In an often contentious debate, the Wake County school board voted tonight to reduce public comment to once a month and eliminate standing committees.
The decision to change one regular meeting a month to a work session with no public comment was approved by a 5-4 vote. By the same 5-4 vote, the board rejected an amendment from Keith Sutton which would have set aside 30 to 45 minutes for public comment at the monthly work sessions.
The vote to eliminate the standing committees was 5-3 with Sutton crossing lines.
After the votes, school board chairman Ron Margiotta assured his colleagues they'd revisit the changes in three months.
Margiotta also read a statement in which said he expects minor adjustments will be still need to be made in the new board structure. But he said he hopes the changes will support the ability of board members to attend meetings.
Margiotta said the former standing committee chairs will serve as liaisons with staff and be responsive to all board member concerns.
Margiotta said they'll consider having meetings start later in the day and possibly moving them around the county.
Margiotta said they'll also look at alternative ways to provide public comment, including online signup.
Comments
Next Meeting???
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 06:20 — FrabjousSo when is the next meeting? The wcpss.net website calendar hasn't been updated yet.
The calendar has now been
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 14:53 — KeungHui (author)The calendar has now been updated. The next board meeting is Sept. 7.
State law only requires them
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 21:19 — CaryCurmudgeonState law only requires them to have one public hearing per month, but I wonder if the GWIS crew will launch another frivolous lawsuit on this one. Perhaps with a month between them, the public hearings will be less of a "Groundhog Day" with the same speakers and the same messages.