Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board debates middle‑school student board member policy draft, trustees weigh voting and participation limits
Summary
District staff presented a draft bylaw to create a student board member position. Trustees discussed whether a middle‑school member should make motions or votes, recommended edits on language about gathering feedback and witness questioning, and asked staff to return a revised draft for the next meeting.
District staff returned to the Lennox Board of Education with a draft bylaw to permit a student board member on the district governance dais and asked trustees for input on scope, training, term length and limits on participation.
A staff member (Estela) told the board that she had combined model bylaw language and examples from other districts and suggested provisions on election, term, training, age and an alternate. Board members and trustees discussed several specific items: whether a middle‑school student (younger than typical high‑school student representatives) should be allowed to question witnesses or should instead gather and provide feedback to the board; whether a student member should be permitted to make motions; and whether voting or participation in closed‑session personnel matters should be limited (board members said law prevents student participation in certain matters).
Trustee Bridget Hussain said she supports including student voices: "You're bringing the student body, the mind that we really want to have at this table, because they're on the front line," she said. Other trustees cautioned that middle‑school students may not be appropriate to "question witnesses" in formal proceedings and suggested rewording to describe the member's role as gathering or providing feedback rather than questioning witnesses.
The board asked staff to remove or reword the paragraph that would permit the student member to cast motions and to change "capturing" feedback language to "gathering" feedback. Trustees also discussed leaving explicit voting language out of the bylaw so the student member may participate in discussion but not be counted on roll calls for certain items. Estela said she would revise the draft according to the board's direction and return the edited bylaw for a future read.
Ending: Staff will return a revised student board member bylaw reflecting the board's changes; board members signaled support for a student voice but asked that the policy be tailored to middle‑school participants and to exclude personnel and other closed‑session matters from student involvement.
