Wake School Board approves changes to public comment policy
Three changes were made to Policy 2310
At its Nov. 23 meeting, the Wake County Public Schools Board of Education unanimously passed changes to its public comments policy with one provision included that effectively bans "insults" and "personal attacks" of the board or meeting attendees.
See: BOARD POLICY 2310: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AT BOARD MEETINGS, SECOND READING
The policy was also altered by creating an order in which speakers would be granted time to give comments by assigning "priority" levels. Arguably, these priority levels will further restrict the public’s ability to give comments due to meeting time constraints.
Additionally, parents who bring signs take note - you have to take your signs back to your seat "immediately" following your comments at the podium.
Here’s a comparison chart of the changes that were made:
The policy was first approved by the board on Nov. 7.
The policy section of the Nov. 23 meeting started not long after the 2-hour mark.
Chair Lindsay Mahaffey noted there were two policies, and said that it was "unusual" that both were being voted on during the second reading instead of those policies being on the consent agenda.
Mahaffey inexplicably wore a mask throughout the entire meeting.
WCPSS' Senior Director for Policy Dr. Julie Crain presented the policies to be discussed.
Member Tyler Swanson claimed the board was not trying to restrict criticism with the new policy language.
The policy's vague language of "insults" and "personal attacks" doesn't really help that argument if any given board member decides to perceive criticism of them to be an attack or insult.
Member Chris Heagarty asked Crain and the Board's attorney if there was a "legal definition or guidance" the board could look at "to help people understand what the difference is between criticism and a personal attack."
The board's attorney responded, saying the policy in no way was intended to "squelch criticism, that would be unconstitutional," and that a definition of personal attacks is "fleshed out in case law."
The attorney elaborated, saying the board would have to look at specific cases for examples but said he thinks defining personal attacks is "largely an intuitive concept." He also said insults would be remarks directed at an individual instead of a policy or concept.
Watch the approval discussion:
Speakers at the Wake County school board meetings have often criticized individual board members directly, often in regard to inaction on the topic of pornographic and sexually explicit books found in the district’s libraries.
At one meeting in October 2022, a member of the audience apparently made a remark while Letha Muhammed, leader of the left-leaning Education Justice Alliance, was giving her public comments in defense of some of the books that were objected to by other parents.
In response, Muhammed briefly looked over her shoulder and responded with “F*ck You.”
Read more about her profane comment and the other events at that meeting here:
More To The Story
The Board’s attorney did not give any specific case law examples, however, North Carolina law seemingly allows for the actions the board is taking in altering its public comment policies.
General Statute § 160A-81 covers “Conduct of public hearings.”
Under that statute, a body can adopt “reasonable rules,” which include “i) fixing the maximum time allotted to each speaker, (ii) providing for the designation of spokesmen for groups of persons supporting or opposing the same positions, (iii) providing for the selection of delegates from groups of persons supporting or opposing the same positions when the number of persons wishing to attend the hearing exceeds the capacity of the hall, and (iv) providing for the maintenance of order and decorum in the conduct of the hearing.”
That law goes back to 2005 when the General Assembly mandated that during regular meetings of city councils, county commissioners, and local boards of education a public comment period is provided that is considered "limited public forums" under the First Amendment, allowing participants to discuss any topic within the jurisdiction of the particular local government body.
The statute's language is fairly broad and doesn't specifically provide for placing restrictions on criticism or comment nor does it explicitly authorize content-based restrictions as could be deemed in sections 2 and 9 of the revised Wake Schools policy. The question that arises is whether boards can limit topics discussed, such as restricting comments to agenda items or prohibiting discussions about individual public employees.
The topic of public comments at school board hearings has also been in the news over the last year, specifically, the federal case of Mama Bears v. Forsyth County Schools (also known as Mama Bears v. McCall).
In the Mama Bears case, attorneys with the Institute for Free Speech represented several Georgia parents who faced censorship by their local school board over their comments protesting pornographic and inappropriate books, with one mom eventually receiving a letter banning her from participating in public board meetings.
In January of this year, the judge in the case ruled in favor of the Mama Bears, permanently enjoining the district from censoring the public through its “respectfulness requirement.”
Forsyth School District was also ordered to pay $100,000 in legal fees to the plaintiffs.
It remains to be seen if a legal challenge will follow Wake County Schools’ alterations to the public comment policy.
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