ABINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT ABINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA. BOARD POLICY STATEMENT REGARDING: Procedures for Board Meetings

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1 ABINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT ABINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA BOARD POLICY STATEMENT REGARDING: Procedures for Board Meetings Section: Board Governance Approved: September 27, 2016 Supersedes/Amends Policy See Also: School Code Sections 407, 423 Dated: 12/1/69, 8/10/71, 4/10/73, 12/10/74, 12/2/75, 12/13/77, 12/9/80, 12/9/86, 3/10/87, 4/28/87, 8/11/87, 2/13/90, 5/12/92, 2/23/93, 8/9/94, 8/26/08 Definitions "Regular meeting." A meeting scheduled by the Board as part of its regular schedule of public meetings established on an annual basis. "Special meeting." A meeting scheduled by the Board after its regular schedule of meetings has been established. Notice of Public Meetings (See Appendix attached to this Policy) Parliamentary Procedure The most current edition of Parliamentary Procedure at a Glance, by O. Garfield Jones shall be a guide for all public Board and Committee meetings except as otherwise provided by law. If any member is aggrieved by a decision of the chair, the member shall have the privilege to appeal to the Board, and the vote on such appeal shall be taken without debate. Regular Meetings Regular meetings of the Board of School Directors will be held in accordance with the calendar adopted by the Board and shall typically occur on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month in the Board Room of the Administration Building beginning at 7:30 p.m. Notification procedures shall be set forth in the accompanying Superintendent s Administrative Procedure.

2 Special Meetings Notification procedures for special meetings shall be set forth in the appendix at the end of this policy. Quorum 1. A quorum being present, precisely at the hour to which the Board stands convened, the President shall take the chair, call the members to order, and proceed to business. 2. Should a quorum be assembled at the hour appointed and the President is absent, the Vice-President shall serve as chair during that meeting, or until the President shall appear. In the absence of both the President and Vice-President, a President Pro Tem, which shall be the Board member who most previously served as President or, if none, a member chosen by a majority of the quorum, shall serve as chair during that meeting, or until the President or Vice-President shall appear. 3. Should a quorum not assemble at the hour appointed, the director or directors present shall be compelled to adjourn or recess, whichever appropriate, for a time so that an opportunity may be given for a quorum to assemble, without which no business can be legally transacted. A quorum shall be five (5) or more school directors. Participation by Remote Communication Device 1. Members of the Board of School Directors may participate in a Board meeting governed by the Sunshine Act and vote by means of remote communication device (such as speaker telephone or videoconferencing) in the event of an emergency meeting or at the discretion of the Board President. 2. Emergency meeting is defined as a meeting regarding a time-sensitive situation or matter pressing enough that waiting to vote until a regular meeting could or would substantially change the outcome of the issue under consideration. 3. A Board member must be physically present at any meeting to participate and vote, unless permitted to participate remotely at the Board President s discretion or due to an emergency meeting. 4. It is the Board member's responsibility when desiring to participate by remote communication device to immediately notify the President of the Board that he/she will be unable to attend the meeting but will be able to participate by remote communication device. In such a case, arrangements must be made at the location of the Board meeting for a remote communication device of the Board s choosing that can be heard by all Board members and by the public in attendance at the meeting. The Board member participating by remote communication device must be able to hear all comments from the other Board members and from the public in attendance. No more than two Board members may participate by remote communication device at a given meeting. Preference will be given to the first Board member who requests remote communication device participation. The presence of a Board member via remote communication device will be counted toward the quorum necessary to hold a meeting.

3 Agenda Regular Meetings It shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent and Board Secretary, in cooperation and collaboration with the Board President, to prepare an agenda of the items of business, which incorporates recommendations of Board committees, to come before the Board at each regular meeting. The agenda, together with all relevant reports, shall be provided to each school director at a reasonable amount of time in advance of the meeting. The Board Secretary shall cause the Not Official Copy of the agenda to be posted for public review by 12:00 noon prior to the meeting. Such posting may be made electronically. Any Board member, including the Superintendent (who is a non-voting member of the Board) shall have the right to propose at a public Board meeting, either by motion or request to the President, the addition of agenda items at that Board meeting. In the transaction of business, the following order shall be observed: a. Call to Order b. Roll Call and Pledge of Allegiance c. Announcements - Additional Agenda Items d. Comments of Board Members, Superintendent, and Solicitor e. Student Council Representatives f. Board Honors and Orientation g. Comments from Citizens (a 40-minute limit on this item, with approximately 20 minutes for comments on the agenda and 20 minutes for comments on any matter regarding school affairs. A citizen will be recognized once during this period of the meeting, and each citizen s comments will be limited to a total of three minutes, except at the discretion of the President. Time may not be yielded or otherwise transferred by one speaker to another for purposes of extending a given speaker s time allotment.) h. Approval of Minutes i. Routine Agenda Items i. When possible, any resolution or action item emanating from a community member must be forwarded to the entire Board in written form no later than on the Friday before the session on which Board action is requested. j. Reports and Recommendations--Administration k. Other Business i. Announcements of Committee Meetings

