CPS to post agenda first, then ask public to sign up to speak

The Chicago Board of Education will now let the public register to speak at meetings after an agenda is posted rather before, following a ruling by the state’s attorney general.

Registration for the 60 speaking slots still will be held online at www.cpsboe.org, but it will open at 10:30 a.m. on the Monday before each board meeting. The meeting’s agenda will be posted at 10 a.m.

Public speakers have complained that the previous way of signing up for the coveted two-minute time slots — a whole week before the agenda was posted — excluded folks who wanted to comment on matters the Board intended to vote on because speaking slots filled up within minutes of going live. That means once people knew what the board would be voting, it was too late to sign up to speak.

In fact, at least one member of the public began complaining about the process in August 2013, telling the public access office of Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office that it violated the state’s open meetings act.

Madigan’s office agreed in an April 13 letter to CPS, saying the requirement “unreasonably restricts the public’s statutory right to address the Board.”

“By the time members of the public had an opportunity to review the agenda to determine whether they wished to attend the meeting, they may have been time-barred from registering to do so,” assistant attorney general Joshua Jones wrote. “The Board did not provide any information indicating that such pre-registration was reasonably necessary to promote order and decorum at the meeting or to further any other significant governmental interest.”

In a press release, board president Frank Clark lauded his own “steps to bolster public engagement” that include online tools to make appointments with board members and equal speaking time for non-English speakers — which followed a Sun-Times story about Spanish speakers denied more time to allow for simultaneous interpretation.

Board members also will begin holding informal office hours at schools instead of just downtown, starting the appointments at Earle Elementary School next week.

But unlike his predecessor, Clark has yet to hold a meeting after business hours out at a community school rather than at CPS’ downtown headquarters. And he has not yet ruled on suggestions to open up board briefings so the public can watch the mayor’s handpicked board members ask questions and challenge district staff before casting typically unanimous votes to approve CPS recommendations.

“Posting the public agenda before registration opens will allow community members to make informed decisions about their participation in meetings, which should foster more productive and focused meetings,” Clark said in a press release. “The Board of Education will continue to explore opportunities to more effectively engage the public, and we look forward to implementing our new registration system next month.”