A proposed policy amendment that would allow for public interaction at board work sessions received its first read and discussion Tuesday during the Limestone County Board of Education meeting.

The amendment was first discussed at the Nov. 7 work session, when board chairman Bret McGill asked other board members for their opinions on changing how the public can approach the board. He said the change was suggested to him by board member Earl Glaze.

On Tuesday, board members read through a draft of the amendment. The amendment, if approved in its current language, would allow approved speakers up to three minutes to speak on an issue before board members in a work session. They would also have to provide a written request to speak five working days before the work session and only provide the request after discussing it with appropriate staff and administration.

“The Board desires that all matters be settled at the lowest level of responsibility and will not hear concerns which have not advanced through the proper administrative procedure from the point of origin,” the proposed amendment reads.

Current policy allows for public speaking only at board meetings, and board members can listen but are not allowed to respond. McGill said this meant a lot of people left meetings feeling disgruntled or ignored, as if board members didn’t pay attention or care about what was said.

While the amendment does not require board members to respond to something a speaker says, it does grant them the option. It also provides additional clarification for what qualifies as “uncivil comments” and circumstances in which a board member can interrupt a speaker.

Because Tuesday’s reading was the first, it was also the first time board members could publicly discuss issues that might need to be addressed before the second reading. Multiple board members pointed out current policy does not provide enough advance notice of agenda items for the public to provide input during a work session.

On this issue, Limestone County Schools Interim Superintendent Mike Owens suggested board agendas be published five working days before a work session or meeting. The current and proposed policies allow for a superintendent to waive the five-day requirement for permission to speak, so this could allow people time to follow the proper chain of command and request permission to speak at a work session after the agenda is published.

LCBOE will next hold a work session 6 p.m. Jan. 7, 2020, at the Clinton Street Courthouse Annex in Athens.

Other business

In other business, board members approved the following during the meeting:

• Use of the Ardmore High School middle school gym Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 for the Ardmore Tiger Softball Club’s annual fundraising dinner;

• Career Tech Center students traveling to Montgomery, Feb. 19-21, for the Health Occupations Students of America State Leadership Conference;

• Career Tech Center Robotics Team traveling to Memphis, Tennessee, March 18-21, for Robotics Regional Competition;

• Clements High students traveling to Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, March 16-18, for interactive hands-on science instruction;

• Creekside Elementary fifth-grade gifted program students traveling to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Feb. 6-7, for academic overnight trip;

• East Limestone High baseball team traveling to Oxford, March 30-April 1, for spring break tournament at Choccolocco Park;

• East Limestone High Jr. Beta Club traveling to New York City and Boston, Nov. 10-14, to tour local and historical attractions;

• Elkmont High varsity basketball team traveling to Plainview, Dec. 26-28, for First State Bank Tournament;

• Bidding for digital printing press for the Career Tech Center’s graphic arts department using Perkins Funds;

• Acceptance of bid from Southern Pipe and M&A to supply air-conditioning units on an as-needed basis;

• Health Science Internship Student Training Agreements with Athens-Limestone Hospital, Athens Pharmacy, Brightstart Pediatrics, Carlotta OBGYN PC, Encore Rehab, Limestone Health Facility, Limestone Veterinary Clinic and Valley Smiles Dental;

• Renewal of annual Moodle contract;

• Renewal of Alabama Card Systems Gold Card software and maintenance contract;

• Renewal of annual partnership with Alabama Supercomputer Authority for Fiscal Year 2020 State E-rate Consortium;

• 21st Century Community Learning Center external evaluator agreement with Education & Assessment Solutions Inc. for Elkmont, Sugar Creek and Tanner elementary schools;

• Payment to SafeDefend for service plans and monitoring plan fees at seven locations;

• Annual Limestone County Consolidated Plan;

• Annual contract with Garrett Callahan Co. for boiler treatment at Creekside Primary and Cedar Hill Elementary;

• Amendment to the 2019-2020 Salary Schedule to allow 12-month classified employees to coach as long as it does not interfere with their primary job duties; and

• Annual agreements with thyssenkrupp Elevator Corp. for elevator maintenance at Clements, East Limestone and Tanner high schools.

Visit https://bit.ly/LCBOEagenda for additional information on approved agenda items, including a list of approved personnel actions.