SLPS governance committee approves minutes, recommends agenda bylaw revisions to full board

The St. Louis Public Schools Governance Committee on Feb. 14 approved minutes from its Jan. 17 and Jan. 24 meetings and voted to recommend revised bylaw language on board meeting agendas to the full school board.

The committee approved the minutes on a motion moved by Ms. Hubbard and seconded by Ms. Jones; the vote was taken by acclamation. Later in the meeting the committee voted to recommend that the board insert an expanded agenda format — drawn from model language in the Missouri School Boards' Association (MSBA) materials and clarifying use of a consent agenda — into the district bylaws. The motion to recommend the bylaw revisions was moved by the committee chair and seconded by co-chair Ms. Hubbard; that motion also passed by acclamation.

Why it matters: The proposed bylaw language names standing agenda items and explains when the board will use a consent agenda and how work sessions should feed items to the regular meeting. Committee members said the changes respond to recommendations in a recent management assessment and aim to restore a cadence in which work-session discussion precedes votes at regular meetings.

Details of the actions recorded in the meeting: • Approval of minutes (Jan. 17 and Jan. 24): motion moved by Ms. Hubbard; seconded by Ms. Jones; outcome: approved by acclamation. (Procedural vote recorded at the start of the meeting.) • Recommendation to full board of revised "Agendas" bylaw text: motion moved by the chair; seconded by co-chair Ms. Hubbard; outcome: approved by acclamation. The committee instructed staff to insert the standing-items document into the bylaw language and bring annotated language explaining replaced bylaws to the March work session for a formal introduction to the full board.

The committee specified next steps: staff will insert the approved standing items into the bylaw draft, add citations showing what the new language replaces, and introduce the revised policy at the March work session. The committee asked legal counsel and MSBA to assist with numbering and with links to the district's Diligent repository where the new MSBA-modeled policies will appear.

The committee did not record a roll-call vote; both formal outcomes were approved by acclamation as reflected in the meeting transcript.

The Governance Committee will present the annotated bylaw language to the full board at the March work session and seek board adoption at a subsequent regular meeting.