9321 - Time Place and Notification of Meetings

Bylaws of the Board

9321 – Time, Place and Notification of Meetings

Regular Meetings

The Board of Education (Board) shall annually determine the schedule of its regular meetings for the subsequent school year no later than November 30 of the current school year.

The Board shall annually file the schedule of its regular meetings for with the town clerk, not later than December 10 of the year. No meeting shall be held sooner than thirty days after such filing.

The Board may, by a majority vote of its members, alter the schedule of regular meetings. Notice of the change of a regularly scheduled meeting must be filed with the town clerk and posted in the town clerk’s office and on the District website not less than forty-eight hours in advance of the meeting.

Special Meetings

The chairman of the Board or, in case of the chairman’s absence or inability to act, the secretary may call for a special meeting of the Board whenever such chairperson deems it necessary or is requested in writing so to do by three of its members.

Notice of each special meeting of the Board shall be filed with the town clerk not less than twenty-four hours in advance of the meeting and posted in the office of the clerk, in the main office of each school and on the District website giving time and place of the special meeting and the business to be transacted. Each member of the Board shall be notified in writing by the Superintendent of the time, place and business to be transacted not less than 24 hours prior to the time of the special meeting, such written notice being delivered to the residence of each member or via electronic mail. Any Board member may dispense with the requirement of delivery of such written notice by filing a written waiver of delivery of such notice or telegram with the town clerk at or prior to the time the meeting convenes, or by appearing at the meeting at the time it convenes.

Photographing, Broadcasting, or Recording Meetings

Meetings of the Board are conducted for the purpose of carrying out the business of the schools, and therefore, are not public meetings but meetings held in public. At any meeting of the Board which is open to the public, proceedings of such may be recorded, photographed or broadcast or recorded for broadcast by any person or by any newspaper, radio broadcasting company, or television broadcasting company, conducted in such manner as to not disturb the proceedings.

Notice of Meetings

Notice of meetings shall, where applicable, be mailed one week in advance to persons filing a written request for such notice with the Superintendent. Any request shall be valid for one year, unless a renewal request is filed. Requests are renewable in January of each year. The Board of Education will charge a fee for these notices based upon the estimated cost of service.

Meetings

A meeting of the Board shall include any hearing or other proceeding of the Board or a subcommittee thereof, any convening or assembly of a quorum of the Board, and any communication by or to a quorum of the Board, whether in person or by means of electronic equipment, to discuss or act upon a matter over which the Board has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power.

The following shall not be considered a meeting of the Board according to Connecticut General Statute Section 1-200:

• • •  Any meeting of a personnel search committee for executive level employment candidates;

    •  Any chance meeting, or a social meeting neither planned nor intended for the purpose of discussing matters relating to official business;

    •  Strategy or negotiations with respect to collective bargaining;

    •  A caucus of members of a single political party notwithstanding that such members also constitute a quorum of a public agency;

    •  An administrative or staff meeting of a single-member public agency;

    •  Communication limited to notice of meetings of any public agency or the agendas thereof.

A quorum of the members of a public agency who are present at any event which has been noticed and conducted as a meeting of another public agency under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act shall not be deemed to be holding a meeting of the public agency of which they are members as a result of their presence at such event.

Electronic Participation

The Board may allow electronic participation of Board members whenever there is a physical quorum of the Board, or in emergent situations as approved by the Board Chairperson. Meetings in which some Board members participate electronically are subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.

The Board may allow members to participate in meetings by telephone or other electronic means. Board members may not simply vote electronically, but must be connected with the meeting throughout the discussion of business. If a Board member electronically joins the meeting after an item of business has been opened, the remotely located member shall not participate until the next item of business is opened. When a member attends a meeting electronically, all votes shall be by roll call vote. A member who is attending electronically must identify him/herself by name and be recognized by the Chairperson before speaking.

When a Board member participates electronically, the member will be considered present and will have his or her actual physical presence excused. The member shall be counted present for purposes of convening a quorum. The Board Secretary will document it in the Minutes when members participate in the meeting electronically.

Any Board member wishing to participate in a meeting electronically will notify the Board Chairperson and Superintendent as early as possible. The Superintendent will arrange for the meeting to take place in a location with the appropriate equipment so that Board members participating in the meeting electronically may interact and the public may observe or hear the comments made. (Each part of the telephone conference call meeting shall be audible to the public at the location specified in the notice for the meeting. The location designated in the notice as the location of the meeting shall provide two-way communication during the entire telephone conference call and the identification of each party to the telephone conference call shall be clearly stated prior to the meeting.) The Superintendent will take measures to verify the identity of any remotely located participants.

Legal References:

Connecticut General Statutes

1-200(2) Definitions. “Meeting”

1-206 Denial of access to public records or meetings

1-225 Meetings of government agencies to be public, as amended by June 11 Special Session, PA 08-3

1-227 Mailing of notice of meetings to persons filing written request

1-228 Adjournment of meetings. Notice

1-229 Continued hearings. Notice

1-230 Regular meetings to be held pursuant to regulation, ordinance, or resolution

10-218 Officers, meetings

Bylaw Adopted: June 14, 2012

Revised: November 2019