Executive committee weighs clarifying public-participation rules and aligning procedures with Connecticut open-meetings law

Missy Wrigley, chair of the Connecticut State Advisory Council for Special Education Executive Committee, opened the meeting’s operational-procedures discussion by sharing an edited draft of the committee’s procedures and asking members for input.

The committee focused on how the procedures should treat public participation. Susan Yankee said the bylaws already provide for public comment and recommended that the procedures reference both Robert’s Rules of Order for parliamentary practice and the Connecticut Open Meeting Law for legal compliance. "We do have public comment, as mentioned in our bylaws, and I think… It's pretty… it's specific," she said. jspahr noted that the council’s work as a state-affiliated body is subject to open-meeting/FOI requirements: "Well, I… as a state agency, we're bound by the FOI," he said, adding that FOI provisions about disruptive attendees also exist.

Members discussed limits on nonmember participation (for example, when an agency sends a substitute to a committee meeting) and agreed substitutes should not automatically have the privileges of appointed members. The committee also discussed placing a concise parliamentary-procedure summary (e.g., Robert's Rules guidance) in welcome materials for new chairs and members.

Next steps: Missy Wrigley said she will draft revised public-participation language that reflects the committee’s discussion and share it with jspahr for FOI review; Sean Cronin (CSDE) and Brian (CSDE staff) will also review CSDE-specific sections of the draft before it is presented to the full council.