Board opens meeting, outlines public comment procedures; no public comments received

The San Marino Unified School District Board of Education on April 22, 2025, opened its meeting and reviewed public participation procedures, accessibility accommodations and document availability, then moved to closed session after receiving no public comments.

Board President Joseph Chang called the open session to order and explained how members of the public may address the board, referencing the Public Comment section of the meeting agenda and Board Policy 9323. He said meetings are recorded and warned that members of the public may be held liable for defamatory statements. Chang also asked attendees to silence cell phones.

Staff described three ways for the public to submit comments for the April 22 meeting: an online form, a request via Zoom, or an in-person public comment card. The online comment submission window was listed as 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on April 22; comments submitted during that window would not be read into the record but would be provided to the board. Staff reported there were no online submissions. The Zoom process was described: a one-minute period would be opened to accept raise-hand requests and speakers would be unmuted in order; staff timed the request period and reported no attendees wished to speak. For in-person comments, the public was instructed to submit a completed comment card to a designated drop box.

Chang and staff reiterated accommodations for people with disabilities and provided a contact (assistant to the superintendent) and the district phone number for requests made at least 48 hours before the meeting. Staff also said documents provided to a majority of the board about open-session agenda items are available for public inspection at the district office at 1665 West Drive and on the district website.

After confirming no public comment cards were submitted at that time, the board proceeded to closed session.