LPS looked to other districts when revising public comment policy, but rules vary across state | Education

The most notable changes included reducing speakers’ time from five minutes to three and setting limits on when speakers could sign up.

But the ways school boards across Nebraska approach public participation at meetings — which has become an outlet for parents and patrons to voice concerns over a variety of issues like masks and critical race theory — is almost as varied as the number of districts in the state.

“There’s a whole slew of ways of doing it,” said David Jespersen, public information officer with the Nebraska Department of Education.

At LPS, officials say the revisions to the overarching policy and the underlying regulations that govern public comment flesh out practices already in existence, such as defining what people can bring to meetings.

They also argue the reduction in speakers’ time allows more people to speak in the first public comment period, which comes before agenda items, while allowing the board to get to its business. If there are still more speakers after an hour, the board’s practice is to hold another session at the end of the meeting.

LPS board member Bob Rauner, who serves on the Nebraska Association of School Board Board of Directors, said the changes were, in part, the result of conversations he had with board members from other districts and how they run public comment.

But, as other district’s policies show, there’s not one agreed-upon way to do it.

At OPS, speakers typically have five minutes to speak, although the board has reduced it in the past to accommodate more speakers — as it did at a meeting last August to allow more people to talk about masking.

At Grand Island, speakers also have five minutes, but if there are three or more, it’s three minutes. Meanwhile, at Millard Public Schools, the state’s third-largest district behind LPS, has a two-minute limit.

At other large districts it varies: Papillion-La Vista it’s three; Elkhorn, five; Omaha Westside, 2½. Bellevue, three; Kearney, five.

While the NASB doesn’t keep data on how school boards run public comment, Director of Communications Matt Belka said it’s likely different district-to-district.

“I would guess that’s what we’d find in asking all 240 (would be) 240 unique answers,” Belka said in an email.

The Nebraska Open Meetings Act allows public bodies to “make and enforce reasonable rules and regulations” regarding public participation at meetings.

And LPS is not alone in revisiting its public comment policies following a slew of marathon meetings in the past two years.

The Nebraska State Board of Education set a two-hour cap on public comment at its January meeting and set speaker limits to five minutes, although the board can reduce that amount.