, since RONR's rules stipulate that only members of the body that is meeting have any rights with respect to participation. Depending on your school board's rules, the most input you might have could be to raise your concerns during a period of public comment at a school board meeting. And also based on what is written, it sounds like the school board might need to amend its minutes to reflect the motion as actually voted on. Under RONR, the approved motion is the motion as stated by the chair just before it is put to a vote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chrishablack@yahoo.com Posted July 21, 2021 at 03:55 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 at 03:55 PM I am a parent who raised a concern to the board. I did speak during public comments. I am aware that i can not initiate action on the item. The board president did not state the motion before it was voted on. The motion was made by a member, seconded by another member, then it was voted on. After the vote is when the school board president stated they were only voting on whether to do the audit and that they would hammer out the details later. He did not make a motion to amend the motion and they did not revote. They moved on to the next topic. I guess what i am trying to get at is this.... I want them to do a GPA audit for the class of 2021. This is what they voted on and it passed. But, now that they are "hammering out the details", they are leaning towards starting it for the class of 2022. How can they just decide not to do it for 2021 if that is what they voted on and it passed without amending or rescinding. They are just acting like it never happened. Even the minutes don't reflect what actually happened. I have listened to the audio recording and the minutes don't match what actually took place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chrishablack@yahoo.com Posted July 21, 2021 at 04:07 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 at 04:07 PM I am not a board member, i am a parent. I am aware i can not take action on this item. I did speak in public comments. I am requesting they conduct a GPA audit for the class of 2021. The board president did not state the motion before it was voted on. A member of the board made the motion, another seconded it, and it was voted on. It wasn't until after the vote when the president stated that wasn't what they were voting on. There was never a motion made to amend the original motion, nor was there a revote. They basically have just tried to pretend it never happened. I have an audio recording of the meeting and what the minutes say does not reflect what actually happened. Basically what i want to know is this....how can they not perform a GPA audit for 2021(what was voted on and passed) without amending or rescinding the original motion? And what can i as a parent do if they have voted on something and don't follow through with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Elsman Posted July 21, 2021 at 04:15 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 at 04:15 PM Insofar as the rules of RONR (12th ed.) control, a non-member of an assembly is just a spectator and has no right to speak, make motions, or engage in debate (much less vote). It is not unlikely that the board has adopted rules that provide for public comment at meetings. The rules that have been adopted by the board to govern this part of the meeting--whatever they are--must be strictly observed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chrishablack@yahoo.com Posted July 21, 2021 at 05:18 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 at 05:18 PM I am not asking to vote, i know that i can not vote. I spoke in public comments, and then just observed the remainder of the meeting. My issue is that the school board is acting like it never happened. The school board voted on it. 5 school board members voted in favor and 2 school board members voted against it. But, now they didn't put it in the minutes and are just acting as if it never happened, when i have audio recording proof that it did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Elsman Posted July 21, 2021 at 05:49 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 at 05:49 PM If you are a voter, you can vote against the school board members in the next election. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted July 21, 2021 at 05:49 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 at 05:49 PM I agree completely with the initial response by Mr. Lages as I believe he covered the whole situation pretty comprehensively. I can't think of anything worthwhile to add to his response, but will emphasize that the minutes should be corrected to properly reflect the motion that was actually adopted. However, there is no RONR police department and the board cannot be forced to do what its members don't want to do except, perhaps, through legal action. You alone cannot force them to correct the minutes, but you can perhaps bring enough public pressure on the members that they will do so. Talking to other school board members privately might help, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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