Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Board Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Centennial School Board votes 3-2 to suspend policy BCB, delays election of officers to July 30
Summary
The Centennial School Board voted 3-2 to suspend board policy BCB and postpone the election of board officers until its July 30 meeting so newly sworn members can participate; board members debated procedural precedent and quorum requirements before the vote.
The Centennial School Board voted 3-2 on July 9 to suspend board policy BCB and move the election of board officers to its July 30 meeting. The motion’s sponsor said the delay would allow newly sworn board member Michael Newman and two absent directors to participate in leadership elections.
Board members debated whether suspending policy would set a new precedent. Vice Chair Pam Shields and the motion’s sponsor said Oregon Revised Statutes cited in the board policy (referred to in the meeting as ORS 255.335, per the transcript) and guidance from the Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) allow for suspension of policy and that delaying the vote would ensure broader participation. Opponents objected that regularly delaying elections when members are absent could become routine and questioned whether the policy was being changed on the fly.
Board members discussed quorum and voting thresholds during the exchange. Board members noted that officer elections on a seven-member board require four affirmative votes to install an officer, but the motion to amend the agenda and to suspend BCB itself carried on the recorded 3-2 vote. Chair Slosky called the result “3-2, the ayes have it.” A board member later clarified that the specific quorum/threshold for the officer election differs from the simple majority used to pass the motion to suspend BCB.
Speakers framed the motion as a way to give new board members time to meet peers and learn board practices before voting on leadership. The motion’s maker said OSBA and an OSBA legal contact (named in discussion as Vince Adams) had advised that suspending policy is an acceptable process and that the ORS timing (discussion in the meeting referenced “by the last day of July”) would still be met by a July 30 election. Several members said they prefer delaying leadership votes so more voices can participate; others said frequent absences already occur for retreats and other meetings and opposed routinely postponing votes.
The board then proceeded with other agenda business, including approving minutes and receiving the superintendent’s report. The motion to suspend BCB and postpone officer elections to July 30 is recorded as approved by voice/hand vote, 3 in favor, 2 opposed. No motion to rescind or amend the result was recorded in the transcript.
The board did not take a separate recorded roll-call vote listing individual member votes for the BCB suspension motion in the public transcript; the meeting record shows the outcome as 3-2 in favor.
