Asheville City Board of Education beginning virtual public comments

Press release from Asheville City Schools:

Starting Monday, September 20th, the Asheville City Board of Education will allow public comments to be made both in person and virtually.  This change to Board Meetings is in response to not only the physical distancing restraints COVID-19 currently puts on our meeting spaces but also knowing that most of the people who wish to speak during public comment have school-aged students at home and are trying to juggle Board Meetings with making dinner, bath time and putting little ones to bed.  The Board’s hope is that allowing for virtual public comments will increase accessibility and allow them to hear from more voices.

If someone would like to make their public comments virtually they will follow the same guidelines as those coming in person, including having three minutes to speak.
To do this, they can complete our virtual public comment sign-up form, which can be accessed here.  It will also be included on both the Asheville City Board of Education webpage and in the district’s social media meeting reminder posts.  Please know next week’s virtual public comment sign-up form will close on Monday, September 20th at 12:00 NOON.

Once the virtual public comment sign-up form has closed, staff will send those wishing to speak an email which will include a Zoom Meeting Link, a copy of the meeting’s agenda and the Public Comment Guidelines.

And, once the meeting begins, virtual public comments will be heard following all in-person public comments.  When it is their turn to speak, a staff member will call on them.  One point of note is that, in order to be considered present, the virtual public commenter must be able to have a camera projecting their face while they are speaking.

To read more about this new opportunity, which we hope will support our busy students, staff and families, please review Policy 2310.