4 ii. Committee Reports and Minutes l. Comments of Citizens on Matters Regarding School Affairs, excluding personnel (a 20-minute time limit on this agenda item. A citizen will be recognized once during this period of the meeting, and each citizen s comments will be limited to three minutes, except at the discretion of the President. Time may not be yielded or otherwise transferred by one speaker to another for purposes of extending a given speaker s time allotment.) m. Closing Comments of School Directors n. Adjournment no vote required once all other agenda items are covered. Minutes 1. The Board shall cause minutes to be made and retained as a permanent District record of the public meetings of the Board. Said minutes shall be deemed comprehensive, legally compliant, and complete by showing: a. The date, place, and time of the meeting b. The names of Board members present c. The presiding officer d. The substance of all official actions taken (not applicable to committee meetings) e. Recorded votes and a record by individual members of all roll call votes taken (not applicable to committee meetings) f. The names of all citizens who officially participated in the public participation and the subject of their participation g. Compliance with the School Code, the Sunshine Act and other applicable laws. 2. The Secretary shall provide each school director with a copy of the minutes of the last meeting no later than two (2) days before the next month s regular meeting. The approved minutes shall be signed by the Secretary or Assistant Secretary. Video and audio recordings are not official minutes of the Board meeting Use of Recording Devices by the General Public 1. Individuals attending a regular or special meeting of the Board have the right to use video and/or tape recording devices. Microphones and recording devices may not be placed on the Board table or tables reserved for use by the staff. Use of recording devices may not interfere with, obstruct, or disrupt the orderly transaction of business at any meeting.

5 2. Any individual or group desiring to video record a public Board meeting must comply with any reasonable request made by the Board President or other meeting chair for the purpose of maintaining order at the meeting. 3. As a courtesy to the members of the public in attendance at meetings, the agenda for the meeting shall remind attendees that other members of the public may be recording the meeting and that they should be careful that their private remarks are not recorded by other members of the public. The Appendix to this Policy contains the disclaimer to appear in the agenda. 4. The Board will not stop its meeting or any discussion during the meeting in order for individuals to change video or audio tapes. 5. The Board is not responsible for rebroadcast of all or any portion of a public meeting that is not specifically authorized by the District. General Rules 1. It shall be the duty of the President at all times to preserve order and to endeavor to conduct all business before the Board with propriety and dispatch. 2. Shortly after the annual organization meeting required by the School Code, the President shall assign seats to Board members and establish the order of voting. The President shall vote last on all motions. Once the President has established the seating arrangements and order of voting, no change may occur to seating arrangements or order of voting without approval of the majority of the full Board. In the case of replacement of a Board member, the replacement member shall occupy the same seat and place in the voting order as the member replaced. 3. No member in the course of debate shall be allowed to indulge in personal reflections. 4. The President shall appoint and remove the members of all committees. The President serves as ex officio member of all committees. No committee will have more than three members, not including the President. The Board may sit as a committee of the whole. 5. When a voice vote is taken, it shall be recorded as Motion Carried or Motion Defeated. 6. The first person recognized by the President as desiring to speak has the right to the floor. 7. None of the above General Rules shall be suspended except for a specific purpose and by a vote of two-thirds of the members voting, a quorum being present; after the accomplishment of which purpose the rule shall remain in force.

