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Committee approves amendment to require student members and public email addresses on community college boards
Summary
The Senate Education Committee approved a dash‑1 amendment to SB 15‑37 requiring community college boards to have at least one non‑voting student member, a publicly available official email address for each board member, and rules for student participation in executive sessions; the committee moved the bill to the floor with a 'do pass' recommendation.
The Senate Education Committee held a work session on SB 15‑37 and approved a dash‑1 amendment that removes age and residency requirements for the student member, requires boards to adopt rules governing that student's participation in executive sessions, and mandates publicly available official email addresses for board members.
During discussion committee members debated whether student government should remain independent of governing boards and whether student members should have access to executive sessions. John Wyckoff of the Oregon Community College Association clarified that the amendment gives each community college board discretion to set participation policies and that a board could limit or withhold executive‑session access under its policy.
Vice Chair Webber moved approval of the dash‑1 amendment and later moved SB 15‑37 as amended to the floor with a 'do pass' recommendation. The chair recorded Senator Robinson as having objected, but the motion carried and the chair said he would bring the bill to the floor for consideration.
