A new process that streamlines public participation in virtual Fayetteville-Manlius School District Board of Education meetings is now available.
To ensure community voices are heard during meetings, the board recently revised its virtual public comment procedure so that individuals can remotely attend that portion of the meeting instead of submitting remarks through the live stream chat feature.
To receive access to the meeting, participants must complete and submit an online request form by 5:45 p.m. on the day of the meeting. Participants will receive a link to join the Zoom meeting and upon joining will be placed in a virtual waiting room until the public comment session begins.
The board will begin exercising the revised procedure during its next regular meeting, which is set for Nov. 16. Meetings will continue to live stream and archive on the district’s YouTube channel, but the platform’s chat feature will no longer be enabled.
Public comments are limited to three minutes per participant and the board maintains the right to limit the number of comments at any particular meeting. Issues involving particular students or employees are not appropriate topics.
The board has been meeting virtually during the 2020-21 school year to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently extended the executive order exempting municipal and school boards from provisions of the state Open Meetings Law that require public access to locations where government meetings are conducted.