– Public Comment Guidelines –
We would like to welcome all members of the public to School Board meetings. Although state law does not require School Boards to hold a public comment period, the Peru School Board has chosen to do so because we believe it is crucial for us to hear the school related concerns of our community members. We offer two comment periods, one for agenda items at the beginning of the meeting and one at the end of the meeting for other topics. A sign up will be available at the door when entering the meeting. Prior to the meeting an email for Peru Comments will be open for those who cannot make the meeting from Friday noon to Tuesday noon the day of the Board meeting. The email is perucomments@perucsd.org. The comments will be read by the President of the Board at the beginning of the meeting. All comments verbal or written will be limited to three (3) minutes.
The public comment period is not designed to be a discussion. It is an opportunity for the Board to listen to your concerns. Accordingly, please do not expect the board to respond to your concerns and questions at the meeting although some answers may be addressed in reports. Because we take your concerns and questions seriously and want to have sufficient time to process and research issues, if need be. We will, however, respond to your questions and concerns at a future meeting, or have the proper staff member get back to you at the appropriate time.
Under state and federal privacy laws the Board is unable to entertain any comments or questions about school personnel. Please know, however, that we take personnel concerns very seriously. On these matters, we ask you to go through the appropriate administrative channels.
Finally, we recognize that right now our nation and our community are polarized on several issues. We want our school board meetings to serve as an example to our students that members of our school board and members of our community can deal with controversial issues in a civil manner and demonstrate mutual respect for one another. In that spirit, we will insist that all speakers and members of the audience maintain civility and respect for any divergent views that others possess. We ask that speakers please address their comments to the board directly, rather than the audience. In the unlikely event the meeting becomes unruly, the board will recess the meeting and return once order has been restored.