Some Richmond County parents may have been alarmed to learn that the public comment section of the Board of Education meetings had been eliminated, however the school board voted Tuesday to bring the public input back as part of the meetings.
The public has always been invited to attend meetings and offer comments, but the public comments were temporarily scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to RCSB Vice President Charlie Walker Jr., the cancellation was never about a lack of transparency, but rather an issue of public health safety.
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“While we as a board meet in-person, there was just no way to allow the public to be there in person to take part in the meetings,” Walker explains. “While people can watch the meeting, we just didn’t have the technology in place for comments.”
Walker says the school system’s information technology department has been hard at work to make it to where citizens can join the meeting and comment remotely during both committee and regular meetings.
As before the pandemic, parents and citizens will be given three minutes to talk and ask questions of the board. Only one person will be allowed to address a particular subject. To be placed on the agenda, anyone interested should call and speak to Sharla Wiegle in the Communications Department at (706) 821-1000.
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According to Walker, the public should only use the comment and question availability to discuss policy matters and not grievances with a particular school.
“If they have a problem with a particular teacher or coach, they should go through the process with the school or the superintendent’s office,” he says.
Walker says he looks forward to the day that the pandemic eases and the school board can go back to its normal routine.
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“Right now, we have three state basketball teams and we want to be able to recognize them publicly,” he says. “We also have teachers and employees who deserve recognition, but not being able to do it in person just lacks that personal effect.”
Regular meetings of the school board are held on the third Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. in the Central Office Boardroom. Committee meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 4 p.m.
Scott Hudson is the Managing Editor of The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
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