Members of the public will now have an extra minute, for a total of four minutes, to speak their mind during Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education meetings.
During its March 22 meeting at Manalapan High School, the board had a second reading of a policy change which originally sought to require one 30-minute public session instead of the current two public sessions, while still allowing residents three minutes to speak.
The district’s policy had provided a public comment period at the beginning of each meeting for items that appear on that evening’s agenda. There was a second public comment period at the end of the meeting during which speakers were permitted to address any topic relating to the FRHSD.
Each public comment session was limited to a total of 30 minutes and each speaker was limited to three minutes.
At the policy change introduction earlier this month, Marlboro representative Barry Hochberg, Manalapan representative Jennifer Sutera and Freehold Borough representative Heshy Moses voted against the change to limit public comment to one session per meeting.
When the matter came up at the March 22 meeting, Hochberg again stated that he did not like the switch from two public comment periods to one, which he said would mute some people.
Board President Ronald Lawson of Howell said he had considered Hochberg’s feelings on the matter and believed there should be a compromise. Lawson proposed switching to one public session, but allowing that session to last for a maximum of 45 minutes instead of a maximum of 30 minutes.
Moses pointed out the problem was more so with the three minute limit on a person’s comments, as speakers have recently been cut off in the middle of their point. He proposed allowing individuals to speak for a maximum of four minutes during a 45-minute public comment session.
The board unanimously approved the changes to allow a maximum of four minutes per speaker in a 45-minute public comment session.
Lawson said these changes would be in effect for the board’s next meeting, which is expected to be held April 12 at Marlboro High School.
The policy changes also require the board to meet at least once a month, with the exception of the summer months when school is out. During those months meetings will be scheduled based on the amount of business for the board.