BOARD'S FUNCTIONS

As elected officials, the Board exercises the community’srights to local control over public education. EveryBoard of Education in New York has legal and financial control over local school matters, subject only to limitations imposed by the United States Constitution, federal law, state law, and regulation of the Commissioner of Education.

BOARD MEETINGS

School Board meetings fall into the following categories:

The Annual Re-organizational Meeting is the meeting during which the board elects and appoints its officers and committees for the coming year. During this same meeting, board members take or renew their oaths of office. By law, this meeting must be held on the first Tuesday in July. If the first Tuesday in July is a legal holiday, then the meeting must be held on the first Wednesday in July. Alternatively, the Board may, by resolution, decide to hold the annual re-organizational meeting at any time during the first 15 days in July.

Regular Board Meetings (either planning or action meetings) are the regularly scheduled business meetings held throughout the year. The public is invited and encouraged to attend these Board meetings. Board meetings are held twice monthly, usually on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month.

The Planning Meeting is the first meeting of the month, which is usually held in the boardroom of the Administration Building at 235 North Ocean Avenue. This is the work session of the Board, which is held to examine topics in greater depth than is possible during the Action meeting unless circumstances direct otherwise. Generally, no official action is taken by the Board at planning meetings and there is usually no public comment.

The Action Meeting is the second meeting of the month, when the Board takes official actions on items to be voted on. In an effort to accommodate the residents of the district, and to showcase student work in our schools, action meetings are held on a rotating basis in the various school buildings each month. (Please refer to the school calendar as well as the district’s Web site www.freeportschools.org, The Freeport Public Library, the Rec Center and postings at school buildings for meeting locations.) All meetings begin at 7:30p.m. unless otherwise announced.

Executive Sessions: In addition to its regular meetings, it may be necessary for the Board of Education to hold executive sessions for the discussion of a limited number of specific subjects such as, personnel matters, legal matters, real estate, and employee contract negotiations. These sessions may precede or follow regular meetings. With certain limited exceptions, all official actions must take place at public meetings.

Special Board Meetings are meetings that are not regularly scheduled and may be called by any member of the board to address a particular item(s). These meetings are posted as soon as possible on the Web site and throughout the district.

THE PROCESS

Agendas for the Board meetings are available at each meeting. These agendas are prepared by the Superintendent and the Board President, and are forwarded to Board members prior to the meeting. Copies of the agenda are sent to officers of parent and employee organizations, the library, and the district’s Web site and are made available on the Tuesday preceding a Board meeting. Agendas are also available upon request in the District Clerk’s office at 867-5209.

CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

Board Meetings are the meetings of the Board of Education being held in public. They are not public meetings. To ensure the fair and efficient conduct of the business before the Board and the community at each meeting, the Board follows “Robert’s Rules of Order,” the standard guide to parliamentary procedure.

All meetings are conducted by the president of the Board (or by the vice-president in the absence of the president) following a specific agenda.

Public Participation: The Freeport Board of Education recognizes its responsibility to hear public comments and extends the privilege of speaking at a board meeting to anyone who would like to do so. At the same time, it important to note that the Board is meeting to address specific agenda and has specific business that must be conducted. The Board of Education encourages everyone present at its meetings to be civil and courteous to each other. To these ends, the following procedural guidelines are established to insure a productive meeting:

• Anyone who wishes to address the Board must fill out a “Request to Make General Comment” form and submit it to the Clerk of the Board prior to the public comment period.
• At the appropriate time, the Board President shall call upon individuals who submitted comment form.
• In order that everyone has the opportunity to speak, comments should be kept as brief as possible. No more than four minutes will be allowed to any one individual. This includes reply time from the Board.
• Questions must be directed to the Board President.
• All prepared statements (that is, information that is created in advance for presentation at the Board meeting) must be submitted to the District Clerk at least one day prior to the meeting at which the statement will be read.

• Items of business introduced from the floor (and not on the agenda) may not be acted upon at the same meeting in which they are introduced. Minutes: The Board keeps minutes of each meeting. Such minutes constitute the official record of proceedings.

Minutes: will be available to the public two weeks after regular and planning meetings. All motions, proposals, resolutions, and other matters formally voted on by the Board shall be recorded in the Board minutes.

RESOLUTIONS OF CONCERNS

Your Board of Education is committed to addressing the needs and concerns of the students, parents and residents of the district. However, some concerns may be more appropriately addressed by a faculty member closest to the issue, which may mean a teacher, subject supervisor, guidance counselor, or building principal. If a concern is not resolved after the initial contact, a resident may wish to address the concern to a Central Office administrator. After the resident has worked with staff members and administrators, the matter may be referred to the Board of Education. Correspondence may be sent to members of the Board through the district office. Community members may also call the District Clerk’s office at 867-5209 and leave a message for any member of the Board.

Freeport school board members welcome comments and suggestions from all faculty, staff, students and residents. Working together as a team will help provide excellence in education for all of our children.