Posted in Education
Written by Elizabeth Foster, Intern at SC Appleseed
In our last blog post, SC Appleseed’s Education Policy Attorney Jennifer Rainville covered how to be in the know about your board’s meetings and policies. In this blog, SC Appleseed Intern Elizabeth Foster explains how to engage with members of your board through public comment.
Public Comment, the Live Process
A portion of every school board meeting is devoted to hearing public comments from community members. The board is not allowed to respond to or ask questions of public commenters; they are just meant to listen. It is an opportunity for the board to learn what issues are important to their community and for people to make their voices heard.
Most of the time, attendees are asked to sign up for public comment at the beginning of the meeting. However, some districts require that you sign up in advance of the meeting online. Be sure to check your school district’s website to learn the rules of your individual district. Make sure to arrive early if you want to speak; some boards have limits on the amount of people allowed to give public comment.
When it is time for people to speak, the board will call individuals to the front of the room. You will be given a time limit, usually between one and five minutes, to deliver your comment. It can be intimidating to stand before a board of elected officials and address concerns that you have with their leadership or decision-making, but you should remember that the school board’s job is to serve their students and community. Your feedback is necessary for the board to do their job well.
If you have a disability that needs to be accommodated for you to give public comment, reach out to your superintendent’s office or your school board’s liaison. Contact information for either of these people can be found on your school district’s website. Accommodations might include a ramp if you use a wheelchair, an interpreter if you communicate using sign language or a tablet, etc. The board should accommodate any disabilities so that anyone who wants to give a public comment is able.
Writing Public Comments: Things to Keep in Mind
It’s generally a good idea to write out what you want to say in public comment. Some folks may only need a bullet point list and others may need to read their public comment in its entirety.
Be aware of time constraints. School boards typically have a time limit for each comment. You should figure out how much time you have to speak before you write your comment. This can be difficult because the board is allowed to change the time limit at the meeting if a lot of people show up to give public comment. If you are worried about the time limit changing, it might be a good idea to write a longer comment with certain sections you are comfortable cutting out. That way, you can read the comment in full if you are allotted the full time (usually a maximum of 5 minutes) but can also quickly shorten it if the board changes the rules.
You should make sure your comment is the appropriate length for whatever time constraint you are expecting. Practice speaking your comment out loud with a timer to confirm that it is not too long. The board will not allow you to continue speaking once your time has run out.
Focus on specifics. Public comment is an opportunity for the community to provide feedback about district policies or procedures. If you have complaints about a specific board member or district employee, reach out to their superior directly. It is better to keep spoken comments focused on polices, not people, since the full board and audience are present for public comment. Your comment will be most effective if you understand the policy and how it is impacting your family or student.
Express gratitude. Be respectful of the board members and thank them for their time. Delivering public comment is about using your passion and experience to convince the board that should act in a certain way. Board members are simply more likely to listen to you when you acknowledge the work they have put into their positions.
This does not mean you should refrain from criticizing the board; just try to start and end your critiques with a polite “thank you.”
Draw on your experiences. Figure out why it is important to you to speak about this specific issue. Talk about your own experiences with the policy or procedure to show that you are qualified to critique it. Personalizing your comment will help school board members see how their policies might have unintended consequences that affect the people in their district, causing them to reconsider their actions.
Show solidarity. There might be other community members in the audience that are at the meeting for the same reason as you. Consider ways you can show the board how many people support your call to action. For example, if you’re speaking against a specific policy, finish your comment by saying, “May everyone in the audience who also opposes this policy please stand?” Even if some of those people were not planning to speak during public comment, they can show the board how they feel about the policy. You can also coordinate by wearing a button, sticker, or wearing the same color shirt. Seeing that the community cares so much about a policy or procedure also makes members of the board feel more comfortable doing what you are asking them to do.
Practice delivering your comment. Once you’ve written your comment, practice speaking it several times before the board meeting. It can be intimidating to stand before the board and a room of attendees to read your concerns, so it helps to be very familiar with your speech. You should also set a timer while you practice to make sure your comment is within the time constraints. Remember that you might talk a little faster or a little slower during the meeting itself, so it is best to be comfortably within the time limit.
Non-Speaking Advocacy
Speaking during public comment is a great way to engage with your school board, but it is not the only way. If you are not able to speak at a school board meeting—or do not feel comfortable doing so—there are several ways for you to stay in contact with the board and show them that you are paying attention.
Writing the board. Writing letters or emails to members of your school board is an effective way to communicate if you cannot speak at a meeting. The content for a written message can be very similar to the content of a public comment. Use your experiences to provide feedback on a district policy and explain why the board should change or get rid of it. The advantage of a written message is that there is no limit to how much you can write. You should still try to be concise and aim for a single page so that board members will read the entire letter. However, you won’t be cut off like you would during public comment.
Your representative cares about your opinion because they want you to vote for them in the future. Therefore, you should try writing to them first. Every school district website has each School Board member listed and usually has an email address for them or maybe even a phone number.
Meeting with Your Representative. If you cannot speak at a school board meeting but would be more comfortable in a one-on-one scenario, try setting up an in-person meeting with your representative. It might be easier for you to talk through your concerns in person, rather than writing a script for a comment. Your representative may also prefer meeting with you so they can ask you questions about your experiences and potential solutions to your concerns.
Even if you do not have feedback of a specific policy, setting up a meeting with your school board member is always a good idea. You can simply ask them about their position, their goals for the district, etc. If you have concerns later on, it will be much easier to express them if you have already built a relationship with your school board member.
Attend Meetings Consistently. If you do not want to write or meet with members of the board, you are always welcome to simply be present at school board meetings. There is power in numbers, especially when it comes to politics. Show the board that their community is paying attention and that you support one another, whether or not you all decide to give public comment.
When a board member is unsure of how to vote on a policy, a room of passionate community members might be all they need to sway them one way. You can use coordinated colors, buttons, or pins to show organized support for a policy or critique of a policy. For example, ask other community members to come to a meeting wearing orange if they are against a certain policy. A bright audience will be impossible for the board to ignore, and you can make an effective statement without speaking a single word.
A Example You Can Use for Your First Public Comment
Thanks for reading! Reach out to us at SC Appleseed if you have questions or have more inquiries about how to get started. A special thank you to our Intern Elizabeth Foster for her tremendous work in putting together this guide from her own experiences.
Further reading:
An Introduction to School Boards in South Carolina, and How You Can Get Involved
What is Title 1?
The Problem with Funding Private Schools with Public Dollars
What is IDEA?
