Durango School District 9-R is attempting to simplify its public comment process by eliminating advanced registration via an online form.
People who wish to comment can sign up in person just before the meeting. Erika Brown, vice president of the 9-R Board of Education, said the purpose of this change was to align the district’s public comment process with other governing bodies such as Durango City Council, La Plata County Commissions and the Colorado State Board of Education.
“We kind of all agreed that it would be really nice to align our process with the other kind of public government entities in town,” Brown said.
Public participants can add their name to a printed sign-in sheet between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
The sign-in sheet will be available at the entrance of the meeting room, and sign-up is limited to 10 speakers. Registration is first-come, first-served.
The change will have the public comment process go back to the way it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board had an online registration method mainly as a result of meetings being held via Zoom during the pandemic.
“To help with our agenda, we had to know (the number of participants) because we cap it at 30 minutes generally but we make exceptions when we need to,” Brown said.
The BOE’s public participation slot has welcomed concerned community voices over the last few years expressing issues such as social distancing regulations during the pandemic, support or opposition of the charter school Ascent Classical Academy or allowing students to speak out about the right to carry Naloxone on campus.
Brown said it’s important for board members to hear speakers’ perspectives.
“It's just a great way for the public to have access to us and let us know what they're thinking. I mean, we're a publicly elected body. We want to know what our constituents care about,” she said.
She also said board members were not concerned about not knowing the number of comments or the content before the meeting because they want to hear from everybody about any issue.
“We try to make it clear on there that we don't talk about personnel issues and things like that,” she said.
Regular board meetings are generally held on the fourth Tuesday of the month in the 9-R administration building boardroom through the fall. Meetings will likely move to the new Impact Career Innovation Center building at Durango High School in January 2024.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
