Shawnee Mission revisits rules after backlash to policy banning complaints against board

Shawnee Mission School Board members tasked this year with revisiting policies regarding public comments at board meetings said Monday they would be willing to strike down a rule prohibiting complaints about school board members.

But they also warned that official changes to the public comment policies would likely take time, as the board continues to consult legal and education experts and collect feedback from the public.

“One of the things that’s in there is about criticizing board members,” board member Debra Zila said as the board reviewed a draft document created by a new task force. “I’ll tell you right now that that’s something we would all, I think at least on the task force, recommend to strike from that document.”

The district's policy regarding public participation at meetings came under fire in November, when the board, including three members who have since retired or were not reelected, added school board members to the list of individuals that school policy states should not be criticized in public.

The school board had previously prevented the public from speaking about matters related to individual employees and students during public comments for privacy reasons but had no official stance on comments related to board members.

The ACLU decried the change as “clearly unconstitutional.” It was the second time that ACLU had protested the legality of the Shawnee Mission's public comments policy.

In May, the organization informed the district in a letter that it had violated a parent’s First Amendment rights when a parent was told he could not criticize Zila by name during the public comments section.

This year — after three new board members were seated on the board — board president Brad Stratton asked veteran members Zila and Patty Mach, as well as new board member Laura Guy, to revisit the policy in the wake of the controversy.

The board plans to discuss policy changes at its board workshop next month as it reviews a preliminary draft of amended policy.

The ACLU has maintained that any restriction related to public speech is unconstitutional and that individuals have as much of a right to criticize individual school employees as they do elected officials.

It is unlikely that the board will remove language prohibiting public complaints regarding students and staff.

Most districts in Kansas discourage or ban the practice in an effort to protect privacy, and language in the policy draft currently being considered by the board suggests that the public will likely be required to submit such complaints to administration in writing or present them to the board in executive session.

While Zila told the public at a school board meeting Monday that language about complaints would be addressed, board members also will consider new procedures, such as the opportunity for the public to submit questions to the board prior to meetings so that the answers can be shared in public.

Zila said the district had been talking to school board members in other districts, particularly in Johnson County.

"This is something that we all face," Zila said. "And we all want to be kind of on the same page with this so that we know we are offering all the same things to our patrons."

A draft of policy recommendations that will eventually be discussed by the board will be posted to the School Board website Tuesday.

The School Board also announced Monday that it is preparing for its first round of in-person interviews for a new superintendent.

More than 60 people applied for the district’s top post.

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Shawnee Mission revisits rules after backlash to policy banning complaints against board."