Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 28 - EDUCATION
Part I - BESE/8(g) Operations
Subpart 1 - Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
Chapter 7 - Operations
Section I-709 - Board and Committee Meeting Protocol

1. A meeting of the board or a committee of the board is a convening of a quorum of the members to receive information regarding a matter or to deliberate or act on a matter over which it has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power. Depending on the business to be transacted, a meeting may last from a few minutes to several hours and may be carried over for more than one day, if deemed necessary. A meeting does not include chance meetings or social gatherings of the members of the board at which there is no vote or other action taken, including formal or informal polling of the members.

2. A board meeting is a meeting of a majority of the total membership of the board to take official action on matters before it. The president of the board shall preside over the board meeting, unless absent, in which case the presiding officer shall be governed by the provisions set forth in & §305 herein.

3. A committee meeting is a meeting of a quorum of the named committee members to consider and make recommendations on matters before it. The committee chair shall preside over the committee meeting, unless absent, in which case another named member of the committee shall preside.

4. A recess is an intermission of a meeting which does not end the meeting or destroy its continuity as a single gathering, and after which proceedings are immediately resumed from the point of interruption.

5. An adjournment terminates the meeting.

1. Procedures for the making of motions shall follow Robert's Rules of Order, unless modified by these guidelines.

2. The BESE staff member facilitating a meeting shall read each agenda item and staff recommendation prior to the matter being considered. If the matter involves a report or presentation by an LDE or BESE staff member or other authorized representative, he/she may make the presentation and members may discuss and ask questions regarding the matter prior to the making of a motion.

3. There shall be no discussion on a motion until it is seconded. The discussion shall be limited to the merits of the pending question. The order of discussion shall be left solely to the discretion of the presiding officer or chair. No member shall speak without first receiving recognition of the presiding officer or chair.

4. Each member shall be allowed to speak no more than twice on the same motion, unless he/she requests permission of the presiding officer or chair to be allowed to answer something of a personal nature or to correct a gross mistake. This shall in no way be interpreted to supersede the personal privilege prerogative of each member, as provided herein.

5. The maker of a motion shall be given the first opportunity to speak and to close on the motion, if he/she so desires. It is recommended that each member, in discussing an issue, attempt to:

6. There shall be no more than two amendments to a motion that is before the body. If one of these two is removed, another may be added.

7. A motion to close debate requires a 2/3 vote of those members present and voting.

8. Only those motions pertaining to items that are included in the agenda and are germane shall be considered.

1. All voting shall be by voice vote, except when taken by roll call vote or when a member requests that his/her vote be recorded for the record.

2. A roll call vote must be taken on any motion if requested by any one member of the board. Roll call votes shall be taken alphabetically, except that the presiding officer or chair shall have the option of voting last in order or not voting.

3. A roll call vote must be taken on any motion to convene into executive session.

4. At the board meeting, when approving committee minutes and acting on committee recommendations, any board member wishing to address an item must have been in attendance at the committee meeting in which the action was taken.

5. Prior to voting on written documents, including, but not limited to, regulatory bulletins and legislative reports, members must be provided copies of any proposed nontechnical revisions in writing. Non-technical revisions are those that alter the sense, meaning, or effect of the item.

1. Board members and staff should be on time for all meetings.

2. The presiding officer or chair should be cognizant of the schedule for board and committee work and attempt to conduct business within the time allotted. The presiding officer or chair shall have the right to limit, in time, the length of discussion on each motion, if time is of a critical nature.

3. It is the responsibility of the presiding officer or chair to direct the orderly meeting discussion. The presiding officer or chair, as an individual member, has the same right to discussion as any other member, but the impartiality required of the presiding officer in a discussion precludes his/her exercising these rights while he/she is presiding. If the presiding officer or chair wishes to make lengthy comments he/she should relinquish the chair, secure recognition, and participate. It is requested that any remarks that the presiding officer or chair wishes to make concerning an issue be made after all other members have been recognized.

4. LDE personnel should condense all presentations as much as possible and only in special instances should these presentations exceed 30 minutes.

5. For agenda items added by board members, the following shall apply:

6. A board member may request from the LDE any public document that has already been prepared or is in a readily available form.

7. A board member may not request new research, records, or reports not available and which requires compilation or research without a motion adopted by a majority of the board.

8. Persons other than board members, the executive director, staff persons assigned to the committee, or the state superintendent should not be on the dais while business is being conducted.

9. The presiding officer or chair should ask all presenters to identify themselves for the record.

10. Private discussions among board member(s), staff, or the state superintendent should occur away from the designated meeting area. The audience is asked to go outside the meeting room to conduct personal discussions.

11. Board members are asked to remain seated when individuals are making presentations to the board or receiving recognition by the board, as it is always an honor to be recognized by state-level officials.

12. Cell phones and other electronic devices must be turned off or taken to the side rooms for conversations, when activated.

13. Each member shall have the opportunity to speak on personal privilege following request by the member and recognition by the presiding officer. This privilege shall be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order.

14. When a member feels the rules are being violated as to procedure, the member may make a point of order request to the presiding officer, calling for a ruling and an enforcement of the regular rules. A point of order request shall follow procedures in Robert's Rules of Order.