Baltimore County’s school board will field public comments just once per month in a policy shift members said will make meetings more efficient but opponents said stifles input.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday to convert one of its twice-monthly meetings into a work session, eliminating one opportunity for public participation, members said. The board tabled a proposal to limit the number of groups allotted time to address it during meetings.
Member Meg O’Hare said the board plans to test the change for one year before reevaluating.
“We can work smarter and more efficient,” O’Hare said. “The board has never had time to deliberate because we are always having these business meetings.”
O’Hare said the board would solicit input from five geographic advisory councils. But Jasmine Shriver, who Tuesday was named the new coordinator of those councils, said slicing public participation in half is unfair.
Most of the state’s school boards have business meetings and work sessions, but Shriver said the area’s largest — Prince George’s, Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties — allow for public comment at both.
“They can’t limit public participation,” Shriver said. “Anyone who is a taxpayer and constituent should have the opportunity to go up and address the board twice a month.”
The board designates time each meeting for briefings from “stakeholder” groups. It tabled a proposal to limit that group to employee unions, the PTA, student councils and the five advisory councils. That means groups like the loosely organized Baltimore County Education Coalition would be excluded.
“It sends a subtle message to the public: We don’t want your input,” said Ella White Campbell, who chairs the county’s minority achievement advisory group and serves on the executive board of the county’s NAACP chapter. “That’s not good.”
The board will entertain the proposal again at its Sept. 9 meeting.
