by Mike Knaak
news@thenewsleaders.com
Rules for people who want to speak during the Sartell-St. Stephen school board’s meetings will change, starting with the next meeting on Monday, Oct. 18.
Instead of just signing in at the start of the monthly meetings, speakers will need to submit a written request online by noon on the Friday before the meeting.
As debates over mask rules, education equity and students’ assigned reading heated up the past few months, the number of speakers increased and attendance at board meetings, usually low enough to fit into a conference room, has increased so meetings have moved to larger spaces.
The open forum time takes place at the beginning of each meeting and is limited to 30 minutes with up to 10 speakers taking no more than three minutes. The board does not respond to questions or comments.
The new procedure is intended to “engage in dialog with the community” instead of the current one-way communication, Superintendent Jeff Ridlehoover said. Once a speaking request is submitted, Ridlehoover or a board member will contact the speaker to answer questions or discuss the topic.
The form is available on the district’s website, www.sartell.k12.mn.us/schoolboard. Click on the Public Forum Speaker Request tab.
Speakers are required to provide name, email, phone number, home address, if they have a district student, association with the district (parent, student, employee, resident, business owner) and topic description.
Topics must address items on the meeting agenda. Speakers are asked to give enough information for the school board to understand the number of speakers on a given topic in the event the number of speakers exceeds the maximum number.
Lights and seats
Seating and lights for two high school athletic fields should be in place by fall 2022. Part of the $2.5 million cost will be covered by about $1 million set aside from the recent building bond. The district expects to order the seats in January. The plan calls for a basic scoreboard to be installed as well.
