In a nutshell
The PfISD school board voted Aug. 17 to leave an existing policy governing public comment in place following a review of the policy and updated versions of that policy from the Texas Association of School Boards. The existing board policy allows the public to make comments without regard to the posted agenda at the board's workshops but requires comments made at its regular meetings to be related to items on the agenda. An update to the policy recommended by district staff would have seen limitations to agenda items eliminated from the board's regular meetings and maintained for special meetings with nonagenda items deferred until the end of the meeting.
How we got here
The policy review came at the request of the board at a previous meeting, and its policy review committee shared its recommendation for updates at the board's Aug. 3 workshop. Several board members expressed support for both the existing policy and proposed update.
What they're saying
“Our current policy accommodates our stakeholders in my opinion,” Place 4 Trustee Vernagene Mott said. “They have more opportunity to speak on anything. Our workshops are usually shorter than our regular meetings, so that was a reason we opened that up to any comment.”
The past few years of public comment factored into Place 6 Trustee Jean Meyer’s decision to support the existing policy, she said. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many area school boards saw meetings stretch late into the night due to an increase in the number of people signing up to speak, which was slightly reduced in PfISD by its policy limits for regular meetings. Meyer said the increased length of meetings caused by large volumes of public commenters would have a cost impact to the district for any contractors present for meetings as well as a time impact to staff.
However, Place 7 Trustee Chevonne Lorigo-Johst spoke in support of the policy recommended by staff, pointing to low attendance of the board's workshops and expressing a desire for constituents to have more opportunities to speak at the board's regular meetings that the public is more aware of.
“They know that that is where the action happens; that's the party for better or for worse,” she said. “That is when we are taking action; that is when the community shows up and is fully aware that they can have their voices heard.”
Another viewpoint
Several community members addressed the board with some asking officials to update the policy in the interest of maximizing community participation in board activities.
“Trustees are elected to represent the interest of the community, and you don't know those interests if there's not an opportunity for everyone to share those,” Pflugerville resident Scott Henderson said ahead of the vote.
The takeaway
Trustees voted to maintain the existing policy, leaving an open door to revisit an update to the policy at a later date.
