Starter Questions for the class:
1. What is a meeting? What kind of meetings have you heard of? Why
would the government have a lot of meetings? What types of things does
the government decide?
2. Would it be fair if we could never know what happened in those government
meetings? What would be good about that? What would be some bad effects
of such a rule?
3. Why might it be important for the public to be able to attend the
meetings and be able to speak at them? For example, if the school board
were meeting to decide whether or not you had to wear uniforms, would
you want to be heard at that meeting? Why?
Background:
Note: for each of the definitions below, have the students volunteer
what they think those words might mean first.
I. The OMA requires public bodies to:
A. Hold open meetings
1. "Public Bodies" include legislative, executive, administrative,
advisory arms of the state and local government (any group of public
officials who collect or use public monies). Examples: School boards,
city council, park district board, committees of any of these organizations
are examples of public bodies.
2. "Meetings" are gatherings of a majority of a quorum of a public
body for the purpose of discussing affairs affecting the public. A quorum
is the number of public officials required to take a vote on an issue
(usually a majority of the public body). For example, if the county
board has eighteen members, ten members would be required to be present
for a vote to make a quorum. If six members (a majority of that quorum)
go out to dinner to discuss public business privately, that dinner would
qualify as a "meeting" requiring proper notice under the Open Meetings
Act.
B. Provide "adequate" notice of those meeting so that the public may
attend.
· Have students brainstorm (or look in the dictionary for) the definition
of "adequate." Does it mean the same as "excellent," "fabulous," etc.?
Is it the maximum or the minimum?
· What types of notice would effectively notify the public as to the
plans of the public body?
· "Notice" means public bodies publish their schedule of regular dates,
times, and places of meetings.
· The public body must post a specific "agenda" for the meeting at
least 48 hours before the meeting. The agenda must be posted at the
place of business of the public body, and can be posted on the Internet,
newspaper, or another convenient place for public access.
C. Keep records of public meetings:
· What type of record should be kept? A verbatim record such as a transcript,
or merely written minutes? What are the pros and cons of each?
· Written minutes (a summary) of the meeting must be published within
7 days of the body's approval of the minutes.
II. The Open Meetings Act requires that public bodies deliberate in
public so that decisions that affect the public are not made in secret,
and so that the public has a right to participate in the process.
The exception: Some parts of a meeting can be closed to the public
if the public body plans to discuss personnel and employment matters,
property sales, security issues, student records, imminent litigation,
and others.
Although the OMA does not require that public bodies reserve time for
public comment from citizens, most public bodies allow public comment
at their meetings. The one exception: School Board meetings MUST have
a public comment section.
Activities
1. Have students attend a school board meeting or a portion of a school
board meeting (as some of these meetings get very long). Call 48 hours
before the meeting to obtain an agenda. Have students take minutes of
the meeting to report back to the class. Student can then make a Freedom
of Information Act request (see Freedom of Information Act lesson plan)
to get the official meeting minutes and see how they match their own
notes.
2. Make a public comment! Students who are willing can make their own
public comments. Share class projects with the School Board or make
a comment about a school issue that is important to them. Have the student
contact the school board office in advance to see what rules govern
public comment: is it at the beginning or the end of the meeting? Does
the student have to sign up in advance? How long is the student allowed
to speak? (FYI: most public bodies allow individuals to make comments
for 3 - 5 minutes each with a total of 30 minutes of the meeting dedicated
for public comment. However, each public body is different.)
3. Have a school board member visit the class to explain what goes
on at meeting. Students should come up with 5 questions or so to ask
the member.
4. Have the class create their own meeting agenda. If they were the
School Board, what issues would they want to discuss? Share the list
with the School Board.
©Copyright 2003 Citizen Advocacy Center. All rights reserved. No part
of this lesson plan may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior, written permission of the Citizen Advocacy Center.
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