This section answers questions about, among other things, a local school board, board meetings and board minutes. Each meeting should begin with an agenda. The Chair of the Board of Directors will open the meeting and the role will be assumed. Here is a typical order after taking office:• Adoption of the agenda• Approval and signing of minutes• Financial report• Public participation (although it can be anywhere on the agenda, it is the most current)• Superintendent`s Report and Recommendations• Unfinished Business• New Business• Reports of Committees• Adjournment Conflicts of interest are governed by Chapter 171 of the Municipal Code. Depending on the circumstances, a board member may be asked to disclose a potential conflict and abstain from discussing or voting on the matter. For a board member with different roles, the question arises: in what role does the board member act? As a board member, the trustee should advocate on behalf of employees, but as a contractor doing business with the school board, the board member may also have a duty to protect the interests of the business he or she represents. This problem really boils down to disclosing a potential conflict and clarity beyond the role a person plays. Even if a school board does not approve a staff appointment, the nepotism law would still apply to the school board, as the authority has the power to approve or reject an appointment even if it does not actually do so. In other words, it could decide at any time to exercise that power. However, according to the law of nepotism, a person is considered related to a niece or nephew of the third degree. The Nepotism Act does not prohibit the employment of a person who is related by affinity to a third-degree public office holder. A member of the council and the spouse of the niece or nephew of a member of the council are related by marriage.
Please refer to Texas Government Code sections 573.002, 573.024, and 573.025. The law, which is the Texas Open Meeting Act, is found in Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code. The Act requires a school board to inform the public in advance in writing of the matters it will discuss at a regular, special or called meeting. The notice must also indicate the date, time and place of the meeting. A school district must post the announcement of meetings at least 72 hours before the scheduled time of the meeting in a place open to the public in the district`s central administrative office. The only exception to the 72-hour posting requirement is for “emergency” meetings, and these meetings must meet the requirements of Chapter 551.045 of the Texas Government Code. In urgent cases, the Board must announce the date, place and purpose of the meeting at least 2 hours before the meeting. The formal minutes of a school board meeting are usually public, but not the certified agenda of a (closed) meeting. A complaint about a school board may be submitted in writing to the AME Complaints Department. If you wish to access a public record, you can contact the Attorney General`s Office through the Open Government Hotline. Many tips provide visitors and media representatives with an abridged copy of the agenda. If your council has a public participation period, set a time limit for that part of the session, as well as for each speaker.
The Commission is not required to respond during public participation. Section 551.042 of the Texas Government Code limits the ability of a government agency to address a topic that is not published for discussion. If this is the case, the Executive Board can only respond to substantive issues and consider including them in the agenda at a later stage. You cannot discuss the merits of this section without first posting it for a public session. Chairing or managing a board meeting is an important part of being a board member. Meetings are important because the board can only act at a regular or special meeting. Prosecutions of a school board for non-compliance with the requirements of the Public Assemblies Act are the responsibility of local law enforcement agencies. The Attorney General`s Office has a government hotline to answer questions about compliance with the law. The number is (877) 673-6839. In addition, questions about the Texas Open Meeting Act and the text of the law are available online in the Open Government section of the Attorney General`s website.
Each district is required to publish its policy manual online. You can find it by visiting the district`s website. If you need help locating, you can contact the district directly using the contact information on their website. Each local school district is administered by a school board. These school board members (or trustees) are the custodians of the public trust; They put the interests of young people in their communities first. Through the policies they develop, school board members are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of local public education. For more information, visit the Texas Association of School Boards website. Whether it is a regular or special meeting, a quorum or a majority of the board members must be present to take formal action. All regular and special meetings are open meetings and are therefore subject to the Sunshine Act (section 121.22 of the revised Code). The positions of teacher and public school trustee for the same district are legally incompatible. A teacher may run for the school board in the district where he or she teaches. However, if the teacher wins the election, he must give up learning.
Designed for school officials and the school community, this resource is organized around topics based on the structure of the TASB Policy Reference Manual. School committee meetings are generally open to the public under Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, with the exception of executive sessions, which may be held to discuss limited topics such as potential real estate purchases or staffing actions. No vote may be taken at the executive meeting. During the public portion of the meeting, disruptive persons may be evicted if their behaviour disrupts the gathering, but there is generally no way to exclude members of the public from an open session. For more information about the open meeting law, visit the Texas Attorney General`s website. We hope you find these online resources useful, but please note that they are not intended to replace the advice of a lawyer. Learn more about our Terms of Use. Find out who to contact for answers to your questions and helpful links to other resources.