Public Comment Procedures

Public Comments During Meetings

Standard Public Comment Procedures

The Petaluma City Schools Board of Education is invested in serving its community and welcomes public input during board meetings. It is important, however, to remember that school board meetings are meetings of the board in public. They are not public hearings. The Board values public comments and wishes to convey that although Board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda, they listen carefully and appreciate and value input from the public.

Following are the procedures for speaking at a public board meeting:

• Submit a public comment card to the Board President before the meeting is called to order.  Be sure to include the topic of the comment.
• The Board President will sort the comment cards into categories so that comments can be made at the appropriate time in the meeting. 
• Comments on items not included on the agenda will occur toward the beginning of the meeting before the board conducts its official business.
• Comments related to an item included on the agenda will be heard prior to that agenda item. 
• Comments related to closed session items will be made in open session, immediately preceding the closed session.
• Each speaker is limited to 3 minutes per comment, for a maximum of 20 minutes per topic. The Board President may extend or reduce these time limits. 

The Board will not respond in real-time to public comments made about items not included on the agenda. The Superintendent may direct district personnel to follow-up regarding particular comments, or a public comment topic may be included in a future agenda so that it may be discussed in open session.

Out of respect for varying opinions, please do not applaud or create a noticeable response to public comments.