Board members reviewed a first reading of proposed changes to policy BEDB (board meeting agenda format) at the Sept. 3 study session and discussed several schedule and layout changes intended to speed public meetings and clarify agenda sections.

A staff member identified in the meeting as Lorelei walked the board through the draft edits. Under the proposed changes, approval of minutes would move from the opening of the meeting into the action-consent section; superintendent and board committee reports would be removed from the public participation section and placed under a separate “Reports” section later in the agenda; and the board operational-meeting norms check-in would be struck from the order-of-business work-sessions text. The draft shows a redline version and a clean version for board review.

Lorelei said the timeline would call for a second reading on Sept. 17 and, if approved, the revised policy would take effect in October meetings. Board members discussed whether to label recurring consent subgroups (for example, personnel or donations) on agendas to help the public know what to expect and debated whether to maintain a separate line for requests for information in both study sessions and regular board meetings. One board member said consolidating requests for information into the study session may be helpful because study sessions allow more time for discussion; others said there should still be an opportunity during regular meetings for members to request follow-up information.

Board members asked that the consent section explicitly list the items that would ordinarily appear there (approval of minutes, personnel actions, donations) and discussed how the action/discussion item format would be used to flag items requiring board deliberation.

Ending: Trustees said staff will return a revised draft reflecting the board’s suggestions for the Sept. 17 second reading.