The Board of Trustees recognizes that maintaining accurate minutes of Board meetings provides a record of Board actions for use by District staff and the public. Accurate minutes also help foster public trust that Board actions are occurring in public in accordance with law.
(cf. 9000 - Role of the Board)
(cf. 9005 - Governance Standards)
(cf. 9323 - Meeting Conduct)
The secretary of the Board shall keep minutes and record all official Board actions. The Board's minutes shall be public records and shall be made available to the public upon request. (Education Code 35145, 35163)
(cf. 9323.2 - Actions by the Board)
The Superintendent or designee shall distribute a copy of the "unapproved" minutes of the previous meeting(s) with the agenda for the next regular meeting. At the next meeting, the Board shall approve the minutes as circulated or with necessary amendments.
Any minutes or recordings kept for Board meetings held in closed session shall be kept separate from the minutes or recordings of regular and special meetings. Minutes or recordings of closed sessions are not public records. (Government Code 54957.2)
(cf. 1340 - Access to District Records)
(cf. 9321.1 - Closed Session Actions and Reports)
In order to ensure that the minutes are focused on Board action, the minutes shall include only a brief summary of the Board's discussion, but shall not include a verbatim record of the Board's discussion on each agenda topic or the names of Board members who made specific points during the discussion.
The minutes shall include the specific language of each motion, the names of members who made and seconded the motion, and the individual votes of each member, unless the action was unanimous. When a roll call vote is taken, the names and votes of each member shall be listed. Motions or resolutions shall be recorded as having passed or failed. All motions and Board resolutions shall be numbered consecutively from the beginning of each fiscal year.
The minutes shall reflect the names of those individuals who comment during the meeting's public comment period as well as the topics they address.
The minutes shall record which members are present and whether a member is not present for part of the meeting due to late arrival and/or early departure.
(cf. 9250 - Remuneration, Reimbursement and Other Benefits)
Official Board minutes and recordings shall be stored in a fire-proof location and shall be retained in accordance with law.
Recording or Broadcasting of Meetings
The District may tape, film or broadcast any open Board meeting. The agenda for the meeting shall indicate that a recording is being made and as practicable, the recorder shall be placed in plain view of all persons present, insofar as possible.
Recordings made during regular or special Board meetings are public records. They shall be kept for at least 30 days and upon request shall be made available for inspection by members of the public on a District recorder without charge. (Government Code 54953.5)
Legal Reference:
EDUCATION CODE
35145 Public meetings
35163 Official actions, minutes and journals
35164 Vote requirements
GOVERNMENT CODE
54952.2 Meeting defined
54953.5 Audio or video recording of proceedings
54953.6 Broadcasting of proceedings
54957.2 Closed sessions; clerk; minute book
54960 Violations and remedies
PENAL CODE
632 Unlawful to intentionally record a confidential communication without consent
CODE OF REGULATIONS, TITLE 5
16020-16027 Classification and retention of records
Management Resources:
CSBA PUBLICATIONS
The Brown Act: School Boards and Open Meeting Laws, rev. 2007
Guide to Effective Meetings, rev. 2007
Maximizing School Board Leadership: Boardsmanship, 1996
WEB SITES
CSBA: http://www.csba.org
Bylaw CARLSBAD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
adopted: July 26, 2006 Carlsbad, California
revised: December 10, 2008