Denver Public Schools‘ Board of Education will reduce the amount of time individual community members have to address the elected body during its monthly public comment session starting in January.
The school board voted unanimously Thursday to approve the changes to public comment, a decision that comes as directors also plan to launch new listening sessions in their individual districts.
The board held no debate before approving the policy.
“We don’t want to restrict voices,” board President Carrie Olson previously told The Denver Post. “We just want to build a better relationship with the school board.”
The board’s new policy cuts the amount of time each speaker gets to address the seven-member board from three minutes to two minutes. Directors also changed when the public comment session will be held and will now allow people to speak to the board virtually. Additionally, the new policy restricts participation to people who are Denver residents or have a direct connection to the district.
The changes go into effect Jan. 1 — except for the virtual public comments option, which will start by the beginning of the 2025-26 academic year. Board members also plan to host separate listening sessions in their individual districts beginning in February.
The school board previously met a least three times a month at the district’s headquarters in downtown Denver. Directors hold a work session, which is typically earlier in the month, and then have a separate meeting to take public comment on the Monday before their monthly voting meetings. The board’s monthly voting meetings often are held on the third Thursday of the month.
With the new policy, the board is eliminating the separate Monday meeting and moving public comment to the directors’ work session.
The board also is eliminating the two-hour limit on public comment but keeping a rule that allows comments on individual topics to last only 30 minutes. The new policy also adds a separate 30-minute limit for public comment on topics unrelated to any upcoming vote that month.
Olson previously said that if there’s a topic that’s expected to garner enough speakers to significantly exceed the 30-minute limits, then directors could hold an additional special public comment session without any of the restrictions.
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