FILE: BC
SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS
The Washington Parish School Board has the authority to hold as many School Board meetings per month as the School Board deems necessary. The School Board shall conduct at least one regularly scheduled meeting per month.
Special meetings of the Washington Parish School Board may be called by the President, when in his/her opinion it is necessary, or when requested by the Superintendent or by five (5) members of the School Board.
At any regular or special meeting of the School Board, no business may be transacted which does not come within the purpose or purposes set forth in the agenda for the meeting, except upon unanimous approval of the members of the School Board present at that meeting. The motion to add an item not on the agenda shall identify the item with reasonable specificity, including the purpose for the proposed addition to the agenda, and shall be entered into the minutes. In keeping with state law and School Board policy, prior to any vote to add an item to the agenda, there shall be an opportunity for public comment on the motion.
The public and news media shall be informed of the dates of all regular and special meetings. All meetings shall be open to the public except meetings that meet the criteria described in Louisiana law for being closed meetings.
Official actions or decisions shall be made only in official meetings of the School Board. No member of the School Board or any committee of the School Board shall have the power to act in the name of the School Board outside of official School Board meetings unless so designated by a majority of the School Board duly convened.
A simple majority of the School Board members present and voting may adopt policy, rules and regulations; otherwise, a majority of the full membership is needed when specifically required by law or as may be stipulated by the School Board.
It is the desire of the School Board that meetings shall be formal enough for orderly procedure but informal enough to be natural, to encourage free discussion and to promote group thinking and action. In matters of procedures not covered by law, School Board policy, or the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), meetings of the School Board shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order, Revised. The President shall be entitled to discuss and vote on all matters before the School Board.
The President may preclude discussion which does not apply to the motion last made. He/she may also minimize or halt discussion of matter if the School Board has previously agreed to confine discussion to a definite period of time, and that period has been used up. Aside from such limitation, the President may limit debate only with the concurrence of three-fourths (¾) of the members present.
The President shall have the authority to remove any person(s) who willfully disrupts a meeting to the extent that orderly conduct of the meeting is seriously compromised.
QUORUM
A quorum for the transaction of official business shall consist of the majority of the members of the Washington Parish School Board. When a quorum of the School Board has convened and neither the President nor the Vice-President is present, the members shall elect one of their number to serve as President for that meeting.
Official meetings of the School Board may only be held when a quorum is present.
Revised: September, 1991
Revised: October 9, 2008
Revised: July 19, 2018
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 42:12, 42:13, 42:14, 42:15, 42:16, 42:17, 42:19, 42:20, 42:24, 42:25
Board minutes, 5-2-91, 10-9-08, 7-19-18
Washington Parish School Board