6 Committee Meetings 1. Committee meetings may be called at any time by the Committee Chairperson, or when requested to do so by the Board President or a majority of the Board with proper public notice. 2. A majority of the total membership of a committee shall constitute a quorum. Lack of a quorum shall not prevent a Committee Meeting but recommendations emanating from the Committee Meeting shall not be considered recommendations of that committee. Attendance at Committee Meetings by remote communication device is permissible without limitation. 3. Unless held as an executive session, committee meetings shall be open to the public, other Board members, and the Superintendent. The Committee will entertain comments of citizens at the conclusion of each open committee meeting. A citizen will be recognized once, and each citizen s comments will be limited to three minutes, except at the discretion of the Committee Chairperson. A citizen s comments must be directed to issues discussed by the Committee at that meeting. Time may not be yielded or otherwise transferred by one speaker to another for purposes of extending a given speaker s time allotment. The Committee may provide for additional opportunities for public comment at its discretion or as required by law. 4. In order for the Committee to complete the voting portion of its meeting in a timely and orderly manner, the total time limit for the audience recognition for agenda items is forty (40) minutes, unless extended by the Committee Chairperson for special circumstances. 5. A majority of the Committee or the Committee Chairperson may invite District employees, consultants, or other persons who have special knowledge of the area under discussion to attend and speak to such items at the meeting. Voting All motions shall require for adoption a majority vote of those Board members present and voting, as indicated in the attached Appendix. Executive Sessions Executive Sessions may be held in accordance with law as set forth in the attached Appendix. Information Sessions Information sessions may be held solely for the purpose of gathering information and clarifying issues. They may involve Board attendance at a meeting arranged by an outside group or inviting someone in to provide information to the Board. No deliberations may take place at such a meeting. An information session is not required to be open to the public.

7 Distribution of Materials Meetings shall be devoted exclusively to the purposes, procedures and efforts conceived, conducted and directed by the Board or its designees toward the goal of the education of students and the purpose for which the meeting was called. All materials that are to be handed out to the public at Board meetings shall be items identified by the Board or Superintendent as relevant to agenda items and shall be limited entirely to information about the school system or a District-sponsored program or school activity. No other materials may be distributed by members of the public either in the meeting room or in the lobby or halls directly outside the meeting room. BROADCASTING OF SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS Authority At its sole discretion, the Board may video record and broadcast all or any portion of its regularly scheduled meetings, specially advertised meetings, and other public meetings of the Board and its committees. The video recording of any public Board meeting produced by the District is the property of the District to be used at the Board s discretion. The video recording of any public Board meeting produced by the District is not the official record of the meeting. The Boardapproved written minutes will continue to be the official record of the meeting. Guidelines The published agenda available at the meetings and on the District website will contain a notification that all or a portion of the meeting is being video recorded for the purpose of broadcast and shall include a notification disclaiming responsibility for statements made by those in attendance at the meeting. While it is the Board s intent to broadcast video recorded Board meetings in their entirety, the Board, at its discretion, may: a. discontinue the video recording of a meeting at any time by majority vote of the quorum in attendance at a particular public meeting if video recording becomes impractical due to equipment malfunction, operator unavailability, or if the video recording is creating any impediment to conducting the meeting in an orderly fashion; b. edit the video recording of a meeting prior to broadcast in order to avoid possible legal liability to the Board, the District and District employees; and c. at parental or staff request, edit a recording to protect a person s identity. The Board directs and delegates authority to the Superintendent of Schools to edit and delete video broadcasts that are offensive and inappropriate. The Superintendent will advise the Board of such action.

8 APPENDIX Notice of Public Meetings Notice of all open public Board meetings, including Committee Meetings, shall be given by publication of the date, place, and time of such meetings in the newspaper(s) of general circulation designated by the Board and the posting of such notice at the administrative offices of the Board. At its discretion, the District may also provide notice of Regular and Special Meetings through other District communication media, including but not limited to interschool mail, bulletin boards, District produced cable television, the District website, District social media or transmission through students to their homes. a. Notice of Regular Meetings shall be given by publication and posting of a schedule showing the date, place and time of all Regular Meetings for the fiscal year at least three (3) days prior to the time of the first regular meeting. b. Notice of all Special Meetings shall be given by publication of notice at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the time of the meeting, except that such notice shall be waived when a Special Meeting is called to deal with an actual emergency involving a clear and present danger to life or property. In addition, there shall be posted, not later than the date of the publishing, a written copy of such notice in a prominent place in the Administration offices. c. Notice of all rescheduled meetings shall be given by publication and posting of notice at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the time of the meeting. d. Notice of all recessed or reconvened meetings shall be given by posting a notice of the place, date and time of meeting and sending copies of such notice to interested parties. e. Notice of all public meetings shall be given to any newspaper(s) circulating in Montgomery County, any radio or television station and any individual, provided such newspaper, radio or television station or individual submits a written request to the Board Secretary and provides a stamped, addressed envelope if the request is to receive such notification by United States mail. f. The Secretary or Board President shall give Board members written notice of executive sessions, if not previously announced, at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the executive session. Such notice may be delivered electronically. A majority of the full Board may waive this notice requirement. Voting All motions shall require for adoption a majority vote of those Board members present and voting, except as provided by statute or Board procedures. a. The following actions require the recorded affirmative votes of two-thirds of the full number of Board members: 1. Transfer of budgeted funds.

