School Advisory Board Open Session Policy

St. Clare of Assisi School Advisory Board follows Archdiocesan rules and guidelines, including the format of regularly scheduled meetings.  All meetings include an Open Session at which anyone in the school or parish community is allowed to present, and the Closed Session at which the Pastor, Principal, and School Advisory Board members discuss all agenda items. Anyone wishing to present at the open session must place a request on the meeting agenda by contacting the Principal or School Board President, in writing, at least 5 business days prior to the meeting.

The Board reserves the right to impose reasonable restrictions on the number of items to be considered, the number of spokespersons, and the speaking time of spokespersons appearing before the Board during the open session.  If the meeting agenda is full, the Board reserves the right to reschedule an item for the next regular meeting.  The Board may refuse to address an issue that has not gone through the appropriate grievance procedure (see SCA School Handbook) or pertains to specific parish or school personnel. 

The following rules will be applied to the open session portion of the meeting:

• The Board will establish a time limit for the open session comment period
• No individual will be permitted to speak more than once during this period
• The Board will establish a uniform time limit for each speaker
• Only items from the posted agenda may be discussed unless otherwise approved by the Board

All discussions and debates regarding agenda items are restricted to the members of the Board, the Pastor, and the Principal immediately following the Open Session portion of the meeting.  Any decisions or responses to any item presented during the open session will be discussed amongst the Board that evening.  If a decision can be made during that session, it will be communicated.  If a topic requires further discussion or follow up, it will be noted and communicated to the open session attendee.  Open Session notes will be posted online as soon as they are available.   

Please direct comments, questions, or request to attend an open session to a member of the SCA School Advisory Board or at [email protected].