FILE: BCBD
AGENDA PREPARATION AND DISSEMINATION
The Superintendent in consultation with the President, shall prepare a written agenda for each regular or special St. John the Baptist School Board meeting which shall list the specific items of business for which School Board action is required and, except for "Administrative Matters" as described below, no matter may be considered by the School Board which has not been listed on such agenda except after a motion to suspend these rules to consider a specific item has been adopted by unanimous approval of the members of the School Board present at that meeting. The person requesting suspension of the rules shall include in such motion the specific matter or item to be considered and the action being requested of the School Board for such motion to suspend the rules to be properly before the School Board for vote. 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.
School Board members may request an item or matter to be placed upon the agenda for any School Board meeting but will be placed on the agenda at the discretion of the School Board President or the Superintendent. No business matter or item not listed on such agenda may be considered by the School Board or discussed at the meeting without a suspension of the rules as provided hereinabove.
The agenda for any particular meeting of the School Board shall be considered as closed as of 2:00 p.m. on the Thursday immediately preceding such School Board meeting and the Superintendent is hereby specifically prohibited from placing any item, with the exception of items under "Administrative Matters," on the agenda after that time regardless of who makes the request. The agenda shall not be changed less than twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, prior to the scheduled time of the meeting.
Upon the agenda being closed, the Superintendent shall immediately prepare the written agenda and forward the same by electronic mail to each member of the School Board, the Superintendent, the School Board's General Counsel, and all newspapers and television and radio stations who have submitted a written request for such notification and agenda. The Superintendent shall, at the same time, post a copy of the agenda on School Board’s official website, and have copies available for interested citizens. In the event that electronic mail is not available, other options of delivery to School Board members include: United States mail (postage prepaid) or hand delivery.
Each item on the agenda shall be listed separately and described with reasonable specificity. Before the School Board may take any action on the agenda item, the presiding officer shall read aloud the description of the item.
Any citizen or organization may request consideration by the School Board of an item concerning matters within the jurisdiction of the School Board at a particular School Board meeting by submitting such request in writing to the Superintendent, together with a brief explanation of the subject matter and the action requested of the School Board, by 2:00 p.m. on the Thursday immediately preceding the week in which consideration is requested. Within twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after the written request is received, the Superintendent shall notify the citizen or organization making such request as to whether or not the Superintendent has placed such item on the agenda.
The written agenda prepared by the Superintendent shall list the business of the School Board for a particular meeting in the following order:
Agenda for Regular Meeting of the School Board
Call to order, Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance
Roll call of Members
Approval of Minutes
Educational Presentations and Recognitions
Superintendent's Report
Legal Business
Old Business - Under old business shall be listed items from previous agendas which were not completed and/or which were specifically deferred to this particular meeting.
New Business - Recommendations of the Superintendent and/or School Board Committees. Under the Item "New Business" shall appear those items requested for the agenda by the Superintendent, a member of the School Board, or a School Board Committee prior to the closing of the agenda. The Superintendent's recommendations and reports and recommendations of the School Board Committees shall be listed first, followed by other items that are requested. All agenda items dealing with the following cannot be voted on at the meeting they are introduced: 1) curriculum changes; 2) budget adoptions or revisions - all; 3) student attendance zones; 4) School Board member district lines or changes; 5) bond issues; 6) tax proposals; and 7) major policy changes in School Board policy -- example, the way the School Board operates. They shall be submitted for a vote at the subsequent meeting. All material covering these items shall be distributed at or before the meeting they are introduced. Any change in policy being voted upon under new business shall require a motion to waive policy and a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the School Board. All agenda items requiring action by the School Board shall be stipulated following each item - example, (Requires action).
Administrative Matters
Administrative matters shall be limited to those the Superintendent believes should be brought to the attention of the School Board and/or matters which have come to his/her attention after the agenda for that meeting was officially closed and which he/she believes need immediate action by the School Board. Any items under "Administrative Matters" which require School Board action may be considered only after suspension of the rules by a unanimous vote of the School Board members present and voting.
School Board Related Items of Interest
Adjournment. Meetings of the School Board may be adjourned on motion of the presiding officer or any member of the School Board and shall be approved unless objections are raised. In the event objection to the adjournment is raised, a vote shall be taken on the motion to adjourn, without need of a second to the motion, and the meeting shall be adjourned on the vote of a majority of the members present and voting.
Subject to the exceptions included below, no item, matter, subject or business which has been considered and voted on at a previous School Board meeting, regardless of the nature of the motion voted upon and regardless of the outcome of the vote, may be considered at a subsequent School Board meeting until after the expiration of the sixty (60) days from such vote, unless a motion to suspend the rules to reconsider such item has first been duly made, seconded and carried by the favorable vote of two-thirds of the total membership of the School Board. This prohibition shall not apply where the previous motion was to defer action on the item for a specific period of time or until a specific School Board meeting or where the previous motion was to refer the matter to staff personnel or to a committee of the School Board for further study. This prohibition shall also not apply to consideration of items supplemental to an item previously acted upon, but shall apply only where the purpose of the item is to change previous School Board action.
New policy: August 8, 2024
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 42:19
Jackson v. Assumption Parish School Board, App. 1 Cir. 1995, 652 So2d 549, 1994-0901 (La. App. 1 Circ; 3/3/95)
Board minutes, 11-6-08, 3-21-13, 8-8-24
St. John the Baptist Parish School Board