SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education delayed the implementation of its new public comment policy at its Sept. 16 meeting, first introducing the change to the audience before putting it into effect at its Oct. 28 meeting. The new policy changes the schedule of when residents will be allowed to address the board, now only allowing comments on agenda items during the first public comment period. The second public comment period, after votes have been taken on agenda items, will be open to residents to talk about anything.
“We also have a provision that students will always be called first to speak, and it doesn’t matter if the topic is on the agenda or not,” BOE President Annemarie Maini said at the meeting. “We’ll be starting this in October, as a way to get used to it now.”
Abigail Murtagh, a Maplewood parent, waited until the end of the meeting for the second public speaks session to tell the board that she thinks the updated policy is a step back and frustrating to residents who can’t wait until the end of the meeting to talk to the BOE.
“I always appreciate the work you all do, and I even more appreciate the transparency and commitment to conversation and listening and giving information that has come this year with Dr. Taylor,” Murtagh said, adding that she was surprised to hear about the change at the September meeting. “It seems to greatly contradict the spirit that you’re bringing to the community more and more. We all know that events and concerns arise every month that are not presented on the agenda and we know that the second public speaks can be anywhere from 10:30 to much, much later than 10:30.”
Murtagh said there are parents who need to get a babysitter to attend BOE meetings and others who are not able to stay late until the end of a meeting.
“It seems to me to have a dissuading, or even silencing, effect on the people who I hope you want to hear from,” she said. “A lot of us stay as late as we can, but as late as we can is not always when the public speaks happens.”
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