Powell school board meetings could offer more chances for public comment in the future. 

At a meeting last week, the Park County School District 1 Board of Trustees was presented with new guidelines for public comment during board meetings.

The board has traditionally only allowed the public to comment on items that appear on the agenda, but the changes would add a second time slot for comments on any school-related items, though private issues such as personnel would remain off-limits. 

The comment period on agenda items would remain early in the meeting, with the new general comment period at the end. 

“I think our public comment rules have served us extraordinarily well for a lot of years, but our times are changing,” Superintendent Jay Curtis said, “and I think that in the modern age of, and I hate to use the word politics but I don’t have a better one for it, there are expectations by members of our public to be … more engaged and have certain rights.”

While people don’t often take much advantage of the current comment period on agenda items at business meetings, Curtis said it’s still a worthwhile change to make. 

“I think the thing that this does is it does allow us to build a bridge to stakeholder groups in our community who are craving this opportunity,” he said. 

The guidelines were put together by a committee that included Chair Kim Dillivan and trustees Ben Borcher and Lillian Brazelton.

Curtis, who also sat in on the committee, said it was a compromise between two sides of thought on what public comment should look like.

The conversations stem, in part, from a controversial board meeting in September where members of the public attempted to complain about a substitute teacher but were stymied by the board, due to the matter being related to personnel and not on the agenda. While personnel matters will remain off limits for public comments, the new public comment period addresses the latter concern. 

The draft guidelines would have only added the new comment period during business meetings, but a majority of trustees supported adding it to work sessions as well. 

“I mean to me, it isn’t much more of a commitment to tack on the working meetings,” said Borcher, who’d been one of the driving forces behind expanded public comment periods. He suggested the comment period be added to all meetings that aren’t executive session, with fellow trustee Dusty Paul quick to second the idea. 

Board member Trace Paul said he actually thought working meetings, which are generally more informal and often run longer, would be more appropriate for a general public comment period. He was OK with having the general comment periods at all meetings. 

Only Dillivan spoke out firmly against adding a public comment period for non-agenda items. He said it was unfair to the board members and the public to have a period where no one knows in advance what will be talked about, and that wouldn’t benefit the community, students or staff. 

“I really think what we have now is appropriate, where we allow people to come in and give us comments, but they’re based on agenda items,” Dillivan said, “because I feel like in our business meetings, we’re there to conduct business, and we want to hear from the public, that it should be I think on agenda items.”

“I think good boards, good school boards, have an agenda, and they stick to the agenda, right?” he added. “And having a general comment period at the end, to me, it’s not sticking on the agenda, because you don’t know what people are going to say.”

Dillivan ended by saying he would support the will of the board. Even though he disagreed with much of what Dillivan said, Paul said the chair’s sentiment was what makes them a good board.

“We’ve had a great conversation about this one,” Paul said, adding, “I really do like where we’re going.”

“Will it work? It might not,” Paul said. “We might be changing this in six months, but I do appreciate you guys doing a committee and talking about this.”

Trustees are scheduled to vote on the policy at tonight’s (Tuesday’s) 6 p.m. business meeting.