The School Board is considering a new policy that divides public comments into two sections. One is for agenda and non-agent items. The non-agent comment section is not live streamed due to concerns about the use of criticism or profanity by the speaker. The board will vote for the new policy at its March 11th meeting. A federal judge found that Brevard Public Schools’ previous public comment policy was unconstitutional in relation to agenda items. The school board has expressed concern about protecting the privacy of students and staff and avoiding live streaming of blasphemy and hate speech.
Anyone who wanted to speak up at a recent Brevard School Board meeting on December 17th last year would be concerned if they followed polite guidelines and specific guidelines related to addressing the board. I was able to strengthen it.
However, in January, two hours before the first meeting of the year, a federal judge blocked the board from continuing its public comment policy. They had to pivot on the spot to allow the audience to speak. This time, in a way that is not considered to be restricted to their freedom of speech.
Over the past five years, Brevard Public Schools have seen numerous iterations of their public comment policy. Well, after ruling in favor of Mama for a free-led lawsuit in January, the board hashed details of a new version of the rule in a recent work session and may approve it in March .
Board members, along with district attorneys, cited several reasons why some comments should not only be limited to topics on the agenda, but also why others should not livestream them.
From federal judges to board members, board members, parents who spoke up about issues from mask orders, bans on reservations and staff at armed schools, what are they doing about the proposed policy?
What did the judge say in the lawsuit?
Last month, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order in support of moms in a free-driven lawsuit.
The lawsuit has been ongoing since 2021, and the Mom for Freedom Members said the board used the policy to restrict speech and discriminate on the basis of the opposing perspective.
Federal judge Roy Dalton Jr. initially ruled in favor of the Brevard school board and said the policy was applied in a perspective-neutral manner, but the board and mom’s battle for freedom has since become a favourable to conservative custody groups. . In October 2024, the Federal Court of Appeals stated that current district policies were “point-based and unconstitutional on the face as they were “point-based and a “prohibiting offensive speeches.” “He said.
In January, Dalton ordered that the policy be not implemented when the lawsuit continues, saying such policies could cause “irreparable injuries.”
When did comments be restricted?
Early in the pandemic, public comments were limited to one minute per speaker rather than one minute. This is the version of the policy that has since been revoked.
Public commenters perceived as threatening the board have been removed from the meeting room. My parents left last year after saying, “We’re here for you.” Then-chairman Megan Wright supported arming certain BPS staff as part of the district’s Guardian program.
Many people have been stopped reading the passages of the book because what they were reading is either explicit or contains profane language. According to Florida law, stopping someone from reading because they are sexually explicit means that they need to remove the book from all district shelves, but the speakers say If you stop to use a profane language, the book may remain. In December 2023, eight people read various passages and 13 books were ultimately banned.
What will change under the new policy?
Under current policy, the public will speak in one public comment section, regardless of whether the comment is related to an agenda item. However, under the updated policy, public comments are split into two sections. Agenda and non-agent comments, the latter at the end of the meeting. There is still additional time to talk about the items for the hearing.
The board said it would follow the Federal Communications Commission guidelines by saying it would follow the Federal Communications Commission guidelines to maintain politeness due to concerns about the need to prevent polite comments. was adopted.
“We are worried that we are violating FCC regulations when we are not actually supposed to police public comments, so we are in a position to stop someone from saying something. I’m worried about putting it on.”
Will comments be streamed live?
Public comments related to the agenda will be streamed live like the rest of the meeting. However, the camera is blocked before any non-Agenda comments sections take place.
The board has expressed concern about public members who make comments on teachers and students and use profanity language and slander. It’s something they don’t want on their YouTube channel, they said.
Board member Katye Campbell expressed his dissatisfaction with the issue, saying the board’s intentions would like to curb freedom of speech if not.
“I want you to stand on that podium and not say the names of students,” she said. Under the new policy, parents could accuse students of the name of fraud, adding that the board would not be able to stop them.
“If you wonder why we’re turning off the camera and they’re so upset… I’m sure people are standing there and the names of students while we have authority over this. , I don’t want to say the teacher’s name, and they can say, ‘Oh, well, they can sue honour-loss etc.'” she said. “It’s not surpassed your YouTube channel.”
District Attorney Paul Gibbs agreed that it would be wise to cut the camera before retaining non-agent comments.
“If you want to record it on your phone and post it on Facebook, that’s fine. Just like you said it on camera, they’re creating that responsibility, just as they are causing it,” he says. said. “But it’s just protecting some districts and we don’t offer that forum for them to violate someone’s individual (rights).”
They discussed postponement of the meeting before the second public comment section, but chose not to do so as they cannot give directions from Director Mark Rendell if the meeting was not held during the session. did.
The board will vote to approve the new policy at its school board meeting on March 11th.
Finchwalker is a Florida education reporter today. Please contact Walker at fwalker@floridatoday.com. X: @_finchwalker.
