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:
- Board members need not rise to gain the recognition of the Board President
- All motions will be made as a positive action.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Board president shall rule on all motions that come before the Board.
- 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.
- 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