Board sets default meeting structure, leans toward 5:30 p.m. work sessions

The Talbot County Board of Education discussed its calendar for 2025–26 and the weekly meeting schedule on March 17, and members agreed to try a consistent start time of 5:30 p.m. for work sessions (with the public meeting to begin at 6:30 p.m.), keeping both meetings in the same week for most months.

District staff presented background: in prior years the board separated its single monthly meeting into two nights (a Monday work session and a Wednesday regular meeting) so deeper policy issues could be discussed without prolonging the public meeting. Staff suggested minor calendar moves for January and February to accommodate the budget schedule and county deadlines.

Several board members said a consistent start time would reduce confusion. "If we could start at a consistent time for all of our meetings, that would be so helpful," one board member said. At a later point a motion-sounding suggestion was offered: "I suggest that we try 05:30 for a year and see how that works," and the group adopted 5:30 p.m. as the operating start time for work sessions with the public meeting to begin at 6:30 p.m. on the same week, third-week schedule.

Board members also agreed on a practice for closed-session timing: start public notice for closed session at 5:30 p.m. and, if necessary, reconvene closed session after the public meeting rather than delay the public meeting start for people in the audience.

Calendar adjustments: The board agreed to move the January budget work-session dates earlier than the third week (to allow coordination with county budget timelines) and similarly adjust February meeting dates around Presidents' Day. Staff will publish a finalized 2025–26 calendar reflecting the board's timing decisions.

No vote to adopt the full calendar was recorded at the March 17 work session; staff will return a final calendar and public notice schedule for board adoption.