Board Approves Shift in Public Participation Format

The Lakota Board of Education approved Policy 0169.1: Public Participation at Board Meetings at its Special Board Meeting on Monday, May 4. The public comments section will replace the community listening sessions, which have taken place prior to regular board meetings since April 2023. 

Although the Board will now hear from the public during its regular meetings, instead of before, most guidelines for public comment remain the same:

• Public comments are limited to three minutes; 
• Participants can be residents, business owners within the district's boundaries, parents or legal guardians of a currently enrolled student, Lakota employees and students;
• Participants must follow policy guidelines to maintain orderly progress of the meeting; and
• The public comment portion of the meeting will be limited to 30 minutes unless the Board votes to extend it, with a total maximum of 90 minutes.  

Participants must still register ahead of time, but this will now be done in person, just prior to the meeting start time. Registration will take place when they arrive at the meeting and prior to the publicly noticed start time of the meeting.