Lawyers don’t often get to be the bearers of GOOD news, so when it happens, we savor it. At the 55th Fall Conference of South Dakota School Business Officials, Karen and Tyler got to share good news about meeting minutes and we enjoyed it so much, we thought we would follow up with this blog post. We’re happy to inform all members of the South Dakota education community that managing school board meeting minutes should not be taking up as much of your time as it potentially is right now.
First of all, what should we do for meeting minutes? Here’s what the minutes should include, and hopefully it’s a shorter list than you think:
Date and location of where the notice and agenda were posted;
Notice must be posted “prominently” at the principal office of the District for at least 24 hours preceding the meeting
The notice must also be posted on the school district’s website (assuming you have one);
Whether the meeting is in person or via teleconference;
A statement that copies of the relevant documents were available to the public;
The substance of all matters discussed and acted upon;
Conflict of interest disclosures and decisions regarding those disclosures;
How each member votes if the vote takes place by roll call;
If the Board goes into executive session, the minutes must include:
The purpose and citation to SDCL 1-25-2 (personnel, contract negotiations, consulting with legal counsel, etc.);
Which board members moves to go into executive session and who seconds;
The results of the roll call vote of each board member.
Additionally, the District has to maintain the unapproved draft minutes and make them available for inspection no later than ten days after the meeting. Alternatively, if you record your meetings, you can post the recording of the meeting on your website within five days of the meeting instead of posting the unapproved draft minutes.
Now, this is a fair amount to keep track of, but hopefully you have been routinely including most of this information in your minutes or, if you’re going to add new elements they won’t be onerous. What we are REALLY excited to tell you about is what DO NOT need to include in your minutes. You don’t have to:
Note every member of the public in attendance;
Note when members of the public leave;
Note who speaks during public comment;
Summarize what members of the public say during public comment;
Include anything else not on the list above!
Hopefully this information is helpful for business managers by taking something off of the already overfilled plates. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Karen, Steve, Bobby, Coady, Jordan or Tyler with any questions at (402) 804-8000 or ksb@ksbschoollaw.com.