Coronavirus and Schools: Public Meetings Via Videoconference
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
As we continue to sort through the legal morass that is the Covid-19 pandemic, we received an inquiry to the tech pool about whether school districts can convene public meetings by videoconference only. The short answer is yes, but there are a number of steps school districts should take to ensure legal compliance.
First – any public meeting must comply with the PA Sunshine Act (Open Meetings Law). This will require you to advertise how the meeting will be convened, including connection information to access the video conference. Second, this means that you have to plan for public comment through the videoconferencing technology. We recommend that this be done similar to in-person meetings with public comment during a designated portion of the meeting, and that school districts not utilize the chat feature of such a video conference to receive public comment. Third – a quorum of the board must be present on the video conference to conduct agency business. And finally – deliberation on official action will need to take place in the video conference, and cannot be done through separate text messages or e-mails between members. Board members should be reminded that such electronic communications can be subject to a Right To Know request.
Second – school districts should ensure that such a video conference complies with existing policies. Existing policies may require that all board meetings occur in person or those policies may not specify how board members must attend. Or, if you have previously authorized video conferencing for board meetings, the existing policy may require that a quorum be present in person and that only a few board members may participate via video conference. Regardless of what your existing policy says, you should either a) ensure compliance with existing policies, or b) revisit the policy provisions that need to be changed. We note that PSBA has a model policy on this topic (Policy 006.1). As a matter of best practice, consider one location in a district building where the video conference can be accessed in person to ensure access to individuals without internet connections and to give the opportunity for public comment.
Because there is some legal uncertainty surrounding school board meetings that have less than a quorum physically present and meetings held completely virtually, we also recommended that at the next meeting when a majority of the board is physically present at the meeting, that the board have an action item on the agenda that simply says: “Recommend the ratification of all action taken by the Board at the meeting(s) held on ________[Insert date(s) of Board meeting(s) held virtually]___________.”
Third – all board members and the relevant administrators must have the proper equipment to participate in the conference – including microphones, stable internet connections, etc.
Fourth – the video conference should be accessible to individuals with disabilities. We recommend including in your public notice a provision that states “If you require reasonable accommodations to access this meeting due to a disability, please contact ___________ at least 48 hours prior to the meeting with a request for such accommodations.”
Fifth – school districts need to plan strict procedures for how to maintain order and make those procedures clear at the start of any such meeting. Some common issues you are likely to encounter are:
- How will a board member indicate that they wish to speak?
- How will the board ensure that only one person speaks at a time (so that everything can be heard)?
- Who has the authority to mute someone on the video conference?
- What is the plan if a member of the public regularly interrupts the meeting?
- What is the plan if a member of the public goes beyond their allotted time for public comment?
Sixth, if the board intends to convene an executive session – the logistics of the executive session must also be worked out so that the public meeting is conducted via a separate public video conference, while the executive session is conducted through a separate private video conference.
And finally, this guidance is intended to give you a general overview of the legal issues you may face if moving to video conference for public meetings. We recommend that you consult with your solicitor to address specific local concerns for your particular school district as you confront this new reality.