1400P Procedure - Meeting Conduct, Order of Business, and Quorum

The district must advertise all meetings, including study sessions and retreats, as meetings that are open to the public. If a board wishes to devote all or most of a special meeting to an issue(s) to be discussed in executive session (Policy 1410), the special meeting should be called to order and recessed to an executive session. The purpose of the executive session should be announced at the meeting and recorded in the minutes (e.g., real estate matters, litigation). 

 

All regular meetings must be held within the district boundaries. Special meetings may be held outside the district with proper notice of the time and location. 

 

It is unlawful for any member of the public to knowingly carry onto, or to possess on, any area of a facility being used for official school board meetings, a dangerous weapon, including but not limited to a firearm, “nun-chu-ka sticks,” “throwing stars,” air gun or pistol, stun gun, or other dangerous weapon as listed in RCW 9.41.280. The board must ensure that signs providing notice of the restrictions on possession of firearms and other weapons are posted at facilities being used for official meetings of the board.

All public notices of board meetings should inform persons with disabilities and those individuals who may have difficulty attending a board meeting that they may contact the superintendent’s office or designee, so that the district can arrange for them to participate in board meetings. A regular meeting does not require a public notice if held at the time and place provided by board policy. If the board does not meet at its regular location, the meeting should be treated as a special meeting with proper notice to the press stating the time, place, and purpose of the meeting.  

 

For special meetings, a district is required to notify those newspapers and radio and television stations that have filed a request for such notification. The district must also provide written notice and a printed or electronic copy of the agenda to each board director twenty-four (24) hours prior to the meeting.  Notice to a director is deemed waived if the director files a written notice of waiver with the board secretary before or at the time of the commencement of the meeting or by the director’s actual attendance at the meeting. 

 

The district must also post notice of the meeting on the district’s website, the door of the main district offices, and the door at the location of the meeting if it is different than the district’s offices. Notice of regular meetings must be posted on the district website not less than twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the published start time of the meeting.

 

At a special meeting, the board may discuss items that were not on the original agenda, but the board cannot take final action on any topics that were not identified on the original printed agenda. If the board is to discuss an item in executive session in accordance with Policy 1410, the item of business must also appear on the agenda if final action is to be taken following the executive session. 

 

No meeting notice is required when the board is acting as a quasi-judicial body in a matter between named parties (e.g., hearing on discharge, non-renewal or discipline of an employee, unless the employee requests a public meeting; hearing regarding the suspension, expulsion, or emergency removal of a student) or for the purpose of planning or adopting strategy or positions to be taken in collective bargaining, grievance, or mediation proceedings, or reviewing such proposals made by a bargaining unit.  

 

The board may recess a regular, special, or recessed meeting to a specific future time. The district must post notice of such a recess and continuation at or near the door of the meeting room. Notification to the press is not required. 

 

Effective June 30, 2024, all regular and special meetings of the board at which a final action is taken or formal public testimony is accepted, except executive sessions or emergency meetings, will be audio recorded and such recordings will be maintained for at least one year. The recording will include the comments of the directors, and the comments of members of the public if formal public testimony is accepted at the meeting.

 

Subject to the limitations on identifiable records in Policy and Procedure 4040 and 4040P, board meeting recordings must be provided electronically to the public on request. It is not a violation of policy or law if the district attempts to record a meeting in good faith and, due to technological issues, a recording is not made or in any or all of a recording is unintelligible. When possible, the district will make the content of school board meetings, or a summary thereof, available in formats accessible to individuals who need communication assistance and in languages other than English.