The details
The change impacts two district policies and will do the following:
- Allow for both in-person and recorded comment at board informational meetings, which previously only included recorded comments
- Expand the hours to sign up for public comment by an extra hour and a half the day of a meeting. Community members can record a message or register to speak between 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sign-ups and recordings will also be accepted between 3:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. the day before a meeting.
Community members spoke in favor of the changes during a board meeting April 25. Many teachers who spoke said the previous time frame was during work hours, making it hard to access.
“These proposed changes would provide greater opportunity for the [AISD] community to participate in deliberations,” Becker Elementary School teacher Ross Irons said. “Elementary school teachers face undue obstacles to signing up to provide testimony and contribute our perspectives and concerns.”
Going forward
To provide public comment, a community member may call the district to either record a comment or sign up to speak in-person within the time frame before the board meeting. The board will allot a minute to each speaker, or two minutes if interpretation is needed.
To speak on an item that’s not specifically on the agenda, the public must sign up to comment at a board informational meeting.
The next board meeting will take place May 9. Meetings are streamed and take place in the board meeting room at the district main office, 4000 S. IH-35 Frontage Road, Austin.
For more information on providing public comment, visit www.austinisd.org/meetings
