Richmond Community Schools opens, then closes, public hearing on tentative collective bargaining agreement; no public testimony

Richmond Community Schools on Nov. 19 held a pre-ratification meeting and opened a public hearing on a tentative collective bargaining agreement required by state law, then closed the hearing with no public testimony.

Speaker 2 declared the hearing open and cited Indiana Code IC 20-29-6-19, saying the statute requires the school employer to conduct a public meeting to discuss a tentative collective bargaining agreement at least 72 hours before ratification and that “the tentative agreement has been posted on the school employer's website at least 72 hours prior to the public meeting.” The speaker also said public testimony could be written or oral and would follow the district’s normal public-comment guidelines.

After asking whether anyone had signed up to speak, Speaker 2 said there were no sign-ups. Speaker 1 then said, “I'm gonna close the public hearing.” Speaker 2 recorded, “There's a motion by member Stevens and a second by member Brand,” and conducted a voice vote; Speaker 2 announced, “So it passes 4 to 0.”

The meeting record shows the board followed the statutory notice requirement noted in IC 20-29-6-19 and that no oral or written public testimony was offered at the session. The board announced the motion to close the hearing and reported a 4–0 favorable vote. Speaker 2 later stated, “And that's all we have for meeting and direct,” indicating no further business at that time.

No further actions, amendments, or public comments on the tentative agreement were recorded in the meeting transcript provided.