210 Board Meetings

210.1 Board Meetings

 

BOARD MEETINGS

All meetings of the Board shall be public meetings and shall be open to the public at all times with the exception of closed session as described under Iowa law.

Advance public notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting and reconvened meeting, and the tentative agenda shall be provided.  When it is necessary to hold an emergency meeting without notice, the nature of the emergency shall be stated in the minutes.

Regular Meetings:

The regular meeting time and date shall be set by the Board at is organizational meeting in odd-number years and at its September regular meeting in even-numbered years.  Regular meetings of the Board will be held on the third Monday of each month.

Meetings will be held in the meeting place officially designated by the Board, which will be accessible to the public.  Meetings shall begin promptly at 5:15 p.m.  The Board shall adhere to this meeting date unless the Board requires additional meetings or, due to circumstances beyond the board’s control, the meeting cannot be held on the regular meeting date, and the meeting will be re-scheduled at the Board’s convenience.  Public notice of the meetings shall be given.

During the September regular meeting in even-numbered years, the Board shall elect from its membership a President and a Vice-President and shall appoint a Secretary and Treasurer.

Annual Meetings:

At the regular September meeting the Board shall examine the books of the Treasurer for the year ending on 30th of June preceding, and transact such other business as may be properly come before it.  The Treasurer shall furnish the Board with a sworn statement from each depository showing the balance. 

Organizational Meetings:

An organizational meeting shall be held during the first regular meeting after the canvass of votes of the regular school election(odd years).  The meeting shall be called to order by the Secretary acting as temporary chairperson. 

The first order of business during the organizational meeting shall be to swear into office any new members unless they have been so sworn in previously.  During the organizational meeting, the Board shall then elect its membership a President and a Vice-President and shall appoint a Secretary and Treasurer.

Special Meetings:

It may be necessary for the Board to conduct a special meeting in addition to the regularly scheduled board meeting.  Special meetings may be called by the president of the board or by the board secretary at the request of a majority of the Board.  Should a special meeting be called, public notice shall be given at least twenty-four(24) hours notice, if possible.

If the special meeting called is an emergency meeting and the Board cannot give public notice in its usual manner, the Board shall give public notice of the meeting as soon as practical and possible in light of the situation.  The reason for the emergency meeting and why shall be stated in the minutes.

Only the purpose or issue for which the special meeting was called may be discussed and decided in the special meeting.  The Board shall strictly adhere to the agenda for the special meeting and action on other issues shall be reserved for the next regular or special board meeting.

Reconvened Meetings:

At a reconvened meeting, where the meeting was reconvened within four(4) hours of the start of the recess of the scheduled meeting and the date, time and place of the reconvened meeting is announced at the scheduled meeting in open session and recorded in the minutes of the meeting, the Board is not required to provide further notice of the meeting.

Closed Session:

The Board may hold a closed session only affirmative public vote of either two-thirds of the members of the body or all of the members present at the meeting.  The Board may hold a closed session for any of the reasons listed Chapter 21.5 of the Iowa Code.  No formal action of any kind may be taken in a closed session. (Policy 212)

Electronic Meetings:

The Board may conduct a meeting by electronic means such as telephone conference call only “in circumstances where such a meeting in person is impossible or impractical.”  Public access to the conversation must be provided “to the extent reasonably possible.”  Public notice must be given for the electronic meeting and minutes kept, which include the reason for not holding a meeting in person.

Work Sessions and Retreats:

The Board may schedule work sessions and retreats from time to time in order to provide its members and administrative staff with such opportunities to learn together.  Topics for discussion and study will be announced publicly and work sessions and retreats will be conducted in accordance with the state law.

 

 

Legal Reference:     Iowa Code 21.3, .4; 279.1 (1995).

                                    1980 Op. Att'y Gen. 148.

                                   

 

Cross Reference:     200.1  Organization of the Board of Directors

                                    210     Board of Directors' Meetings

 

 

 

 

Approved: 1/20/2020                      

210.5 Meeting Notice

MEETING NOTICE

Public notice shall be given for meetings and work sessions held by the Board.

Public notice shall indicate the time, place, date and tentative agenda of board meetings.  The public notice shall be posted on the bulletin board in the central administration office at least 3 days before it is scheduled, but, at the minimum, twenty-four hours notice needs to be given.

A copy of the public notice will be provided to those who have filed a written request for notice with the Board secretary.   A copy of the public notice will also be accessible by employees and students.

In the case of special meetings, public notice shall be given in the same manner as for a regular meeting unless it is an emergency meeting.  In that case, public notice of the meeting shall be given as soon as practical and possible in light of the situation.  The media and others who have requested notice shall be notified of the emergency meeting.  Attendance at a special meeting or emergency meeting by the media or board members shall constitute a waiver of notice.

It shall be the responsibility of the Board secretary to give public notice of board meetings and work sessions.

 

 

 

 

 

Legal Reference:     Dobrovolny v. Reinhardt, 173 N.W.2d 837 (Iowa 1970).

                                    Iowa Code 21.2-.4; 279.1, .2 (1995).

