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Medford school board won’t read written comments at meetings By Kevin Opsahl Oct 25, 2022 05:15 PM A A Even after protests by some constituents who claimed the Medford School District Board of Directors would be “silencing” them, school board members voted last week to do away with the traditional practice of reading public comments aloud during meetings. Instead, the authors’ names will be stated, and the comments will be uploaded online the day after the meeting. That was the practice Thursday, when Board Chair Suzanne Messer led the school board meeting at the North Medford High School Commons. “They can totally (submit written comments), and that way the board has the time to actively sit at home, digest the comments ... and actually walk through that in an area where they can listen, almost better sometimes than being here and hearing it,” Messer said after the meeting. In the past, school board members have read comments sent in by people, even though not all of them were about school accolades or personal compliments. Topics ranged from menstrual products in school bathrooms to personal attacks toward school board members, themselves. “Oh, we read them,” Messer said during Thursday’s meeting. The board chair explained that reading public comments began during the pandemic, when meetings were virtual and constituents couldn’t always find a way to attend. Before long, school boards were required to “the best of (our) ability” to facilitate teleconference technology for everyone during the meetings, according to Messer. But with the school board’s meeting venues changing so much over the past two years (home, Logos Charter School and now the North Medford Commons), it has been difficult for the district to feed in a platform like Zoom to live meetings, she said. The North Medford Commons seems to offer the best technological fit for meetings, Messer said, so the board is now welcoming Zoom comments (Thursday’s meeting, however, saw none) as the alternative to reading comments aloud. Amanda Moreira, captain of Oregon Moms Union’s Medford chapter, spoke at the meeting, saying she was against the policy change. “I find it ironic that you, as our elected officials, who are supposed to be representing the parents and families of this community, are trying to silence our voices,” Moreira said. “We only have three minutes, once a month, to publicly express our opinions and concerns. On the other hand, there are essentially no time limits to your ability to speak. How are you going to know what it is we want, or our feelings on various subjects, if you don’t hear from us?” She also took exception to the idea that virtual public comments were the proper alternative to written ones. “It should not be seen as a replacement,” Moreira said. “If I am not able to make it here in person, why should it be assumed I can attend the meeting remotely? There are a number of reasons parents cannot be here, such as work, sports, church and other prior engagements.” She believes written comments “should hold the same weight” as in-person ones. “Moving these comments outside the meeting setting as a follow-up opportunity is wrong and doesn’t make sense,” Moreira said. Some of the most recent written public comments, which were posted online Friday, took aim at the very rule the board sought to change. “Please respect public input and do not silence us or change the policy. This would be so very Marxist of you,” Sherry Smith wrote. “Accept all comments no matter what form they are received. Immediately have public access to all comments. Transparency with those who fund the school district is a MUST.” After hearing public comment, board members discussed the merits of reading them aloud. Board member Cynthia Wright said the commentators who spoke Thursday misunderstood the purpose of the public comment period. “When we say ‘public,’ that might infer that the comments are for the public,” she said. “But in reality, the comments are to inform the board about questions and concerns we might not be aware of. What it isn’t is a forum to inform the public.” Board member Jim Horner disagreed, pointing to public testimony given in government settings. “These folks are who we work for,” he said. “To the extent that we can bend over backwards on listening to them, I think it’s the right thing.” Messer pointed out the board discussed changes to the written public comment policy over the summer and was trying Thursday to “be in line” with what the board is doing now. “This should have been done at the last meeting, and we did not finish it,” she said. Since board members reading written comments is not required by state law, the Medford School District Board did not violate any statute by proceeding with its new policy before codifying it Thursday. “We are trying to involve the community the best we can so we can do our business,” Messer said during the meeting. “It is a tough position to be in; we’re all trying to do the best we can with what we have available to us.” Superintendent Bret Champion added, “This isn’t about silencing — I promise you,” before pledging that written public comments would be uploaded to the district’s website the next day. The board approved the written public comments changes in a vote alongside a number of other policy revisions. But it did offer an amendment to call written comments “citizen comments” and that “extra measures,” such as redactions in certain cases, will be made before the comments are posted online. In past meetings, board members have spent well over 15 minutes reading public comments, Messer said after the meeting. “The comments are for the board to read; it’s not a public comment to go to everybody; it doesn’t serve a purpose to be on there,” Messer said. “It becomes grandstanding.” Messer said she is “fine” with hearing comments that are critical. “I’m willing to lean into ‘uncomfortable’ and walk through that conversation,” Messer said. “People are entitled to be upset, understand — and even not understand — and that’s OK.” Messer said she understood that even after Thursday’s meeting, members of the public might not be satisfied. “That is the policy we’ve put together. That is where we’re at, going forward,” Messer said. “We can (examine) this policy again, at a later time, if we need to make modifications.” Reach reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.