The Cassville school district has finalized its Community Engagement Plan, a new post-COVID requirement by the state aiming to help school boards maintain open communication with the public.

Merlyn Johnson, Cassville superintendent, said during the COVID-19 pandemic, some districts had struggled with individuals coming to meetings hoping to speak to the board even though they were not on the agenda.

“They had policies that did not just allow people to come in and speak,” Johnson said. “The state felt districts needed to be more welcoming to community members and make the process to get on the agenda easier.”

Cassville’s process to be placed on the school board agenda was previously established in district policy, and Johnson said little changed.

“I don’t think we had any issues at Cassville, but other districts may have been more defensive,” he said. “This just makes it more clear and intentional.”

The plan says residents of the district may place items on the agenda of a regularly scheduled board meeting as outlined in board policy BDDH.

“The agenda items must be directly related to the governance or operation of the district,” the plan says. “The board will not hear resident-initiated agenda items at meetings other than the board’s regularly scheduled meeting unless the board president grants an exception.”

A resident must first submit a written request meet with the superintendent or designee to attempt to resolve the issue, unless the superintendent or designee waives such a meeting.

The meeting must occur within 20 business days of the request, and if the superintendent waives the meeting or does not respond within 20 days, or the resident feels the situation is unresolved, the resident may write a request to Board Secretary Stacy Williams to be added to the agenda.

Rules regarding agenda placement include:

1. The board may move an agenda item to a different meeting with the consent of the resident.

2. The board may refuse to hear or delay hearing an agenda item if: The board has heard an identical or substantially similar agenda item in the previous three calendar months; or the resident has previously violated district rules regarding conduct at meetings or on district property.

3. The board may delay the hearing of a requested item if more than three resident-initiated agenda items are scheduled for the same meeting. The delayed agenda item will be moved to the next regularly scheduled meeting. If a resident’s item is delayed for this reason, the resident will be provided an alternate method of communication with the board, such as submitting written comments.

4. The board president will make the decision on whether to delay or refuse an agenda item and will communicate that decision to the resident and the other board members. Board members who disagree with the decision may communicate their concern to the board president, request that the agenda item be added, request that a special meeting be called, or make a motion at a meeting for the item to be included on a future meeting’s agenda.

5. The board will place the agenda item in open or closed session in accordance with law and district policy.

6. The superintendent or designee may invite district staff or other relevant persons to be present during the discussion of the agenda item to address the item and answer questions.

7. The board will allow the resident five minutes to present their issue to the board unless the board president allots more time to the discussion.

8. Only residents who met with or requested to meet with the superintendent or designee will be allowed to speak during this time.

9. If more than one resident seeks to speak on the same item at the same meeting, the board president, at their discretion, will determine the total time that will be devoted to the item and how the time will be shared between the residents. The board president will encourage residents to appoint a spokesperson or communicate their concerns through other means. If the board must limit the number of speakers, it will assign priority based on the order in which the requests were received.

10. Board members may ask the resident questions, seek additional information from the superintendent or designee, or otherwise discuss the topic.

11. The board may allow a resident additional time to speak upon the motion and vote of the board.

12. Any board member who wishes to devote more time to an agenda item may request that the item be put on the agenda for another meeting, which will be voted on by the board.

13. The board may discuss the public business content of presented agenda items but is not required to decide any matter of public business or formulate any public policy as a result of the discussion.

The Community Engagement Plan also says the board will survey all segments of the community for feedback about implementation and progress toward the established and approved Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP).

“The board will provide written updates to all segments of the community for the purpose of sharing information about the district’s CSIP goals and progress toward meeting the CSIP goals,” the plan says.

The plan is to be reviewed annually, and it may be revisited more frequently at the request of the board or community members.