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Poway Unified board adopts bylaw change to give three minutes for public comment after 5–1 vote
Summary
The board voted 5–1 to adopt revisions to Board Bylaw 9323 that increase individual public-comment time to three minutes; trustees debated whether late-arriving speakers should be guaranteed a later opportunity to speak and clarified presidential discretion on time extensions.
The Poway Unified School District Board of Education voted 5–1 on Feb. 13 to adopt revisions to Board Bylaw 9323 that increase the time allotted for members of the public to address the board from two to three minutes.
The change — adopted as "Version A" after a lengthy trustee discussion — takes effect immediately, board members said. Trustee Michelle O'Conor Radcliffe moved for adoption; the motion passed with Trustee David Chang recorded as the lone dissenting vote.
Trustees debated two options. Supporters of Version A said it provides clearer, administrable rules while preserving discretion for the board president to extend total public-comment time when many speakers sign up. "The presidential discretion piece gets me over the finish line a little bit," one trustee said during deliberations. Opponents favored Version B, which would have expressly allowed commenters who could not be heard during the scheduled slot to remain and be heard at the end of the meeting or after a recess. "If public members are willing to spend their time here with us, I'm happy to listen," a trustee said in support of Version B, but added concerns about logistics.
Board President Ginger Kuet and other trustees emphasized balancing the public's right to be heard with the board's need to complete agenda business in a timely way. Trustees discussed operational details including recessing to closed session and resuming public comment afterward; staff clarified that a meeting is recessed rather than adjourned for closed session, which allows public comment to be heard after closed session if the board chooses.
The vote resolves a procedural dispute that came amid recent meetings the district said sometimes run late and require board members to return to closed session after public business. The board also said it will monitor how the new rule works in practice and can bring forward revisions if necessary.
The motion and vote were recorded during the discussion on the bylaw revision; the board now directs staff to implement the new speaking-time procedure at subsequent meetings.