9 2. Transfer of any unencumbered balance, or portion thereof, from one appropriation to another. 3. Incur a temporary debt or borrow money upon such obligation. 4. Incur a temporary debt to meet an emergency or catastrophe. 5. Elect to a teaching position a person who has served as a Board member and who has resigned from the Board. 6. Convey land or buildings to Abington Township or Borough of Rockledge. 7. Adopt or change textbooks without the recommendation of the Superintendent. 8. Dismiss, after a hearing, a tenured professional employee. 9. Convey real estate to a charitable organization pursuant to Section 707 of the School Code. 10. Fix the fiscal year to begin on the first day of January. 11. Adopt, amend, repeal or suspend a Board Governance Policy. b. The following actions require the recorded affirmative votes of a majority of the full number of Board members: 1. Fixing the length of school term. 2. Adopting textbooks recommended by the Superintendent. 3. Appointing all District employees except as set forth above. 4. Adopting the annual budget. 5. Appointing or removing tax collectors and other appointees. 6. Levying and assessing taxes. 7. Purchasing, selling, or condemning land. 8. Locating new buildings or changing the location of old ones. 9. Adopting planned instruction. 10. Establishing additional schools or departments. 11. Designating depositories for school funds.

10 Executive Session 12. Entering into contracts of any kind, including contracts for the purchase of fuel or any supplies where the amount involved exceeds $100 (including items subject to bid requirements as designated by the School Code). 13. Fixing salaries or compensation of officers, teachers, or other appointees of the Board. 14. Combining or reorganizing into a larger School District. 15. Entering into contracts with and making appropriations to the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU) for the District's proportionate share of the cost of services provided or to be provided by the MCIU. 16. Dismissing, after a hearing, a non-tenured employee. 17. Adopting a corporate seal for the District. 18. Determining the location and amount of any real estate required by the School District for school purposes. 19. Vacating and abandoning property to which the Board has title. 20. Determining the holidays, other than those provided by statute, to be observed by special exercises and those on which the schools shall be closed for the whole day. 21. Removing a school director for reasons stated in the School Code. 22. Declaring that a vacancy exists on the Board by reason of the failure or neglect of a school director to qualify. 23. Removing an officer of the Board. 24. Adopting, amending, suspending or repealing Board Policy or District Administrative except as set forth in the previous section when a 2/3 vote is required. 25. Removing an appointee of the Board. 26. Creating or increasing indebtedness. The Board may hold an executive session, which is not an open meeting, before, during and/or at the conclusion of an open meeting, and/or at some other time where authorized by law. The presiding officer shall announce the reason for holding the executive session; the announcement can be made at the regular open meeting prior to or after the executive session.

11 Executive sessions are not to be used for deliberating or taking action regarding adoption or amendment of Board policies. Therefore, during executive sessions, there shall be no discussion for the purpose of decision making, recommendations, votes, or establishment of policy, nor the framing, preparation, making or enactment of policies or administrative regulations. Executive sessions shall be held for the following reasons only: Matters involving employment, appointment, termination, disciplining of District employees, subject to the affected employee s written request to have the meeting open, which request may be granted at the discretion of the Board. Information, strategy, and negotiation sessions related to labor relations. Consideration of the purchase or lease of real property. Consultation with an attorney or other professional advisor in connection with litigation. Review of business that if conducted in public would violate lawful privilege. Official actions based on discussions held in executive session shall be taken at a public meeting. Notice of Broadcast The published agenda available at the meetings and on the District website will contain the following notification: All or a portion of the meeting is being video recorded with sound for purpose of public broadcast. As a courtesy to the members of the public in attendance, please accept this as a reminder that other members of the public may be recording this meeting and please take care that your private remarks are not recorded by other members of the public. The District expressly disclaims responsibility for statements made by non-district personnel in attendance at the meeting.