Policy committee debates public‑comment limits after state Sunshine Law change; committee advances revision to first reading

Perkiomen Valley School District’s policy committee debated proposed changes to the district’s public‑comment rules Tuesday, focusing on whether a PSBA‑recommended draft would limit when residents may speak before board action.

The committee reviewed a PSBA/PNN revision to policy 903 that draws from a recent court injunction and an amendment to the state Sunshine Law. Administration presented the draft and recommended adopting the PSBA language; the draft clarifies sign‑in procedures, directs comments to the presiding officer, and sets a three‑minute limit per speaker.

Doctor Weston, a board member, objected to a sentence in the draft that reads, in effect, that public comment on agenda items should be made only at the beginning of each meeting. “This is not in keeping with the practice we’ve had for a couple of years now,” Weston said, urging the committee to preserve the district’s practice that permits comment both before and after the meeting on any topic. Other board members and administration noted a recent change in the Sunshine Law requiring that, if an action item is added after posting, the board must provide an opportunity for public comment prior to taking that action.

Committee members debated two fixes: strike the draft sentence that appeared to require early‑only comment, or revise it to read that public comment on agenda items should be provided “prior to the board taking action.” Several members favored striking the sentence as redundant, noting the preceding paragraph already grants the public an opportunity to comment on matters of concern and deliberation.

The group also clarified sign‑in procedures and presiding‑officer discretion. Administration proposed keeping a sign‑in sheet and adding language that the presiding officer may also acknowledge speakers who did not sign in, to avoid excluding late arrivals. On speaking frequency, the committee agreed the clearest approach is to allow each commenter three minutes in the public comment section at the beginning of the meeting and three minutes in the public comment section at the end of the meeting, and to remove the confusing phrasing about speaking “more than once on the same topic.”

Following discussion, the committee agreed to move the revised draft of policy 903 to first reading and asked administration to incorporate the agreed edits and to post the draft for the board’s work session. The committee’s next policy meeting was set for March, when administration expects to return with updated language.