Salt Lake City School District
Administrative Procedures for Board Policy B-2

Subject: School Board Meetings
Index: B = Board Policies

Reference: Salt Lake City School District Board Policy B-2

Board Meeting Locations
If the board holds a workshop or executive session on the same day as a regularly scheduled board meeting, the workshop or executive session must be held at the same location as the regularly scheduled meeting, unless:

1. The meeting includes a site visit or tour for which appropriate public notice has been given; or
2. The workshop or executive session is an electronic meeting and the requirements for holding such a meeting have been satisfied.

Public Comment during Board Business Meetings

1. Time is dedicated for suggestions to the board for improving district services, including suggestions regarding district policy.
2. Time may not be used to air complaints concerning bidding, contracts, employment or personnel issues, to criticize or defame district employees, or to make complaints for which other avenues for appeal exist.
3. Time may not be used by employees or their representatives to circumvent formal communication channels or established grievance or negotiations procedures.
4. The board need not allow repetition of the same issue.
5. Sign-ups are on a first-come basis and may be made in person or personally over the telephone, until 12:00 p.m. on the day of the board business meeting.
6. The request to speak time is not to exceed 15 minutes, with individual presentations limited to three minutes and group presentations limited to five minutes.
7. All speakers will give an oral presentation and may provide printed material in support of their comments.
8. The board may schedule other meetings to receive public input on specific issues.
9. The following notice will be published for all board business meetings.

Note: Persons requesting to speak to the Board of Education in an open meeting need to notify the Superintendent's Office by 12:00 p.m. on the day of the board meeting. Resolution of questions or responses to proposals should not be expected at this meeting; staff or others may be asked to research and/or prepare materials and solutions for a later time. Fifteen minutes total have been scheduled for persons requesting to speak. Three minutes will be allotted for individual requests and five minutes will be allotted for group requests. If we receive more requests than the allotted time permits, those requests may be scheduled for the next board business meeting. Your concerns may be submitted in writing to the Superintendent's Office for distribution to the Board of Education at any time.

Notice Requirements for Board Meetings
Public notice of each open board meeting will be given by posting written notice at the Salt Lake City School District Board of Education office, 440 East 100 South, and providing notice to at least one newspaper of general circulation within the geographic jurisdiction of the public body, or to a local media correspondent. The district will also endeavor to post notice of board meetings on the district's Web site at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, as well as to provide advance notice of board meetings to all media agencies which have requested such notice in writing within the prior 6 months.

In case of an emergency or urgent public necessity which renders it impractical to give the notice identified in the paragraphs above, the best notice practicable will be given. No such emergency meeting of the board will be held unless an attempt has been made to notify all of its members and a majority of the members vote in the affirmative to hold the meeting.

Where a meeting agenda must be included in the required public notice of a board meeting, that agenda will notify the public of the topics to be considered at the board meeting. To be sufficiently specific, the agenda will at least list each anticipated topic under an agenda item in a manner which identifies the subject of discussion, and if known, the nature of the board action being considered on the subject. The board may not consider a topic for action, in an open meeting which was not listed under an agenda item and included with the advanced public notice of the meeting. If an unlisted topic is raised during an open meeting, the board may discuss the topic but may not take any final action on that topic during the meeting.

The board will comply with the aforementioned public notice requirements in regards to the budget hearing. The board will publish the required newspaper notice at least one week prior to the hearing; file a copy of the proposed budget with the board's business administrator for public inspection at least ten days prior to the hearing, and in addition, if the proposed budget includes a tax rate in excess of the certified tax rate, or if the board is meeting to consider whether to adopt a tax rate in excess of the certified tax rate, the board will provide the notices and schedule the meeting as required by Utah Code §59-2-919.

Closed Meetings
Closed meetings may only be held for the following purposes:

1. discussion of the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual;
2. strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining or pending or imminent litigation;
3. strategy sessions with respect to the purchase, exchange, or lease of real property if public discussion may disclose the appraised or estimated value of the property or tend to prevent the board from obtaining the best possible terms;
4. strategy sessions with respect to the sale of real property if public discussion may disclose the appraised or estimated value of the property or tend to prevent the board from obtaining the best possible terms, but only if the board previously gave public notice that the property would be offered for sale, and the terms of the sale are publicly disclosed before the board approves the sale;
5. discussion regarding deployment of security personnel, devices, or systems; or
6. investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct.

Recordings and Minutes for Board Meetings
Written minutes and recording will include:

1. the date, time and place of the meeting;
2. the names of the members present and absent;
3. the substance of all actions taken;
4. the names of all citizens who appeared and a brief summary of their testimony; and
5. any other information that any member requests be entered in the recording and minutes.

The recording will be a complete and unedited recording of all open portions of the meeting from the commencement of the meeting until the meeting's adjournment.

A recording will be kept of all closed meetings and written minutes may be kept of closed meetings. Such recordings and any minutes will include:

1. the date, time and place of the meeting; and
2. the names of members present except where such disclosure would compromise the confidential nature of the issues being discussed or otherwise infringe on the privacy rights of others present.

Recording of closed meetings will be complete and unedited recordings of all portions of the closed meeting except when a meeting or a portion of a meeting is closed for the purpose of discussing the charter, professional competence, or the health of an individual.

Closed meeting recordings and minutes are protected. All recordings and minutes of closed meetings are hereby designated as "Protected Records" under the Government Records Access Management Act.

Electronic Meetings
A board meeting may be held as an electronic meeting only upon request of a member of the board. This request must be made at least three days prior to the time that the board meeting is scheduled, so that the necessary arrangements can be made for the electronic meeting.

After an electronic meeting has been scheduled, and at least 24 hours before the meeting, the members of the board will be notified of the electronic meeting and informed how members of the board will be connected to the meeting. The primary location for the electronic meeting will be in the building where the board meeting would have been held if it were not held electronically.

Space and facilities will be provided at the primary location of an electronic meeting of the board to permit members of the public to attend and monitor the electronic meeting except those portions of such a meeting which have been properly closed to the public by the board. If the board meeting is one at which comments from the public will be accepted, then the space and facilities will also permit members of the public to participate in the electronic meeting.

Monitoring of an electronic meeting will mean the public is able to hear and/or see, live, all statements made by each board member in the meeting by speaker, complete screen or other medium. Participating in an electronic meeting will mean to be able to communicate with all board members in the meeting, such that each board member can hear or see the communication.

Members of the public are not entitled to monitor or attend electronic meetings except through the space and facilities provided at the primary location. Members of the public cannot request an electronic meeting and do not have the right to be remotely connected to a board meeting except as set forth in this section.

Approved by: McKell Withers, Superintendent
Date: 2/27/08

The Salt Lake City School District does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, or sex in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquires regarding non-discrimination policy: Kathleen Christy, Assistant Superintendent, 440 East 100 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111, (801)578-8251. You may also contact the Office for Civil Rights, Denver, CO, (303)844-5695.