204.10 - School Board Rules of Order

An orderly board meeting allows the board members to participate in the discussion and decision process on issues confronting the school district. Rules of order for board meetings allow school district business and the relative information concerning the business to be brought to the attention of the board. They also allow the board to discuss, act upon, and make a clear record of school district business in a regular, ordered, reasonable, and consistent manner.

The board will follow Robert’s Rules of Order latest edition as modified by this policy and subsequent rules.

The purposes of modified rules adopted by the board are:

  1. To establish guidelines by which the business of the governing board can be conducted in a regular and internally consistent manner;
  2. To organize the meetings so that all necessary matters can be brought to the board and decisions of the board can be made in an orderly and reasonable manner;
  3. To ensure members of the board, concentrating on the substantive issues at hand, have the necessary information to make decisions and to ensure adequate discussion of decisions to be made; and
  4. To ensure that meetings and actions of the board are conducted so as to be informative to the staff and the public, and to produce a clear record of actions taken and decisions made.

It is the responsibility of each board member to follow the rules of order stated in this policy at each meeting, and it is the responsibility of the presiding officer to conduct the board meeting within these rules.

Adopted: 9/85
Reviewed: 4/13; 8/14; 9/16; 10/19; 10/22
Revised: 11/08
Related Policy: 204.10-R
Legal Reference (Code of Iowa): §§ 21.2, .7; 279.8
IASB Reference: 210.7

204.10-R - Regulations Regarding School Board Rules of Order

The following rules of procedure have been adopted by the Linn-Mar Community School District Board of Directors:

  1. Board members need not rise to gain the recognition of the board president;
  2. All motions will be made as a positive action;
  3. A motion will be adopted or carried if it receives an affirmative vote from more than half of the votes cast. Only “yes” or “no” votes are counted in this calculation. It should be noted that some motions require a larger number of affirmative votes, such as to move into a closed session;
  4. All motions will receive a second prior to opening the issue for discussion by the board. If a motion does not receive a second, the board president may declare the motion dead for lack of a second;
  5. The board president may decide the order in which board members will be recognized to address an issue. An attempt should be made to alternate between pro and con positions;
  6. The board president will rule on all motions that come before the board;
  7. The board president may rule on points of order brought before the board;
  8. The board president has complete authority to recognize any member of the audience regarding a request to participate in the board meeting. Members of the public who wish to participate will follow procedures outlined in Policy 204.9 Public Participation in Board Meetings;
  9. The board president has the authority to declare a recess at any time for the purpose of restoring decorum to the meeting;
  10. The order in which names will be called for roll call votes will be as follows:
  • All board members will be listed in alphabetical order by last name;
  • All roll call votes will be called in alphabetical order beginning at various positions on the list;
  • The first roll call vote will begin at the top of the list and proceed down, the second roll call vote will begin with the second name and proceed down the list with the last name called to be the first person called on the previous vote;
  • A person’s absence or presence will have no effect on the rotation; and
  • The board secretary will maintain the record of rotation for roll call votes and the sequence will continue from meeting to meeting.
  1. The board president has the same authority and responsibility as each board member to vote on all issues.

 

Adopted: 9/85
Reviewed: 10/11; 4/13; 9/16; 10/19; 10/22
Revised: 8/14
Related Policy: 204.10
IASB Reference: 210.7R1