                                    1952 Op. Att'y Gen. 133.

 

 

Cross Reference:     210     Board of Directors' Meetings

                                    210.8  Board of Directors' Meeting Agenda

 

 

Approved:     12/9/96               Reviewed:           9/00                Revised: 01/2020

                                                                                   11/02

                                                                                    9/08

                                                                                    8/10

                                                                                    12/12

210.6 Quorum

QUORUM

The majority of the members of the Board shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.  A majority vote of those members present shall be necessary and sufficient to pass any motion or to take any action of the Board, unless state law or Board policies require the vote of greater number of Board members on a particular issue.

 

 

 

 

 

Legal Reference:     Iowa Code 21.5(1); 279.4 (1995).

 

Cross Reference:     210  Board of Directors' Meetings

 

Approved:     12/9/96                  Reviewed:               9/00                Revised: 1/2020

                                                                                    11/02

                                                                                    9/08

                                                                                    8/10

                                                                                    12/12

210.7 Rules of Order

RULES OF ORDER

An orderly Board meeting allows the Board members to participate in the discussion and decision process on an issue confronting the District.  Rules of order for Board meetings allow District business and the relative information concerning the business to be brought to the attention of the Board.  They also allow the Board to discuss, act upon and make a clear record of District business in a regular, ordered, reasonable and consistent manner.

It shall be the responsibility of each Board member to follow the rules of order stated in this policy at each meeting, and it shall be the responsibility of the presiding officer to conduct the Board meeting within these rules.

The Board shall follow Robert's Rule of Order, Revised, latest edition as modified by this policy and subsequent rule.

The purpose of modified rules adopted by the Board are:

•           To establish guidelines by which the business of the governing board can be conducted in a regular and internally consistent manner;

•           To organize the meetings so all necessary matters can be brought to the board and

decisions of the board can be made in an orderly and reasonable manner;

•           To insure members of the board, concentrating on the substantive issues at hand, have

            the necessary information to make decisions, and to insure adequate discussion of

            decisions to be made; and,

•           To insure meetings and actions of the board are conducted so as to be informative to the

            staff and the public, and to produce a clear record of actions taken and decisions made.

Modification of Rules:

  1. Board members need not rise to gain the recognition of the Board President
  2. All motions will be made as a positive action.
  3. A motion will be adopted or carried if it receives an affirmative vote from more than half, unless Iowa law specifically states something different (i.e. closed session requires all affirmative votes), of the votes cast.  Only “yes” and “no” votes are counted in the calculation. 
  4. All motions shall receive a second, prior to opening the issue for discussion of the Board.  If a motion does not receive a second, the Board president may declare the motion dead for lack of a second.
  5. The Board president my decide the order in which Board members will be recognized to address an issue.  An attempt should be made to alternate between pro and con positions.
  6. The Board president shall rule on all motions that come before the Board.
  1. The Board president may rule on points of order brought before the Board. The Board president has the authority to declare a recess at any time for the purpose of restoring decorum to the meeting.
  2. The Board president has the same authority and responsibility as each Board member to vote on all issues.

 

Legal Reference:     Iowa Code 21.2, .7; 279.8 (1995).

 

 

Cross Reference:     210     Board of Directors' Meetings

                                    210.8  Board Meeting Agenda

 

 

Approved :    12/9/96                     Reviewed:     9/00                            Revised: 1/2020

                                                                                   11/02

                                                                                    9/08

                                                                                    8/10

                                                                                    12/12

210.8 Board Meeting Agenda

BOARD MEETING AGENDA

The tentative agenda for each Board meeting shall state the topics for discussion and action at the Board meeting.  The agenda is part of the public notice of the Board meeting and will be made available at least 24 hours prior to the Board meeting.

 

Persons requesting to place an item on the agenda must make a request to the Superintendent one week(7days)  prior to the monthly meeting date.   The person making the request must state the person's name, address, purpose of the presentation, action desired and pertinent background information.  Requests from the public may be added to the tentative agenda at the discretion of the Superintendent after consultation with the Board president.  Requests received after the deadline may only be added to the agenda for good cause.

 

The tentative agenda and supporting documents shall be sent to the Board members 3 calendar days prior to the scheduled Board meeting.  These documents are the private property of the Board member and sent through the District assigned email and accessed through the District’s secure site. Persons wishing to view the tentative agenda and supporting documents may do so at the Central Administration Office.

 

The Board shall take action only on the items listed on the tentative agenda posted with the public notice.  Items added to the agenda may be discussed or taken under advisement by the Board.  If an added item is acted upon, the minutes of the Board meeting shall state the reason justifying the immediate action.

 

It shall be the responsibility of the Board president and Superintendent to develop the agenda for each board meeting.

 

Legal Reference:     Iowa Code 21; 279.8 (1995).

                                    1980 Op. Att'y Gen. 269.

Cross Reference:     210     Board of Directors' Meetings

 

                                    211     Open Meetings

                                    213     Public Participation in Board Meetings

                                    215     Board of Directors' Records

                                    402.5  Public Complaints About Employees

                                    502.4  Student Complaints and Grievances

 

 

 

Approved:     12/9/96                 Revised:  9/00                                        Reviewed:     9/08

                                                                        11/02

                                                                        9/05

                                                                        8/10

                                                                        12/12

                                                                         1/2020