Committee on Education approves changes to Senate Bill 47 on school board access and public-comment rules

The Committee on Education on Monday voted to pass Senate Bill 47 as amended, keeping current-law language that affirms a local school board's control of district property while making access subject to any policies a district has adopted, and adding language about procedural limits on public comment and requiring an email address for each board member to be posted on district websites.

The bill matters because it seeks to balance member and public access to school facilities and board discussion with district-level safety and procedural rules. Committee members debated how much discretion local boards should keep and whether the legislature should mandate specifics.

Jason, committee reviser, told the panel the amendment retained the existing statement that "the school board shall have control of school building or district property" but explicitly made that access "subject to any school district policies regarding such access." "The amendment that appears on page 3 of the bill would simply make that access to the school district property subject to any policies that have been adopted by the Board of Education regarding that access," Jason said.

Representative Steele seconded the motion…