PUBLIC COMMENT AT BOARD MEETINGS

PUBLIC COMMENT AT BOARD MEETINGS

po0167.3Adopted August 20, 2018Revised May 18, 2026

0167.3 - PUBLIC COMMENT AT BOARD MEETINGS

Board President Statement for Public Comment:

The Board may provide for a period of public comment in an open session of a regular School Board meeting. A period of public comment allows speakers to address issues that are on the open session agenda appearing in the public meeting notice for that meeting.

The Board welcomes public comment as an opportunity to consider additional perspectives on the issues that are being considered by the Board. However, the Board is not required by law to offer a period of public comment, and the Board reserves the right to suspend or eliminate public comment if it determines that doing so is necessary and appropriate.

The period of public comment is limited in certain respects. For example, individuals that ask to participate in public comment must confine their remarks to subjects that are on the open session agenda appearing in the Board meeting notice (also known as the meeting “agenda”) for the meeting. In addition, individuals who ask to participate in public comment must be District residents, parents/guardians of students, and/or students, and must complete the form/register provided for meeting attendees to confirm, e.g., their name, signature, address, and request to participate in public comment. The Board, in its discretion, may also permit non-resident current employees of the District to comment on subjects that are part of that specific meeting’s open session meeting notice (agenda). Board members shall not participate in a period of public comment as speakers.

Individual speakers have no more than three (3) minutes to provide and finish their remarks. The public comment period as a whole will be allotted no more than twenty (20) minutes. The Board reserves the right to use any content-neutral procedure(s) to determine who will be permitted to participate in public comment at a particular Board meeting, if the number of speakers who register to speak indicates that the twenty (20)-minute limit will be exceeded.

Speakers are required to follow rules that have been established by the Board for the period of public comment. Speakers are not permitted to comment on subjects that are not on that meeting’s public notice (agenda) for open session. In addition, certain subjects are off limits for periods of public comment, such as comments about specific children or District employees. Further, speakers are not permitted to make inflammatory comments, use inappropriate language or gestures, attack specific persons, or make specific persons the subject of their remarks. This conduct reasonably tends to be disruptive and will not be permitted. The Board cannot anticipate statements that might be made; consequently, speakers must remember that they alone are responsible for their comments.

The Board recognizes that policy and education issues can generate spirited debate. The public comment period, however, is intended to allow individuals to share their views with the Board, one at a time. Please remember that disruptive behavior or commentary that violates the rules and policies adopted by the Board, as well as more general standards for proper decorum and good order frustrates our democracy by willfully disregarding rules that the people’s elected representatives have adopted to maintain order.

Accordingly, behavior or comments that are, e.g. disruptive, unruly, disrespectful, or otherwise incompatible with the conduct of an orderly meeting and an environment that is welcoming for all citizens is not acceptable and will not be permitted. The Board reserves the right to suspend public comment privileges for any person who does not follow the rules, as well as the right to make decisions about what does and does not comply with those rules: in this regard, as with any school board policy, the Board reserves the right to interpret and apply its own policies, and its determinations on what does or does not violate its rules, policies or directives shall be final.

Public Comment at Board Meetings

The Board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on District matters.

Authority of Board President

At the beginning of the period of public comment, the Board President or other presiding officer may read the Board President statement set forth in this policy (above). The Board President will serve as presiding officer and moderator of the period of public comment. The Board President retains all authority and discretion to add to, subtract from, or otherwise modify this policy, its practices, or its application to specific situations to maintain order and decorum, or any other step(s) he/she deems necessary to implement the purposes of this public comment policy.

The presiding officer shall have absolute discretion to terminate a period of public comment when, in his/her judgment, doing so is appropriate in the circumstances.

Public Comment Section of the Meeting

To permit fair and orderly public expression, the Board will generally follow these procedures during a period of public comment, unless the Board (or the Board President; see above) determines that circumstances require one or more modifications to these procedures, in its discretion. Speakers must identify the agenda item/subject that they wish to address at the beginning of their comments.

  1. Public participation shall be permitted as indicated on the order of business at the discretion of the presiding officer.
  2. Participants must be a resident of the Mauston School District, the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of an enrolled student, or an enrolled student. The Board, in its discretion, may permit non-resident current employees of the District to provide input on subjects that are part of that specific meeting’s open session meeting notice (agenda).
  3. Attendees must be physically in attendance at the meeting and must register their intention to participate in the public comment portion of the meeting upon their arrival at the meeting. Specially printed cards will be available with copies of the agenda in the Superintendent’s office three (3) days before meetings and at the Board’s meeting place. Speakers are asked to fill out the card, including their name and the topic on which they wish to contribute. At the beginning of the meeting, the President shall ask whether speakers present have handed in their cards. Any speakers who have not done so will then fill out and hand in their cards.
  4. Members of the public who are unable to be physically in attendance may submit a written comment in advance of the meeting, and their comment will be shared with the Board.
  5. Speakers shall verify District residency by providing their legal, U.S. Postal address for their primary residence as part of sign in procedures and before their comments are presented.
  6. Participants must be recognized by the presiding officer and will be asked to preface their comments by stating their name.
  7. Each speaker’s comments shall be limited to three (3) minutes duration.
  8. No speaker may speak more than once at the same meeting.
  9. Participants shall direct all comments to the Board and not to staff or other participants.
  10. Questions requiring further investigation shall be referred to the proper staff member for study and possible response at a later date/time.
  11. Groups that have been formed or organized to address specific, single issues or specific perspectives/positions on an issue may name a representative to speak for the group.
  12. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer; no person may address or question Board members individually.
  13. The presiding officer may:
     
    1. interrupt, warn, or terminate a participant’s statement when the statement is too lengthy, personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant;
    2. request any individual to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum;
    3. request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a disorderly person when that person’s conduct interferes with the orderly progress of the meeting;
    4. call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of public decorum so interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting as to warrant such action;
    5. waive these rules with the approval of the Board when necessary for the protection of privacy or the administration of the Board’s business.
  14. The period of public comment for a meeting shall be limited to twenty (20) minutes unless extended by a vote of the Board. 

