LPSB drops changes to public comment

A months-long debate over the Lincoln Parish School Board’s public comment policy has concluded, at least for now, with no changes adopted.

First introduced in July, a proposed policy revision would have required attendees to fill out comment cards before school board meetings begin if they wish to speak about any agenda items.

Requested by Superintendent Ricky Durrett and drafted by Monroe attorney Jon Guice, the new policy was aimed at keeping a record of those who wish to speak and making sure everyone gets a turn in an orderly fashion, proponents said.

“I think something we really need to work on together… is allowing people to speak without being spoken over,” District 7 board member Hunter Smith said. “That’s what I would like to clean up the most.”

But the proposal faced vocal opposition from some board members and residents, who said the change would restrict the public’s ability to express their opinions and learn about the board’s activities.

“This is insulting,” attendee Kwenita Lewis-Garner said. “This is a blatant attempt to silence the voices that are here. It is the equivalent of a poll tax, a literacy test. It is making me furious, and I’m sure it’ll make other people furious too.”

After lengthy back-and-forth discussion at Tuesday’s three-hour meeting, the board voted 10-1 to drop consideration of the policy change, with Smith voting alone in opposition.

The proposal came on the heels of a significant rise in attendance and public comments at board meetings this year.

That’s thanks to a group of mainly Black residents who originally organized to defeat the board’s school consolidation proposal in the spring and have continued turning out at each meeting since then. They believe the policy change was aimed at “shutting us up.”

“Until we started coming and taking a seat and wanting to be heard, this (comment policy) was not a problem,” Veda Emerson said.

Durrett acknowledged the rise in public comments this year did spark the policy proposal, but he said it was meant to make things more orderly, not restrict comment.

“We had a big board meeting in February, had a lot of people standing outside in the hallway,” he said. “I don’t know whether everybody got to come in and speak or not. But if we have that again, and we have the comment card, then we know those cards are sitting there, and each one of them are going to get to speak every time their name is on a card.

“I’m not trying to stop anybody from (speaking) — that’s not what this is about.”

In addition to requiring attendees to fill out a card before the meeting starts, the policy also sets a three-minute time limit on each speaker and requires comment periods take place at the outset of each agenda item — before board members discuss it themselves.

Detractors took issue with that last requirement as well.

“When I come, I don’t know what’s on your mind,” Bill Smith said. “A lot of times I get my feedback from listening to you and developing questions, but I didn’t fill out the card when I got here.”

Currently the board president asks for public comment after a motion has been made on an item and before the final vote.

While introducing the proposal to board members, Guice said nearly 40 school boards across the state have switched to comment cards because of a 2018 lawsuit in Vermilion Parish that nullified that superintendent’s contract because the local school board adopted it without allowing for public comment.

So the card policy helps boards avoid litigation by ensuring they let everyone speak, Guice said.

It was the first time in three meetings on the issue that that reason for the proposal had been given.

Opponents didn’t buy the need for such a system.

“It seems like you’re creating an issue where there is no issue,” Rev. Terence Flucas said. “The president gives everybody an opportunity to voice their opinion. Proceedings have been cordial. Why change what’s already working?”

Several board members said they at least wanted a time limit on comments implemented, and no one seemed to oppose that.

But when Guice offered to come back to the board with a revised policy that would do that without the comment cards, the board opted to drop the issue entirely.