Board Policy 22: Public Delegations to the Board

Education Act R.S.O. 1990; Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA)

 

Board Governance By-laws

 

 

This policy outlines the process for submitting requests to delegate to the Board of Trustees, rules for the delegation process and informing the delegation of the disposition of the Board.

 

The board welcomes and encourages public input and delegations on topics that are timely and relevant and are within the purview of the board. Delegates who bring forward school related concerns will be asked to clarify if the appropriate steps have been followed to resolve the concern. These steps include respectful communication with the child’s teacher, school principal, and the school superintendent.

 

1.1 Requests of delegations to appear before the board or one of its committees must be in writing and received by the Secretary no later than 12:00 noon the day (business day) before the board or committee meeting.

 

1.2 All requests to delegate to the Board of Trustees will be subject to the review by the Chair of the Board and the Director of Education. The Chair of the Board may, following consultation with the board, direct that a delegation requesting a hearing before the board be heard instead by an appropriate committee of the board.

 

1.3 A request must state the reason for the delegation to appear or the delegation will not be heard. Delegations shall submit their material in writing, no later than 12:00 noon the day (business day) before the Board meeting prior to the presentation, to the Secretary of the Board. Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, information submitted as part of a delegation will be considered to be public information and may be subject to full disclosure.

 

2.1 The delegation shall name a spokesperson(s). The delegation shall be allowed up to ten minutes to address the board or the committee on its first appearance on an issue, and up to five minutes for subsequent appearances, reference Section 4. There shall be a maximum of two delegations permitted at a Regular meeting.

 

2.2 In exceptional circumstances, a Special Board meeting may be called to receive delegations. 

 

3.1 The Secretary shall inform the delegation of the date of the meeting and the approximate time when the presentation will be heard. At the time of notification, delegations will be informed of the time available for the presentation. They will also be informed that there may be no response to the presentation at the meeting, and that there may be questions of clarification asked of them by members of the board at the end of the presentation. Delegations will also be informed that the purpose of a delegation is to allow the presentation to be heard, and not to debate the issue at the time of presentation. They will further be advised that, at the conclusion of the presentation, the concern raised will either be referred to the appropriate committee, referred to a future board meeting, or handled by letter following the board meeting, as determined by the Chair. Delegations will be offered a copy of Board Policy 22 Public Delegations to the Board before the meeting at which they are to appear.

 

3.1.1 Delegations appearing before the board will be introduced by the Chair who shall announce the board's policy regarding delegations.

 

3.1.2 The Chair shall announce how much time is available to the delegation and shall rule on the acceptability of the presentation and adherence to the time limit. The Chair may limit or conclude a presentation that deviates materially from the announced topic of the presentation or essentially repeats a previous presentation to the incumbent board or committee. The spokesperson(s) for a delegation must refrain from the use of abusive, profane or derogatory language at all times, and the Chair may expel or exclude from any meeting any person(s) who engages in this or any other form of improper conduct.

 

3.1.3 Following the presentation, the Chair shall acknowledge the presentation and ask the members of the board if there are any points they wish clarified. At no time during the meeting will members of the board or staff enter into discussion with any member of the delegation except to request clarification of a point made in the presentation.

 

3.1.4 As soon as the Chair is satisfied that all points have been clarified, the Chair shall inform the delegation that the board will take the presentation under consideration.

 

3.1.5 The Board shall consider next steps, and the matter may then be considered by the board in public session or in closed session as required or permitted by the Board’s Governance By-Laws or the Education Act, or as otherwise directed by motion of the board.

 

3.1.6 Within 30 days, the Secretary shall inform the delegation of the disposition of its request, and include the date, time and place of any meeting of the board or a committee of the board where the subject matter was discussed. If the matter is referred to a committee whose meetings are open to the public, the Secretary shall inform the delegation in advance of the date and time of the meeting where the matter will be considered. 

 

4.1 In exceptional circumstances, the Chair, in consultation with the Vice-Chair and Secretary of the Board, has the right to limit the allowed time for a presentation by a delegation, or the number of delegations to be heard at a meeting of the board.

 

4.2 However, the Chair must, within reason, provide an opportunity for all delegations wishing to speak on a topic to be received at subsequent Regular meetings of the board (to a maximum of two delegations in total at a Regular meeting), or at one or more special meetings of the board to be called for that purpose. If the number of requests is believed to be unmanageable, the board will determine by board motion a fair and equitable process to select the delegations to be heard.

 

4.3 Once the Board of Trustees has made a decision on a matter raised by a delegation or delegations, or determines that the matter has been sufficiently addressed, the board will not entertain a further delegation on substantially the same issue within the ensuing six-month period, unless the Board, by simple majority, is of the opinion that there is sufficient new information or new concern to warrant a review. 

 

Issued December 2024