Prohibited Conduct: Speakers

The Board will not tolerate inappropriate or disruptive behavior at Board meetings. The following are examples of prohibited conduct to help illustrate what may violate this policy. No list of disruptive or inappropriate conduct can ever be complete, and the Board or its presiding officer reserves the right to address behavior that is disruptive or inappropriate, in their judgment and discretion, regardless of whether it is specifically identified in this policy. Examples of prohibited behavior are:

  1. Comments that are reasonably understood to be a complaint about one or more employees of the District.
  2. Comments that are related to or identify specific District students.
  3. Comments that reveal personally identifiable information about a student.
  4. Comments that attack other individuals instead of other points of view. This forum is for an exchange of ideas, not for attacking or making slanderous remarks about others.
  5. Threatening individuals or groups, or property of others or the District. A “true threat” can include menacing symbols, gestures, or epithets, as well as a threat to another person’s safety or property.
  6. Obscene, vulgar, or profane expression. 

School District employees who are otherwise qualified to participate in a period of public comment may speak on legitimate matters of public concern, but may not present individual or personal employment concerns, such as workplace grievances. Members of the public who participate in a period of public comment are solely responsible for their comments.

Topics Generally Disallowed

  1. Comments regarding any District employee or their performance. References to an individual employee’s office, department, or building are permitted to the extent necessary to comment on a subject that is part of the meeting notice (agenda).
  2. References to specific students or personally identifiable information that is related to a student, except that public comment to recognize individuals’ or teams’ performance is permitted if it has or will be referenced as part of the Board meeting notice (agenda).
  3. Individuals or matters that are the subject of a current District investigation. 

Prohibited Conduct: Meeting Attendees

Individuals who attend school board meetings, including the period of public comment, sometimes exhibit inappropriate behaviors while another person is addressing the board. All conduct that is prohibited for speakers at a period of public comment is also prohibited for other individuals that attend School Board meetings, including the period of public comment. In addition, the Board also requires members of the audience at Board meetings to observe the following rules during the period of public comment:

  1. Remain seated.
  2. No waving or hand gesturing will be permitted. Any individual that uses gestures generally understood to be an obscene, vulgar, or profane expression will be directed to an alternative viewing site to terminate the disruption while still providing the individual with reasonable access to the remainder of the meeting.
  3. No vocal interference (or making other loud noises) with the speaker or the Board (e.g., shouting a speaker down). 
  4. No behavior that would reasonably tend to disrupt the meeting or speaker’s presentation.
  5. No taunting, ridicule, threatening or other hostile behavior directed at others or their views.
  6. Conduct reasonably understood to be an attempt to and/or that reasonably tends to influence or impair a speaker’s ability to deliver their comments.
  7. Heckling or harassing the Board if, e.g., the Board declines to take up a subject raised by a speaker. The authority for the public comment period, Wis. Stat. 19.84(2), does not require school board members to address or act upon matters raised by individuals during the period of public comment. In addition, the Open Meetings Law requires that the District post clear meeting notices so that citizens are on notice of what the Board will be talking about and can come to the meeting if they wish.
  8. No signs, placards, or other written messages, regardless of viewpoint, will be permitted in Board meetings, because they are distracting to other attendees, inevitably will interfere with others’ ability to see, and are often left for the District to clean up.

Sanctions

As a general matter, a speaker that does not follow the rules will be corrected and, if the conduct does not stop, directed to end their comments and leave the podium/sit down.

The Board President or other presiding officer may also stop a presentation, turn off or disconnect supporting technology (e.g., microphones), or terminate a period of public comment altogether if, in their discretion, such action is deemed necessary or appropriate to prevent further violations of these standards, and to uphold generally expected standards of decorum for government meetings. Speakers who continue to violate the rules and/or defy corrective action by the Board or Board President may be barred from future participation in public comment.

Recording of Meetings

Recording, filming, or photographing the Board’s open meetings by Third Parties is permitted pursuant to 19.90, Wis. Stat. Recording, filming, or photographing the Board’s closed session is only permitted pursuant to Bylaw 0167.2 – Closed Session.

The person operating the equipment should contact the Superintendent prior to the Board meeting to review possible placement of the equipment, and must agree to abide by the following conditions:

  1. No obstructions are created between the Board and the audience.
  2. No interviews are conducted in the meeting room while the Board meeting is in session.
  3. No commentary, adjustment of equipment, or positioning of operators is made that would distract either the Board or members of the audience or otherwise disrupt the meeting while the Board is in session.

Individuals who participate in a period of public comment are reminded that the Board provides media representatives and other third parties who are using audio or video recording with the full access to meetings provided for under Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law, including during a period of public comment. Therefore, members of the public who seek the opportunity to participate in public comment are on notice that they may be audio or video recorded by one or more individuals in attendance.

Revised 10/19/20
Revised 11/15/21