The Cherokee County School Board has a policy in place that allows residents to make public comments on education issues at board meetings.

School trustee Billy Blackwell was unsuccessful in an effort last Monday to have public comments added to a called board meeting agenda for selecting an interim superintendent. But Cherokee County School Board Chairman Donnie Lee Smith encouraged residents to comment during the next regularly scheduled board meeting Sept. 13 with the required 24 hours notice.

A public comment period is held for a maximum of 30 minutes at regular school board meetings. The school board adopted the new policy in October of 2009 after reviewing similar public participation rules by school districts in Marion, Pickens, Greenville and Barnwell.

County residents wishing to request speaking time must fill out a participation request form from the district office and receive approval from Smith no later than noon before board meetings. A time limit of three minutes is allowed for each person who is given permission to speak at the meetings.

Smith outlined the school board’s expectation for the crowd’s behavior at meetings in a statement before the Aug. 30 meeting. The board chairman announced steps to prevent the verbal outbursts and profane language from audience members which followed the school board’s decision to reassign Kim Bagwell from interim superintendent to a director’s position in the district office this school year.

“If a person in the crowd yells, curses or is otherwise disorderly, I will bang the gavel and ask the individual to stop speaking and sit down,” Smith read in the statement. “If the individual refuses to do that, she or he will be asked to leave the meeting. Any person who refuses to leave the meeting voluntarily will be escorted out by security and may be subject to criminal charges under South Carolina law.”

Public comments must be related to the business of the school board and school-related topics. The participation policy states the school board will not entertain comments involving personal attacks against school employees, pending student and employee discipline issues, or grievance matters.

“I understand that the matters being discussed and decided are important to a lot of people, and that there will be people who will not agree with the decisions that the board makes,” Smith said. “However, while people have the right to express their opinions, that expression should be done in a respectful, calm manner.”

County residents must fill out a public participation form to receive permission to speak before the school board. These forms are available at the reception desk in the district office and online on the school district website at: www.cherokee1. k12.sc.us.