Puclic comment engagement

[Bob McCann]

Good afternoon,

I am curious to see, if any of you engage, or respond when the public has comments, during that portion of the regular meeting? As a standard practice we do not engage in negative back and forths with the public.  As President, I always thank them for their concerns/comments and let them know that we will take their concerns "under advisement" or another appropriate response.  If it is a more friendly comment, I may ask the presenter a follow up question, and then open it up to the BOE to do the same.  So, I am curious how everyone else approaches public comments.

Thanks for all you do! 

[Kerri Green]

This is a great discussion - I am a new President and my very first meeting I had a faculty member make ask a question (nothing on the agenda and did not request to speak) and one of my newer board members engaged in a conversation with this person. I didn't know how to shut it down. We DO have a policy and you need to fill out a form, you get 5 minutes. My previous President was great about saying things like "Thank you for your question, we'll look into that" or "so and so will get back to you". Thank you for everything!

[Debbie Kolod]

We do not respond to public comment. In fact, I read a statement before I ask if anyone wants to address the board saying we won't respond. We feel in order to appropriately respond, we often need more information or need to find out the other side of the story. Often, a district office administrator, usually the Deputy Superintendent, will call the person or I will send a follow up letter. I think you are correct in not responding, but always be sure there is a follow up in some manner.