School Board Meetings

There are three types of open-to-the-public meetings at North Penn School District:

1. Committee Meetings:  Committee meetings are mostly made up of 3 board members, except for the Finance Committee Meeting which is made up of all 9 board members. This is where ideas and topics are introduced and discussed for the first time.  During committee meetings board members have a dialogue with the administration on each topic and ask questions and explore different options for each topic.  Votes in this meeting usually occur for one reason: to move the topic forward to a later meeting or to a work session meeting or action meeting. Most committee meetings are held on zoom, except for the Finance Committee, which meets in-person.  Members of the public can join by zoom to comment or watch live on YouTube or on NPTV (online or on cable).  Many residents are not aware that these meetings exist, but they are often the best places to share ideas during public comment, before decisions begin to take shape.

2. Work Session Meeting: The Work Session meeting is made up of all 9 members of the board. This is where topics that started in committee or are introduced by the administration are discussed in more depth.  Topics may be discussed further, and voted to delay it ("table") or move the topic to an Action Meeting. If a topic is "tabled," the topic will be revisited at a later meeting.  This meeting is often the middle step of the evolution of a topic to a vote, where ideas are refined and concerns are addressed before final decisions are made. Residents can come in person to deliver public comment and is another time to address concerns before a final vote or decision is made. 

3. Action Meeting:  The Action Meeting is made up of all 9 members of the board. This is where topics that originated in the committees or work session are voted on. By the time a topic reaches an Action Meeting, it has usually been discussed at one or more earlier meetings and many questions have already been asked and answered.  Board members have time between the Committee Meetings, Work Session Meetings, and Action Meetings to review the issues.  Because of this timeline duration of an idea to topic to committee to work session, there is often less discussion at Action Meetings and it looks like the board is moving swiftly through each topic.  Public comment is welcomed at the Action Meeting and the board members can still be persuaded at any stage of the process.

All school board meetings are listed on the district's website: https://www.npenn.org/school_board/2020_meeting_schedule 

While most people understandably do not have time to attend every meeting, those who follow an issue early, often feel more informed by the time a topic reaches the Action Meeting.  Public input is welcome at every stage of the process.