ICCSD board wrong to cut comments

To the editor:

Iowa City Community School District's Board is considering cutting opportunities for the public to comment at meetings.

At its meeting tonight, the board may adopt a policy disallowing public speakers from speaking at the time of an agenda item. While public speakers may be able to speak earlier in the meeting, it is unlikely they would be allowed to speak more than once even if there were multiple agenda items of interest, and public speakers' comments could not be made at the time of the agenda item upon which they speak - unlike now.

Cutting opportunities for the public to speak at the time of the specific agenda item is poor policy because board members may be unable to recall the nature of a public speaker's comments and may be unable to put the comments in context with the agenda item. Plus, television viewers who join the school board mid-meeting would no longer hear public comments about a particular agenda item.

In addition, issues involving our children such as budget cuts, closing a school and dollar amount of a bond issue deserve a rigorous vetting. Past comments from some board members about the tone and manner of speakers suggest the real reason for the board cutting opportunities to speak is to squelch criticism, not make meetings more efficient. This misguided proposed policy should be voted down.

Mary Murphy

Iowa City