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 and helps foster public trust in Board governance.
(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. 1340 - Access to District Records)
(cf. 9122 - Secretary)
(cf. 9323.2 - Actions by the Board)
The minutes shall reflect 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)
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 and the names of the Board members who made and seconded the motion.
The minutes shall also report any action taken and the vote or abstention on that action of each member present. (Government Code 54953)
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 Superintendent or designee shall distribute a copy of the "unapproved" minutes of the previous meeting(s) with the agenda for the next regular meeting. The Board shall approve the minutes as circulated or with necessary amendments.
Upon approval by the Board, the minutes shall be signed by the secretary of the Board.
Official Board minutes and recordings shall be stored in a secure location and shall be retained in accordance with law.
(cf. 3580 - District Records)
Any minutes or recordings kept for Board meetings held in closed session shall be kept separately 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. 9321.1 - Closed Session Actions and Reports)
Recording or Broadcasting of Meetings
The district may tape, film, or broadcast any open Board meeting. The Board president shall announce that a recording or broadcasting is being made at the direction of the Board at the beginning of the meeting and, as practicable, the recorder or camera shall be placed in plain view of meeting participants.
Any district recording may be erased or destroyed 30 days after the meeting. Recordings made at the direction of the Board during a meeting are public records and, upon request, shall be made available for inspection by members of the public on district equipment 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 Meetings
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. 2009
Guide to Effective Meetings, rev. 2007
WEB SITES
CSBA, Agenda Online: http://www.csba.org
Bylaw HART-RANSOM UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT
adopted: January 14, 2016 Modesto, California