Meeting protocols

The Board of Trustees of Gorge Road School is committed to effective and efficient meetings and, to this end, sets out the following guidelines for the conduct of board meetings.

Timing of meetings

·       Dates and times of meetings will be set in the board work plan typically starting at 7.00pm and not exceed 2 hours, meetings may be held at other times by mutual negotiation.

·       A resolution for an extension of time may be moved but will not normally exceed 30 minutes.

·       Any business remaining on the agenda at the conclusion of the meeting is transferred to the following meeting

Agenda and meeting papers

·       The  presiding member is responsible, in liaison with the principal, for the preparation of an agenda prior to each meeting.

·       The principal is to ensure that secretarial services are provided to the board.

·       Agenda items are to be notified to the  presiding member 7 days prior to the meeting.

·       The agenda and board papers will be circulated to board members at least 4 days prior to the meeting.

·       The board should have access to all correspondence. Correspondence that requires the board to take some action should be photocopied/scanned and distributed prior to the meeting. Other correspondence can be listed and tabled so that trustees can read it if required.

·       Late items will only be accepted with the approval of the board and in rare circumstances where a decision is urgent.

·       The order of the agenda may be varied by resolution at the meeting.

·       All items in the agenda are to carry a recommended course of action and where appropriate be supplemented by supporting material in the meeting documentation.

·       Papers requiring reading and consideration will not normally be accepted if tabled at the meeting.

Public participation

·       The board meeting is a meeting open to the public rather than a public meeting.

·       Only trustees have automatic speaking rights.

·       Public participation is at the discretion of the board.

·       Public attending the meeting, including staff members not elected as the staff representative, are given a notice about their rights regarding attendance at the meeting – see C1.1 Public attending board meetings.

Exclusion of the public

·       The meeting may, by resolution, exclude the public (going into committee) and news media from the whole or part of the proceedings in accordance with the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. The wording to be used in the motion to exclude the public is found in Schedule 2A of the Act. The board must make the reasons for excluding the public clear. Excluding the public is most often used to ensure privacy of individuals or financially sensitive issues.* ( Legislative requirement)

·       Persons may be asked to remain after the public has been excluded because they possess knowledge that will be of assistance in relation to the matter to be discussed. The board must pass a resolution that they may remain.

Conduct of meetings

·       A quorum of more than half the members currently holding office is required.*( Legislative requirement)

·       Trustees will declare any conflict of interest at the beginning of the meeting.

·       Any trustees with a conflict or pecuniary interest in any issue shall not take part in any debate on such issues and may be asked to leave the meeting for the duration of the debate.*  -A pecuniary interest arises when a trustee may be financially advantaged or disadvantaged as a result of decisions made by the board (contracts, pay and conditions). -A conflict of interest is when an individual trustee could have or could be thought to have a personal stake in matters to be considered by the board.

·       The  presiding member shall be appointed by election at the first meeting of the year except in the triennial election year where it will be at the first meeting of the newly elected board.* ( Legislative requirement)

·       The elected  presiding member (or, in their absence, a non-school-based trustee) presides at meetings.

·       Only apologies received from those who cannot be present must be recorded. Trustees who miss three consecutive meetings without the prior leave of the board cease to be members. An apology does not meet the requirement of prior leave. To obtain prior leave, a trustee must request leave from the board at a board meeting, and the board must make a decision whether or not to grant it.* (* Legislative requirement)

·       Points of order are questions directed to the  presiding member that require an answer or a ruling. They are not open to debate and usually relate to the rules for the running of a meeting.

·       The board’s normal meeting procedures may be suspended by resolution of the meeting.

Decision-making process

·       All decisions are to be taken by open voting by all trustees present.

·       In the event of tied voting on a resolution, the  presiding member may exercise a casting vote in addition to their deliberative vote.*( Legislative requirement)

·       A motion is a formal proposal for consideration. All motions and amendments moved in debate must be seconded unless moved by the  presiding member and are then open for discussion.

·       Motions and amendments once proposed and accepted may not be withdrawn without the consent of the meeting.

·       No further amendments may be accepted until the first one is disposed of.

·       The mover of a motion has right of reply.

·       A matter already discussed may not be reintroduced at the same meeting in any guise or by way of an amendment.

·       When a matter cannot be resolved or when further information is necessary before a decision can be made, the matter can be left unresolved for future discussion.

Minutes

·       Board meeting minutes will be taken by a contracted, paid minute secretary who is not a member of the board.

·       The minutes are to clearly show resolutions and action points and who is to complete the action.

·       Minutes are sent to the  presiding member for checking within 3 working days and distributed electronically to the board within 7 working days. Requests for corrections or amendments should be submitted by email to the minute secretary as soon as possible to ensure accurate minutes can be confirmed at the next meeting.

·       Minutes to be tabled for approval should be included in documentation made available to all board members prior to the meeting.

Special meetings*  

* Legislative requirement

·       A special meeting may be called by delivery of notice to the  presiding member signed by at least one-third of trustees currently holding office.

·       Meetings can be held via audio, audio and visual or electronic communication providing:

o    all trustees who wish to participate in the meeting have access to the technology needed to participate, and

o    a quorum of members can simultaneously communicate with each other throughout the meeting.

Public attending board meetings

The board of trustees welcomes public presence at board meetings and hopes that members of the public enjoy their time observing board meetings. Members of the public include staff, students and parents of the school who are not trustees on the board.

These procedures will be provided to members of the public attending meetings so that they understand the rules that apply and will be followed unless otherwise authorised by the board:

·       Board meetings are not public meetings but meetings held in public.

·       If the meeting moves to exclude the public (usually to protect the privacy of individuals), members of the public will be asked to leave the meeting until this aspect of business has been concluded.

·       Members of the public may request speaking rights on a particular subject that is on the agenda. Preferably, this request has been made in advance. Public participation is at the discretion of the board.

·       Speakers shall be restricted to a maximum of 3 minutes each per subject, with a time limit of 15 minutes per interest group.

·       No more than 3 speakers on any one topic.

·       Speakers are not to question the board and must speak to the topic.

·       Board members will not address questions or statements to speakers.

·       Speakers shall not be disrespectful or offensive or make malicious statements or claims.

·       If the  presiding member believes that any of these have occurred or the speaker has gone over time, they will be asked to finish.

Reviewed and amended July 2022