The Minot Public School board firmed up the policies and rules for the public participation at board meetings, despite no member of the public taking advantage of the public comment portion of the meeting on Thursday, Aug. 14.

The new policy was borne from requirements made law in Senate Bill 2180, which requires all public entities to allow members of the public wishing to speak to do so during a comment period.

The MPS policy requires those seeking to speak to submit a public comment card to the business manager before the meeting begins. The original policy limited speakers to 5 minutes, and their comments are limited to agenda topics from the current and prior meetings.

Superintendent Scott Faul reviewed recommendations from the board’s legal counsel to address time concerns in the event a large number of people wish to comment on the same issue.

“If you have an issue that’s for or against, to come up with representation on each side that could speak for the group. The other thing she said, too, was you could go to 3 minutes instead of 5 minutes. That could give more speakers a chance,” Faul said. “Another thing is you could table agenda items and put that in a special board meeting.”

Faul said the ultimate recommendation was to leave things as they are and see how they work out. The board ultimately approved a motion from board member Bill Irmen to amend the amount of time allowed for each speaker from 5 minutes to 3 minutes. Irmen said he believes 5 minutes is “a long time.” Board Member Lacey Laudenschlager seconded Irmen’s motion, saying she felt limiting comments to 3 minutes would force speakers to stay on topic and be concise.

The board then turned to the rules of decorum for the board meetings, which Faul said was a tougher nut to crack, but the board is allowed to regulate threatening and obscene language, fighting words and speech that incites lawlessness and violence.

“On the other hand, speech that is negative or critical, that is not speech you can regulate,” Faul said.

In the event a commenter’s speech does cross a line, Faul said the board president would have to declare the person out of order. A commenter would have three chances to adjust their rhetoric before the board president can ask them to relinquish the dais.

“As far as banning a patron from the meetings, if we were to remove a patron for inappropriate comments or threats, we’d be in contact with our legal team to decide what next steps would be appropriate,” Faul said. “The chances we are going to get to that, I think, are slim. We live in a great community that supports us and we want to hear from our patrons.”

Jim Hill gym floor

The board approved an emergency declaration to address damage to the gym floor of Jim Hill Middle School after a storm in July. Business Manager Laura Dokken said the water caused the floor to heave in parts despite mitigation efforts, and she asked the emergency be declared so repairs can be made promptly to avoid any disruptions of winter sports seasons.

Dokken said the initial quote for the new floor was $155,000 plus expenses for the initial cleanup and tearout of the damaged floor.

Dokken said that due to the demolition, if students use the space, it would be on the concrete floor. However, he said the window for that would be limited as the work to install the new floor will begin quickly.

The board unanimously approved the emergency declaration.