As House Enrolled Act 1130 and Senate Enrolled Act 83 have taken effect, some school districts have had to alter their school board public comment policies.
Both bills guarantee members of the public an opportunity to speak at school board meetings. Last year, Carmel Clay schools banned public comments during the fall semester of the 2021-22 school year. Center Grove schools, meanwhile, didn’t go as far as banning all public comment but have limited attendees to speaking only on action items until now.
In June, a community member at a Center Grove meeting signed up to speak about a non-action item and was not permitted to speak. That will change starting the July 28 meeting, said Rich Arkanoff, superintendent.
“The only word we will be removing from our policy is the word ‘action,’” he said. “You used to only be able to speak on action items, now it’s any agenda items. The public can comment on any items, such as reports or consent agenda.”
People will still be required to stay on topic. As with previous policy, public comment during each meeting will be limited to 15 minutes, with a maximum of three minutes per person, he said.
“Comment time will also be at the board president’s discretion whether the comments are appropriate or if someone wants to make a political statement or bash an employee,” Arkanoff said. “If someone says they want to speak about a building project we’re doing, that’s what they need to talk about. If they get to the podium and say ‘I lied, I want to talk about the playground at Maple Grove or want to talk about a certain employee, the board president would tell them to sit down.”
Other Johnson County school districts have had varying but more open public comment policies.
At Clark-Pleasant and Franklin schools, for example, there are two opportunities for members of the public to speak. Attendees may speak during the beginning of the meeting about subjects listed on the meeting’s agenda, and also at the end of the meeting about general concerns or topics. While both school districts have time limits for each commenter—two minutes at Franklin schools and three minutes at Clark-Pleasant schools—there is no limit on the topic as long as the comments are civil.
“The Clark-Pleasant school board and superintendent always welcome public comment at our school board meetings,” spokesperson Rick Hightower said in an email. “We have tried to be generous and accommodating with everyone who wishes to speak. We do request that those providing public comments adhere to policies limiting comments to three minutes and speaking one time per meeting on one subject. We also ask that everyone follow professional decorum by coming to the microphone, stating your name and address and speaking in a polite, professional manner.”
Greenwood schools made a slight adjustment to its policy in anticipation of the new law by pushing comments toward the beginning of the meeting rather than the end. Doing so allows people to speak about agenda items before they are voted on, Superintendent Terry Terhune said in an email.
School officials from Edinburgh schools and Indian Creek schools said they encourage public comment and are in accordance with the new law.
The policy to allow comments from attendees has been an integral part of board meetings at Indian Creek, said Tim Edsell, superintendent.
“Here at Indian Creek schools, we have always and will continue to allow time for patron comments at our school board meetings,” Edsell said in an email. “It is vitally important for us to actively listen to our stakeholders’ concerns, questions, (and) praises.”
