Members of the Board of School Directors may participate in a regular or special Board meeting governed by the Sunshine Act and vote by means of remote communication device (such as speaker telephone or videoconferencing) in the event of an emergency meeting or in the event of an unavoidable conflict by a Board member .
“Emergency meeting” is defined as a time sensitive situation or matter pressing enough that waiting to vote until a regularly scheduled meeting could or would substantially change the outcome of the issue under consideration.
“Unavoidable conflict” means (1) the Board member could not have reasonably anticipated the scheduling of the meeting at which the Board member desires to participate at the time the Board member made arrangements to be somewhere that prevents the attendance of the Board member at that Board meeting or (2) the Board member is experiencing an urgent and significant personal or professional concern that prevents their attendance at a Board meeting at which the Board member desires to participate.
Absent an emergency meeting or unavoidable conflict, a board member must be physically present at any meeting to participate and vote. Board members may only participate by remote communication device as the result of unavoidable conflicts three (3) times within a twelve month span. The Board may, by majority vote of members physically present at the meeting for which the Board member is unavoidably absent, waive this three (3) times limit.
It is the board member's responsibility when desiring to participate by remote communication device to immediately notify the President of the Board that he or she will be unable to attend the meeting, but will be able to participate by remote communication device . In such a case, arrangements must be made at the location of the board meeting for a remote communication device of the Board’s choosing which can be heard by all board members and by the public in attendance at the meeting at the same volume as if the member on remote communication device were physically at the meeting. The board member participating by remote communication device must be able to hear all comments from the other board members and from the public in attendance. Preference will be given to the first Board member who requests remote communication device participation. The presence of a board member via remote communication device will be counted toward the quorum necessary to hold a meeting.
Attendance at Committee meetings by remote communication device is permissible without limitation.
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