The school board’s reappointment of a fall sport coach has generated several telephone calls of complaint to board members. Parents are planning to attend the next meeting of the board.
When the board assembles for its meeting, there are 15 visitors in the room and the atmosphere is a bit tense. The agenda begins with approval of the minutes of the previous meeting. The minutes reflect board approval of the appointment of fall coaches as recommended by the administration. Immediately following the approval of the minutes is an item calling for "Public input about items not on the agenda."
One of the visitors asks to speak. He is recognized by the chair and thanks the board for its hard work on behalf of the children in the community. He also expresses appreciation for the support given to the extra curricular program. He then speaks to a concern regarding the process used by the board to appoint coaches to the program. He states that public concern about the performance of one of the coaches appears not to have been acknowledged during the process. He asks how parental concern is considered during the evaluation process.
The chair responds that there is a policy in place that guides the process of employee evaluation. Concerns are first heard by the direct supervisor, and the employee affected is made aware of the concern. The administration works with the supervisor and the employee to improve performance as necessary. All of these procedures are defined in the evaluation policy adopted by the board.
The visitor comments that, "In this case, the policy didn't work to improve coach ------!" The chair then rules the commentator out of order because further comments may violate rights of the employee. The chair directs the speaker to bring further concerns to the administration for confidential review.
Does your board have a policy regarding public participation at meetings?
Did the chair make the right call when the coach’s name was mentioned?
How does your system handle complaints?
Why would "Public input about items not on the agenda" be in the meeting structure?