The School Board of Broward County (SBBC) values the Voice of the Stakeholder. SBBC appreciates the input of the public and takes all feedback into consideration. To share your feedback, please reference the user guides and access links below to register to provide in-person comments on agenda items, submit a public written agenda comment, or participate in speaking on general subject matters of any concern. 

Highlights from School Board Policy 1020

• There shall be two (2) opportunities for the public to address the School Board during Regular School Board meetings: public speakers and agenda item comments. The time limit for these presentations shall be three (3) minutes for each speaker.

• Public speakers – there shall be reserved on each Regular School Board meeting agenda a time for public speakers. This section of the agenda shall provide an opportunity for any member of the public to reserve time to address the School Board regarding matters of relevance to public education.

• Persons desiring to speak on general topics shall contact Official School Board Records (OSBR) at least five (5) days prior to the Board meeting. This will enable the school district to place the public speaker and the topic on the Board agenda. Those persons who have not contacted OSBR at least five (5) days in advance but who wish to address the Board on topics pertaining to the school district may be heard at the end of the School Board meeting at the discretion of the School Board Chair. No action shall be taken on a speaker’s topic unless otherwise indicated on the agenda.

• Agenda items –An electronic portal shall be developed at https://www.browardschools.com/publicparticipation for the public to register to provide in-person comments to any of the agenda items. Registration for in-person comments on any agenda item may be submitted no later than 1:00 p.m. the day before the published date of the School Board Meeting or Workshop. Members of the public must access the portal to register to speak. Anonymous or guest profiles are not an option. The speaker’s name, city, and email must be included in the profile to register to speak. Any person who failed to preregister by 1:00 p.m. the day before, may present public comments by appearing at the meeting location and completing the Comment Request Card before the scheduled time of the School Board Meeting. 

• A speaker may request that they be permitted to yield their time to another registered speaker. Speakers must be present at the meeting at the time of the request to yield their time. The yielded time will be pooled for a maximum of six (6) minutes for the designated registered speaker. Speakers may not split their time and only yield a portion of it to a designated speaker.

• If ten (10) or more public speakers register to speak on any single agenda item or speaking session, the Chair has the discretion to reduce each individual speaker’s allotted time limit or set a maximum collective speaking time that will be made available for all public speakers upon the agenda item. This discretion does not include the ability to remove the names of speakers from the list and each speaker shall be afforded the opportunity to present comments. Following each public speaker’s allotted time, the podium and microphone will be reset for the next public speaker.

• In lieu of presenting in-person comments, members of the public may provide written agenda comments to any of the agenda items. An electronic portal shall be developed on the district website at https://www.browardschools.com/publicparticipation to assist the public in providing such written agenda comments. Public Written Agenda Comments must be submitted no later than 1:00 p.m. the day before the published date of the School Board meeting or workshop. Anonymous comments or guest profiles will not be accepted. The submitting person’s name, city of residence, and email fields must be provided and made available for public inspection. Written agenda comments should be a maximum of 2250.

• District committee reports will be placed on the agenda at an appropriate time, prior to the public speakers. In the event the speaker is not available to give a morning report, they shall register with the chair to give the report after lunch. Committee Chairs may give reports via media technology under extraordinary circumstances. The committee representative giving the report shall limit their remarks to the official position of the committee as set forth in the report and shall be limited to five (5) minutes in duration unless extended at the Chair’s discretion. The representative shall refrain from making any personal observations / comments during this time. Any such personal remarks would have to be made by the speaker during an opportunity for public comment.

• Speakers’ remarks should be directed to the presiding officer or the Board as a whole and not to individual Board members, otherwise the speaker may be ruled out of order, and asked to yield the podium. Board members will not engage in dialogue with speakers.

• Speakers may not refuse to yield the podium when the Chair has advised that their time has expired.
  
  The Chair may notify and warn speakers that their comments have gone beyond the subject matter for which they had signed up to address, address matters that are not related to the business of The School Board, or otherwise violate this policy. Speakers are advised to refrain from obscene or vulgar conduct, or slanderous remarks, or statements that tend to incite violence or the breach of the peace.

• The Chair may turn off the microphone or recess the meeting if any person persists in interfering with the expeditious or orderly process of the meeting or fails to conform their remarks to the requirements of this policy, after being duly warned to do so. Alternatively, after a warning, the Chair will have the speaker or audience member removed from the meeting and barred from further appearance before the Board for the balance of the meeting.
  
  DECORUM
• Speakers are advised to refrain from obscene or vulgar conduct, slanderous remarks, or statements that tend to incite violence or breach the peace.  In addition, speakers are to demonstrate proper decorum and model the district’s eight character traits: cooperation, responsibility, citizenship, kindness, respect, honesty, self-control, and tolerance.  

•  No heckling, shouting comments from the audience, verbal outbursts or any other disruptive behavior shall be permitted. No signs or placards shall be allowed in the Board meeting. Persons exiting the Board meeting shall do so quietly.

• Personal cellular telephone conversations while in the room where the Board meeting is being conducted are not permitted. Such conversations are permitted only during meeting breaks or recess. Ringers or any portable electronic device must be set to silent mode to avoid disruption of the proceedings. All individuals must exit the meeting room to answer incoming cell phone calls.