Mixed reaction expected at Dec. 13 hearing
By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY The township Board of Education introduced a proposed policy Tuesday night, which, if adopted next month, would formally limit public discussion at meetings.
Over the past few meetings, the board has been using the proposed system in a trial manner. Now, it is moving to make it official policy.
Under the proposed system, the public will be limited to two half-hour time periods, one near the beginning of the meeting and one near the end, to raise issues. Each resident will be allowed five minutes to speak. The board can, however, vote to extend the time limit.
For example, if the meeting is scheduled for three hours, board member George Fox said, then one-third of the meeting is used for public comment this way.
"We also do not want one member taking 15 minutes up, making other residents wait too long to speak," he said. "In the past, meetings have gone on and on late into the night."
The new policy regarding public participation was discussed by the board Tuesday.
According to board member Susan Carter, who also chairs the Policy Committee, the Tuesday meeting was the first time the board discussed the policy.
When three new members came on the board following the last election, there was an interest in changing the meeting structure, she said. "We changed how we organized the agendas, how reports were made, and now the public-comments policy," she said.
Ms. Carter said the public-comment procedures of other school boards and municipalities was researched. Both she and Mr. Fox and Ms. Carter stressed, however, that this type of policy is not a recent development.
Currently, the amount of time a resident is permitted to speak is at the discretion of the board president.
Ms. Carter expects mixed reaction to the policy, which is scheduled to come up for adoption on second reading at the board’s Dec. 13 meeting.
"Some members (of the public) will appreciate not having to wait several hours to speak," she said. "Others, though, felt their time was being too restricted."
One resident, Muhammad Kilany of Spring Hill Road, expressed his distaste for the new policy Tuesday, saying it will keep him from being heard adequately.
A public meeting, Ms. Carter said, is not the only way the public can communicate with the board, citing telephone calls and e-mails.
"We want to keep the meetings consistent," she said.
The move to regulate public participation was not aimed at anyone or anything in particular, Mr. Fox said.
"I want Montgomery to be an open book," he said. "But we can’t answer every question immediately, every time one is raised. Sometimes we have to prioritize things."

